You may have heard Christians say something about being “saved” and you might wonder what they mean by that term. The first question in your mind might be - “what am I being saved from?”
Growing up in a Pentecostal church, I heard that term a lot. Being saved is actually referred in the Bible in the New Testament in the Book of Acts (Acts 16). This is the story of when Paul and Silas were jailed for preaching about Jesus and the jail was shaken. The guard was worried that all the prisoners had escaped and drew his sword to kill himself but Paul stopped him and assured him that they were still there in the prison. The events of that night caused to the guard to ask “what must I do to be saved?” He was told “believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved and your household.”
So to be saved doesn’t mean what you might have assumed it to mean. The extremists might scream and yell that you have to be saved from hell. Saved doesn’t mean that. Saved means to be freed from the bondage of sin. Yes, there is a hell but being saved isn’t about something in the future but about living a better life today. Contrary to what people think, there is a freedom in being saved. Does it mean you become perfect? No. This isn’t a magic trick. Does it mean you have to be perfect to stay saved? Absolutely not. I have encountered people in my life who promote the idea of perfection but there is no way a human can be absolutely perfect whether they are saved or not. Saved doesn’t equal perfection. Saved means you believe in the Lord Jesus and that He came and died for our sins and rose from the dead.
Unfortunately some think that’s asking too much and choose not to believe. Maybe it’s partly due to not understanding what it truly means to be saved.
If you’re still skeptical, let me just ask that you ignore the crazies who claim to be Christians. I’m not sure why they think their method of spreading the gospel works. The Gospel means “good news” and being saved is definitely good news people need to hear.
Being saved doesn’t mean you’ll be quoting Bible verses and singing hymns all day. We still have to live in this world and deal with the realities of life. You’re still going to have bad days and days when you don’t feel saved. Those are the days you have to rely on faith instead of your feelings.
Being saved doesn’t mean you are committed to supporting a specific political party. I know that’s shocking to hear. There’s so much more to being saved than that. You don’t have to be crazy to be saved and being saved doesn’t mean you have to be weird.
