WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE SAVED? Part 1

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE SAVED?

In-depth Three-Part Series! Part 1 of 3

The Sinful Nature (Part 1 of 3)

Since Adam and Eve first rebelled in the Garden of Eden, all humans are inherently born sinners. Roughly 1,600 years after the Garden of Eden rebellion, we read in Genesis that Adam’s descendants became increasingly wicked, insomuch that God’s judgment eradicated the human race, leaving only 8 survivors after the flood. Noah and his family become a reset for the human race and a fresh start for humanity. Nevertheless, the human race has persisted in its sinful rebellion against God, and we continue to deny the reality of sin and our sinful nature. Many people embrace the false idea that there will be little or no consequences for their failure to repent and turn to God. Unbiblical teaching, such as Universalism, the unbiblical belief that everyone goes to heaven when they die, and Religious Pluralism, the belief that all religions lead to God and eternal life, have been gaining broader acceptance. 

In the third chapter of Romans, the Apostle Paul lays out God’s charge against all humanity— we are all sinners, and we are guilty of sin.

What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. ¹⁰ As it is written:  “There is no one righteous, not even one; ¹¹there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. ¹²All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”[b] ¹³“Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.”[c] “The poison of vipers is on their lips.”[d] ¹⁴ “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”[e] ¹⁵ “Their feet are swift to shed blood; ¹⁶ruin and misery mark their ways, ¹⁷and the way of peace they do not know.”[f] ¹⁸ “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”[g] (Romans 3:9-18)

Romans 3:23 emphatically states, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” and this predisposition to sin is evident throughout our lives. We must face the facts; we are all sinners.

The Greek word for sin, hamartia (noun) and hamartanó (verb), means to “miss the mark” as in an archer shooting an arrow at the target’s bullseye and misses the mark. By comparison, hitting God’s bullseye or God’s mark means doing what God says to do. In short, all humans are required to obey God in everything— and herein lies the difficulty. Because of our propensity for sin, we would rather do whatever we think or feel is right, instead of what God says is right. We miss God’s mark because we are misled by our own desires and thinking into gratifying our sinful nature instead of doing what God commands. We ignore God’s righteous words and follow our own disobedient desires, missing God’s bullseye, which is sin and makes us sinners. Suffice it to say, it is a sin to disobey God.

Our sinful nature is referred to as the fleshly nature (Gr. sarx.), and no good thing dwells in the flesh or sinful nature as in Romans 7:18 KJV, and Romans 7:18 NIV. Our sinful thoughts, actions, and behavior are byproducts of the sinful nature. They are the shameful, embarrassing, rotten fruit that we produce when we yield to our sinful nature’s deceptive desires. These sins are irrefutable evidence that we are nothing more than guilty sinners who deserve to be cast into the flames of Hell. Moreover, they are the principal reason Christ was crucified in our place, taking upon himself our punishment, something to be grasped. Consider Isaiah’s prophetic description of Christ’s suffering:

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. ⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone  astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. ⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. ⁸ By oppression[a] and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished.  (Isaiah 53:5-8)

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

It is foolish to deny the fact that we are sinners because that is exactly what God said we are. Our sinful nature desires to gratify our ungodly fleshly desires and passions. No matter how much we try, we continue to make ungodly choices. We have invented many religions that claim to offer a better way of life, but even the best fail to live up to God’s requirements. We cannot fix what is wrong. We cannot solve the problem. We are guilty of rebellion and sin, deserving of Hell. Nevertheless, because of God’s great love, He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for our sins and save us from eternal damnation. He is the way, the truth, and the life.

Scriptures are clear; as we move closer to the return of Jesus Christ, humanity will worsen and spin out of control. Good will be called evil and evil will be considered good (2 Timothy 3:1-5, Matthew 24:3-51, 2 Peter 3:3-7). From a societal perspective, the world has begun to glorify sin. However, whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13).

Check back for Part 2 of 3: The Meaning of Being Saved