Are Ye Saved?

Benjamin F. Plybon

Emeritus Professor of Mathematics, Miami University

Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call."   With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation."   Acts 2:38-40

From the time of Peter and Paul in the first century, Christians have viewed human beings as divided into two categories, the saved and unsaved.  That is not a popular idea today in the twenty first century.  Yet there is a deep truth in this Christian idea.  This is an unpopular idea today because there is much misunderstanding of the meaning of “being saved”. What does it mean to say one is saved?  Saved from what? The evangelist may tell the questioner, “It means you have accepted Jesus as your savior.” But that is not a meaningful answer for the man who is not a Christian and knows very little about Jesus and the Bible.  A better answer is needed if we want to “save” people.

            Immediately after Pentecost, Peter stood up and pleaded with his hearers, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation."  Peter believed he was talking to people who needed to be saved from something he described as a “corrupt generation.” Peter claimed he knew how to be saved.  He told his audience,

 "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call." 

            Many people, probably most today, regard his advice as strange and out of date.  Strange maybe, for modern audiences, but his words are not out of date. They are timeless. Over the centuries people have forgotten what those ancient words meant and still mean. Most members of churches have never really understood.  After centuries of Bible study and preaching, the salvation offered by God through Jesus is not a fashionable topic and talk about being “saved” is avoided by both Christians and non-Christians. People today do not understand.  His words are meaningless to many people today but Peter’s advice was a powerful message in his day. Peter’s listeners that amazing day 2000 years ago knew what he meant.

            So thousands heeded his advice in the following days and moved on to new lives.  On that day the Christian CHURCH was born. Those that tried his advice faithfully found it really worked.  Wonder of wonders.  Something beautiful happened to each individual who followed his advice.  They received new life, a new view of people and the world, and a strange inner peace that surpasses all understanding.  Peter would say they were saved, just as he had promised. They discovered, salvation begins in this life. Their lives were never the same again. They had experienced an attitude adjustment, and attitude is a crucial factor in any one’s life. How can one’s life be changed this way?  This sounds too much like magic and most people today do not believe in magic. But this was not magic.  This was a demonstration of the power of God to change lives.  His power was made visible. The secret is the “gift of the Holy Spirit.” Too few people today, including many Christians, understand that simple fact.

            We need to be realistic about the world in which we live today. Very few people are happy people today.  So many live in quiet misery, hoping something will happen to bring happiness. They know something is wrong, but what? They live with frustrations, disappointments, feelings of failure and anger. They believe the world is not fair.  How many have thought about why they are frustrated and disappointed?  Most blame that on the world around them, or God, but Jesus told us the problem is within us. People today think they never have enough money. They want more. They live with broken relationships and have never experienced real love, whatever that is.  They feel unloved, lonely and unwanted.  Nobody cares.  Nobody can be trusted.  They blame God or other people for their unhappiness. Why was I born into this miserable world?  Let me off this train, going to God only knows where.  There is pain and suffering in every life it seems.  Some theologians say we live in a fallen world.  Actually, the problem is a world filled with people who need to be saved.

            People everywhere are searching for an answer, a solution to their problem. Their worst problem is their unhappy life.  They blame others for that. They have pursued happiness and found very little. Yet they are the source of most of their problems and they do not realize that.  They hope a new friend or lover will make everything all right. They want to escape their unhappy life, but without help there seems to be no escape.  How do you escape from yourself?   God only knows, you might say. 

            Well actually that is true . God does know. He is our salvation, the only way to help.  On one particular occasion Jesus made a curious statement about our lives.  He told us why he came to earth from heaven. 

            “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”  

Some translators prefer, “I have come that they may have abundant life.”

            An abundant life is a happy life; very few today live abundant lives. He offers that help we need and want, but we refuse, over and over again. The solution to our problem sounds too simple to be true .  We look for, and respect, more difficult complicated solutions. The real solution we need is in fact simple, but it is costly.  The cost is a life. You must give up your old life and accept a new and better one. That is the secret Peter had discovered.  God came to earth in the form of a man named Jesus.  He said, “Follow me and I’ll show you the way.”  Peter believed and moved on to a better, happier life.  Not a trouble free life but still a happier one.  He found new joy. Both Paul and Peter were happy men despite their troubles.  They knew the secret.

            Most people we know are not satisfied with their life as it is. It is a rare individual who can honestly say, “I am happy with my life.  I am satisfied as it is. I have accomplished every thing I hoped to accomplish in life.  My dreams were fulfilled.  I have found someone who loves me, I have many trusted friends and no enemies.  I have no desire for more money, a better house or car.  I have traveled and seen everything I hoped to see.  I have no wants unfulfilled and no wish for anything more than I have now.”

            So, am I saying that if you become a saved Christian you will be able to accomplish everything you attempt, fulfill every dream, find some one who loves you, have many trusted friends, have all the money you want, and live happily forever after?  No, I am not.  Some preachers do claim all of that will happen for you if you become a Christian.  But that is a false Gospel as any real Christian knows. You will find it is possible to be happy without all of these things. 

