What Have You Been Saved From?

“God has saved you from Himself, God has saved you for Himself, God has saved you by Himself.” - Paul Washer

There are 120 times that the Greek word “sōzō” is used in the New Testament. This likely means nothing to you. When it is translated, however it is life changing. This word is most frequently transliterated into the English word, “saved.” There are few units of grammar that hold more weight than this single designation, when it comes to the Christian faith.

That being said, for the one hundred million times (rough estimate) that I have heard someone say “I am saved,” or “Jesus saves,” or even asking the question “are you saved?”, I think I could count on my two hands how many times someone has asked what we are saved from. So...

What have you been saved from?

The generic (and partially correct) answer is that we have been saved from sin. But that is just the beginning. Have I been saved from my inability to hold a conversation with someone without mocking their voice in my head? Sure, that’s mean and offensive. And although we have had all of our sins cleared from our record, (if we have placed our lives in the hands of Christ), I am not simply saved from a list of “whoopsies” and “uh-ohs.” First, I have been saved from my sins; the actions and thoughts that I act upon daily, coming all the way down to my inability to love the Lord with all my heart, soul and mind. I have been saved from my sinning, but my sinning will continue until the day I see Jesus’ face.

Second, I have been saved from hell. Once again, this is true, but this is not the end of the road at all. I am a detestable sinful human being, being given a get out of hell free card is not the total solution. It is a byproduct that I do not have to pay the sentence that I have earned.

Third, I have been saved from myself. Unless we are being dishonest with ourselves, it should be no stretch for us to recognize that here is something within our very being that seems to be always fighting to get out. This is the idea that Paul wrestles with in Romans 7 when he outlines his inner struggle, claiming that what he wants to do he cannot do and the things that he does not want to do he keeps finding himself doing. (Paul did not have split personality disorder.) Perhaps this sheds light on Jesus’ words in Matthew 15 when He explained that it is not the outside world invading a human being that defiles us, but what is inside of us or “proceeds out of the mouth” which defiles the man. I have been saved from the internal nature of my sin.

Fourth, I have been saved from this world. This would reflect the previous point, but with a little bit of nuance. There is a temptation in the church for Christians to wall the outside world off. This is what one Theologian has referred to as “fortress theology.” If we put ourselves away, like a city on a hill (totally not what Jesus meant), the influence of the outside world cannot touch us. We will stay clean. The irony is that Jesus has plucked broken people out of the world, forgiven them, changed them and then dropped them right back into the mess imploring them to spread love, not hide it. I have been saved from this world, but I am also guilty for the state of this world.

Fifth, I have been saved from the devil. There is an enemy of Christ and His followers and there is an undeniable purpose behind learning more about him so that we can fight against his schemes. That being said, it is important to recognize that we are saved from Satan’s lordship, but not from his influence. In fact, I have become a prime target for him to attack now that I have given my allegiance to his Enemy: God.

Sixth, I have been saved from God. This is the point that feels the yuckiest to type, which explains why it is the least discussed. That being said, when we come to grips with this idea of salvation this point tends to help many of our issues fall in line. The difficulties that we have with God’s judgment and wrath make more sense when we identify that God is not the problem, I am. God does not take joy in punishing, He is simply too good to allow lawlessness to destroy something without taking action. God may allow people to endure eternal punishment, but this punishment arises because He lets us choose Him or someone else. All of the things that we need to be saved from find their way under this umbrella. Our biggest problem is that God is good and we are not. For this reason, I need to be saved from God’s justice, which by nature is aimed at me like an arrow pressed against a taut bowstring (see John 3:17-21)

Paul Washer explains what we have been saved from very succinctly: “When a man gets saved, he gets saved from God. The justice of God was coming for you. God saved you from himself, God saved you for Himself and God saved you by Himself.”

What an unbelievably gracious and good God that we serve. How unfathomably deep and wide is His love and how undeserving we are to stand before Him. Consider the weight that Jesus took on His shoulders when He swallowed God’s judgment that you and I incurred by our lives of rebellion. He did this for me. He did this for you. We have been saved from this God that we had denied and ignored. We have been saved for Hm. We have been saved by Him, alone.