Saved

In a gripping article from the Associated Press published on April 22, I learned that an Albany, NY mail carrier saved a 1-year-old child by catching her after she fell out of a second story window. Lisa Harrell saw a little girl in a window above her as she was delivering mail to a home on April 21, and then caught the child in her arms before she fell to the ground below. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a wonderful thing, worthy of much discussion and gratitude.

“have you been saved?” This question used to permeate the sanctuaries, classrooms, and hallways of local churches all across the US. New members, teenagers, and death-bed folks all heard the question posed to them with great vigor and concern.

But today, the question has gone by the wayside. Why? Why are evangelicals not asking people about being saved? Why is the whole concept of being saved somehow no longer in vogue in the public arena? Think it through. How long has it been since someone asked you if you have been saved?

Well, let’s define terms. Lisa Harrell saved that little girl from serious injury or death. How? Lisa caught the child and kept her from certain harm. Thus the concept of being saved is simple: one person performs some action in order to keep another from harm.

What do evangelical Christians mean when they talk about being saved? This too is simple. All of us are destined for destruction, headed straight for the wrath of God. There is no hope for us. We are sinful before an infinitely holy God. But God sent his Son, Jesus. Jesus died as a sacrifice on our behalf. He satisfied God’s wrath against us for our sins and carried away our guilt. Jesus then rose from the grave, proving to all that God was truly satisfied with his finished work. So, in a sense, Jesus caught God’s children as they fell toward certain and eternal death.

So, in a Christian understanding, “Are you saved,” is merely another way of asking if you have been rescued by Jesus. How does that happen? Jesus makes it clear in John 3:16 that the way that we are rescued from destruction is by having true faith in Jesus. This is not to say that we simply believe that Jesus exists; rather, it is to say that we believe the things written above. To place your faith in Jesus is to let go of any hope of being good enough to work your way into heaven. To trust Jesus is to say that he is your only hope to be forgiven of the wrong that you have done both intentionally and unintentionally.

I don’t know if you’ve thought about it, but this is a beautiful message. That God would go to such lengths to rescue us from his wrath when we have earned that wrath, this is amazing.

Perhaps some of the reason that the “saved” question is no longer popular is that most of us no longer think about the fact that there is something from which we need saving. Perhaps we have become accustomed to blaming our environment, our parents, our bosses, our body chemistry, our ethnicity, our education level, or something else for our behaviors. Perhaps we simply do not want to think of ourselves as guilty. But the fact is, we do stand guilty before a holy God. God has made one way for us to be made right before him. He has offered grace to us. So, with love I ask you, “Have you been saved?”

Article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080422/ap_on_re_us/falling_baby_caught