            Read the words of a man who found happiness despite experiences that would leave most people broken and miserable.  In one of his letters to friends he wrote,

I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  Philippians 4:10-12

            Those are the words of an amazing man we know as St. Paul.  A long time ago, after conversion from living many years as a devout Jew, a Pharisee, he was immediately changed into a new man with a completely different view of life. After that unexpected  transformation he found happiness and contentment.  After Jesus touched his life he became a Christian and a powerful preacher of the Gospel.  His old friends became enemies but former enemies became friends. He spent years traveling over a large area in Middle East Asia and Greece, and came through many hardships: he was shipwrecked, robbed, attacked verbally and physically, beaten often and on one occasion left as dead after a severe beating; yet he recovered and continued with his mission.  He lived a hard and troubled life, and was eventually beheaded by Romans following orders of Caesar.

The words above, written to the people we know as the Philippians, express his thoughts about his life.  At that time, shortly before his death, Paul was in prison in Rome waiting to be executed. 

            He had found the secret of happiness. He was content and at peace with God and the world in a way difficult for most of us to understand.  He would tell you he was saved.  He used the word frequently, and he knew what it meant to be saved. This was his understanding of being saved, the salvation he wished to share with all who would listen to him.  He had moved on, away from his early, unsaved life, filled with anger and hate, to find true happiness in a new life ruled by love, forgiveness and mercy for others, even his enemies.  This was not just a matter of strong will power and endurance. He claimed this was the work of the Spirit of Jesus living within him, leading him in a powerful way.

            For some, including most members of your local church, to be saved means assurance of heaven after death.  It is true that Paul, Peter and Jesus taught that the saved person is assured of heaven after death, but the salvation described by Paul begins here on earth, long before death.  It merely continues in heaven after our earthly life is over.  With this knowledge the saved person can die in peace, knowing that life continues forever with God in his heavenly Kingdom.

            Do you want to be saved?  Would you like to move on to a new, happier life?  Now, not after death ends all.  Peter said, first you must repent.  People today think that means you confess your sins and ask God for forgiveness and mercy.  They envision a man on his knees, pounding his breast, crying out for help with teary eyes.  Some have done that in the past.  So modern man considers that picture of repentance and remorse, turns away, and refuses to do that.  But repenting does not require such a scene of remorse.   Repentance is simpler than that and usually is not so emotional and dramatic.              You simply need to confess to God that your life is not the life you wish it could be.  Something is missing.  Admit you have a problem. Admit you seem to be going the wrong way in life. You want to be happy and enjoy life and you admit you need help.  Jesus said that he came so that people could have “life more abundant”.  God does not want misery for you. We are intended to have enjoyment and satisfaction with our lives.  After admitting to yourself and to God you are falling short of your hopes and are not satisfied with the life you are living now, you need only turn to him (repent, turn around) and ask for his help.  If you earnestly ask for that help, and truly mean that, you will receive.  Jesus said, “Ask and it shall be given”.  If you do that, Jesus enters your life and new life begins.  I did this on a summer day in July,1976. I’ll never regret that.  A happier, peaceful life began that same day.

            You may not feel anything special or unusual in that first moments or hour.  The transformation is usually a gradual process over days or weeks.  But it will happen.  Some do have some form of powerful emotional experience at that moment but those are rare.  In the case of St. Paul, God touched his life suddenly and unexpectedly, like being struck by lightning.  Maybe he needed that. I needed something like that but not a lightning bolt.  My heart was pierced quietly and unexpectedly with an arrow that had been soaked in God’s love. It was so beautiful a tear trickled down my cheek. Thanks be to God. For most people the first moments are quiet and peaceful.  Simply accept the gift and thank God for what you are given. God deals with each of us in our own unique way, according to our needs.  You have placed your life in God’s hands so then you must trust him and patiently let him make the needed changes.

            You are asking God to become your guide throughout your remaining life, forever.  As Peter and Paul told everyone, if you ask in this way you will be given the gift of the Holy Spirit, God’s Spirit placed within you, a guiding force residing deep in your conscious.  That Spirit will guide you from within by changing your attitude toward everything around you.  From that time on, the world around you will look and feel different; no longer frightening and hostile.  You are no longer alone and you will know that.  You have a powerful, loving God in Heaven watching over you. Over the following years you will find a new inner peace and the ability to love in new ways, and you will have a deeper respect and love for life. 

            This is not just an interesting theory.  The instructions given by Peter two thousand years ago have been tested and tried and found to be true by person after person all around the world.  I tried and found his words were true for me.  I’ve heard many similar life changing stories told by acquaintances, in recent years. Over the centuries, for two thousand years, millions have repented and turned to God experiencing new life just as promised.  If you do this honestly, your life will change for the better.  That is the true meaning of salvation, the reason everyone should long to be saved.  After you become a new creation just trust God for all that follows and live your new life. There is no magic or hocus-pocus in this.  This is an important part of the spiritual reality Jesus offered to all, a free gift from God.  When you accept this gift you are trying and testing age-old wisdom given to us by Jesus.  That is the reason he came to earth 2000 years ago.

            This is what Easter is really about.  The man Jesus, allowed Roman soldiers to crucify him, on a Friday long ago. It was a cruel, painful and senseless murder of an innocent man.  Even Pilate could find no grounds for execution.  But good men did this to a good man. Speaking from the cross Jesus uttered the incredible words.  “Forgive them Father for they do not know what they are doing.”  He realized that and did not condemn them for their actions.  He also knew His Father in heaven would raise him from the dead. The resurrection was necessary so Jesus could begin the work of saving you and me, giving the gift of the Spirit from heaven when prayed for.  He gave his life to make your salvation and new life possible.  Each time someone today rejects God I hear Jesus saying once more, the words ringing out over the centuries,

 “Forgive them Father for they do not know what they are doing.”