Are You "Saved"?

Through decades of service, talking to tens of thousands of people, I can assess someone by his reaction to the word, “saved.” “Saved” is not regular terminology in normal society any more. I like to call it a technical term, because it comes from the Bible. Fewer people than ever understand what you’re talking about if you ask if they’re saved. “Saved” really does relate to “rescue.” Someone is in trouble, in a predicament, and probably headed for something worse unless someone rescues him or saves him.

Jesus first used “saved” in the New Testament in Matthew 10:22: “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.” That is a very common usage of “saved,” that is, in a future tense and passive voice. It is future, because salvation really isn’t complete until after we’re dead. It is passive, because Jesus saves, not us.

In one way, we’re saved immediately upon receiving Christ, because at that point, all our sins are forgiven – past, present, and future. Salvation, however, brings more than positional righteousness before God. A person’s life also changes. His life is different. Then finally God finishes the salvation by removing him completely from the presence of any sin right when he dies. That’s what Matthew 10:22 portrays, final salvation. A person who will not endure to the end as a believer wasn’t ever saved and also will not be saved. You know he is not saved, because he does not endure. Acts 2:47 also tells us that a church should be made up of saved people: “And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”