160911 Saved? From What?

Ephesians 2:1-3 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins ² in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— ³ among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Christian believers use the term “saved” when speaking of their relationship to God. For many people that term just isn’t something they understand. They may not say the words, “Saved? From what?” but they often think them when they are told they need to be saved. We need to know what we were saved from as well as what we are saved to. In today’s message I want to talk about what we are saved from.

When Adam and Eve rebelled against God in the Garden of Eden by taking the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil they begin the process of death. God had told them, “in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17). Note that God did not say they would immediately die just that they would SURELY die. Their physical death was a long way off but their spiritual death occurred that day. Immediately they felt shame at being naked. Shame was something they had never felt before because they were completely innocent. Now, innocence was gone and the seed of sin was planted in the human race by their actions. Repeatedly, throughout the Bible we are reminded that we were “in Adam” when he sinned. They may have been alive, physically, but they were surely…

Dead in sins. Look with me at Paul’s words in Romans 5:12. Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned

Ephesians 2:1 describes the believers in Ephesus as having been dead in the trespasses and sins in which they once walked.

Being in bondage to sin they, and we, began life unable to function spiritually because all mankind are spiritually dead. Our lifestyle before we came to know Christ was one of…

Following the world culture. Look with me at Paul’s words to the Galatians Galatians 4:8-11. Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. ⁹ But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? ¹⁰ You observe days and months and seasons and years! ¹¹ I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.

When Jesus began his ministry immediately after baptism he went into the wilderness in fellowship with the Holy Spirit to fast and pray. The Scriptures tell us that he was led there to be tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1). He was challenged three times. The first challenge was to satisfy his hunger by turning stones into bread. To which Jesus replied, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” The second challenge that Jesus faced was to prove that the angels would take care of him by jumping off the high point in the temple. To which Jesus replied, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” The third challenge was to worship the devil in exchange for being given all the kingdoms of the world. To which Jesus replied, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.” (Matthew 4:3-11)

All of these temptations related to the world around us. The world culture would want us to be fed rather than to be fasting. The world culture seeks demonstrations of the power of God rather than simple faith. The world culture would bow down to Satan in order to enjoy the things of this world. Jesus came to stand against all those things and set mankind free from bondage to the world. When we are “saved” we are delivered from worldly bondage.

All of those who are not yet believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are…

Subject to Satan. Let’s look at the words of Jesus that were given to the apostle Paul when he was still Saul of Tarsus. This is part of Paul’s testimony in court. Let’s read the words of Jesus in Acts 26:16-18. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, ¹⁷ delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you ¹⁸ to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Paul was called by Christ with a specific purpose in mind. He was appointed a servant and a witness. He had seen the living Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus while he was on the way to deliver Christians over to be imprisoned, beaten and even killed for their faith. Saul was a proud Pharisee who would not associate with non-Jewish people. As Paul the apostle he lost all that prejudice. He was “saved” from those attitudes by Jesus. Paul’s role, and ours, is to, open the spiritual eyes of the unbelievers allowing them to turn away from darkness and towards the light; to turn away from the power of Satan to God so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are made holy by faith in Christ. Those who are saved are delivered from spiritual death and from bondage to the world culture.

“Saved” means no longer subject to control by Satan. One of the problems is the way Satan works to keep them “lost” in trespasses and sin. It seems to me that Satan really enjoys deceiving people as he did in the Garden of Eden. He also enjoys bringing people into total bondage so that they become immoral. Most of the people that Satan deals with are kept in bondage to him by being “good” in the eyes of the world around them. People are often kept from salvation simply by believing that they do not need it. They are good enough — they think! They are not all…

In bondage to passion but many are. Look with me at Paul’s writing to the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; ⁴ that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, ⁵ not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; ⁶ that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. ⁷ For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.

We live in a sex saturated world. As time goes by the worldwide culture sinks deeper and deeper into bondage to passion and lust. The United States of America were founded upon the Christian principles found in the Bible. In the last half-century most of those Christian principles have been put aside and, in fact, denied the opportunity to contend in the world of ideas. At the same time more and more freedom of action has been given to the passions of the flesh and the desires of the body. So one of the things that people are “saved” from is a debilitating life of passion. Don’t get me wrong — the Bible says there is pleasure in sin for a season! (Hebrews 11:25)  Remember, seasons always end!

Those who are still unbelievers need to be delivered from being…

Mentally bound. Let’s look to Romans 8:5-8. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. ⁸ Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Setting the mind is an interesting concept. There are not multiple choices as to what the mind is set on. The mind of every person is set on one of two things. There is no middle ground and there is no alternative field of battle. Either the mind is set on the flesh and that produces death or the mind is set on the Spirit and that produces life! So one of the things that Jesus came to do was to “save” mankind from a mind set on the flesh. Because the mind that is set on the flesh is

Subject to wrath. This is a difficult concept for a lot of people. After all do we not serve a God of love? Let’s look at John 3:36. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

In this passage believing in the Son is linked to obeying the Son. And for those who do not obey the Son are subject to the wrath of God. One Christian denomination refuses to use the popular hymn “In Christ Alone” in their hymnal because in the second verse is the phrase, “as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied.” I am not quite sure how these people use their Bibles since the word “wrath” is very frequently used to describe God’s attitude towards sinful man. When Israel was in the wilderness and they rebelled against God by erecting a golden calf to worship, God said to Moses, “Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them…” (Exodus 32:10). There are multiple other examples in the Old Testament. Wrath is also common in the New Testament. For example, in Romans 1:18 Paul says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men” along with all these statements about God’s wrath we are also told, “God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God” (Romans 5:8-9). So when a person is “saved” one thing they are saved from is being subject to the wrath of God.

However, a person who believes can be free. Praise God there is freedom in Christ. People may think they are too bad to be delivered by Jesus. Let’s look at what Paul had to say in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Look at that list! The sexually immoral describes so many in our day. Idolaters represent everyone who puts anything before God in their life. Adulterers, are those who scorned their marriage vows. And the list goes on to include those who practice homosexuality, thieves, greedy, drunkards, revilers and swindlers.

The beautiful part of this passage is found in verse 11. “And such were some of you.” The Christians in Corinth had once been all of these things that are so outside the will of God that they invite the wrath of God to come upon them. Those who were once such obvious and open sinners are now washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. Praise the Lord!

Thank God that He is rich in mercy having loved us with a great love. He loved us so much that He gave His only Son to pay the penalty for our sin. If a person is saved they are saved from a long list of horribly unpleasant conditions. Addictions of all kinds are part of the lifestyle that is separated from God. Have you given your life over to the Lord Jesus? Do you believe in Him? Will you allow Him to control your life? Today can be the day of salvation. We have seen part of what we are saved from, God willing, next week will see what we are saved to.

All scriptures quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.