Jesus Saves ...

[Hashe]

The other day in church I was listening to yet another altar call. The preacher was telling us that Jesus saves. If we have problems with loneliness then we should come to the front because Jesus saves us from our loneliness. If we have problems with anger that is destroying our families then come to the front because Jesus saves. If we have problems with addictions then come to the front because Jesus saves.

As I was sitting there I started thinking about the concepts of Jesus and salvation. I had recently been studying the Christmas stories in the early chapters of Luke and Matthew. Jesus was born in interesting times. The Romans had control of the area and ruled through their patsy king Herod. Neither was particularly popular and the Jewish masses were hoping for a Messiah to come and save them from the situation.

The religious experts taught that their scriptures prophesised for a Messiah to come and lead their people to world domination. With the uniqueness of the Jewish people and the religious stubbornness these teaches were known throughout the Roman world. There a number of people who rose up and claimed to this Messiah. In Acts 5:35-37 Gamaliel speaks of Theudas and Judas the Galilean rising up, gathering men yet ultimately coming to nothing.

So when Jesus, the real Messiah came, many people didn’t get it. They were looking for a military leader to save them from their circumstances. What they got was a religious teacher who saved them from their sins. This made them so angry that the masses turned on Jesus and called from the Romans to kill him as a political agitator.

As I thought about the altar call, I wondered about the message being given. The message was Jesus saves but I’m not sure it was really about Jesus saves us from our sins. It seemed to be,’ Jesus will save you from your circumstances’. I’m not saying that churches shouldn’t be helping people overcome difficult circumstances. Churches should be in the business of loving people! But what is the message about Jesus that churches really give?

I reflected on a number of people I knew who had come and gone from different churches. What Jesus did they know? What Jesus did they want? Was he the saviour of their sins? Or did they rather want a saviour of their circumstances?

 

[Silk]

I hear what you are saying and surely the fact that Jesus died for the forgiveness of our sins has to be pre-eminent. But what kind of things tempt us to sin and/or continue sinning if not our own circustances? Christianity is a very personal religion. It is much more tempting to take things that don't belong to us when we are already struggling to feed families. It is easier to hang out with low companions when we are lonely. It is easier to strike out in anger and hurt somebody who doesn't deserve it. Strangely, walking with Christ, makes whatever circumstance we are in better, with hope, that we can untangle ourselves from sins that threaten to overwhelm us. It's when we think we can handle troubles all alone that we get into trouble. Pride blocks us from accepting any help. Just sayin'

 

[MichaelH]

I reflected on a number of people I knew who had come and gone from different churches. What Jesus did they know? What Jesus did they want? Was he the saviour of their sins? Or did they rather want a saviour of their circumstances?

I preach the whole Gospel of the Kingdom. In one of my services a man with inoperable cancer heard (internal bleeding, colon cancer and into his bowls)

I had no idea He got healed that day until he came back a month later with the doctor report and x-ray's. He carries those around and shares with others what the Lord did.

When Peter being questioned about what authority he used to make the paralyzed man walk at Gate beautiful. Peter responded by telling them it was Faith in the name of Jesus, for no other name has been given to men by which they may be healed and delivered.

And they set the men in their midst and repeatedly demanded, By what sort of power or by what kind of authority did [such people as] you do this [healing]? Then Peter, [because he was] filled with [and controlled by] the Holy Spirit, said to them, Rulers of the people and members of the council (the Sanhedrin), If we are being put on trial [here] today and examined concerning a good deed done to benefit a feeble (helpless) cripple, by what means this man has been restored to health, Let it be known and understood by all of you, and by the whole house of Israel, that in the name and through the power and authority of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Whom you crucified, [but] Whom God raised from the dead, in Him and by means of Him this man is standing here before you well and sound in body. This [Jesus] is the Stone which was despised and rejected by you, the builders, but which has become the Head of the corner [the Cornerstone].(1) And there is salvation in and through no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by and in which we must be saved.
(Act 4:7-12)

The Word Saved and Salvation in Greek does not mean Eternal life.

Salvation:
Feminine of a derivative of G4990 as (properly abstract) noun; rescue or safety (physically or morally): - deliver, health, salvation, save, saving.

Saved:
From a primary word σῶς sōs̄ (contraction for the obsolete σάος saos, “safe”); to save, that is, deliver or protect (literally or figuratively): - heal, preserve, save (self), do well, be (make) whole.

Jesus said it was the thief that came to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10) Jesus said I have come to give you life and give it abundantly. So, Jesus came to fix those things that kill us, destroy us, and steal from us.

When John in Prison asked if this was the Christ to come, Jesus said, You go tell John .............

Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
(Mar 1:14)

What is preaching the "REAL" gospel do?

Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
(Mat 11:2-5)

If we are not seeing these things, then we are not preaching any Gospel Jesus or Paul preached. We are feeding people dead and powerless doctrine where we just hope that they get saved.

Jesus is the same today, yesterday and Forever. The head of the Church has never changed, not one bit.