Saved From and Saved To What?

Psalms 62:1-4 ESV

 

“For God alone my soul waits in silence;

    from him comes my salvation.

He alone is my rock and my salvation,

    my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.

 

“How long will all of you attack a man

    to batter him,

    like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?

They only plan to thrust him down from his high position.

    They take pleasure in falsehood.

They bless with their mouths,

    but inwardly they curse. Selah”

 

If you look up this passage of Scripture in multiple commentaries you will probably discover that the commentators do not all agree on the meaning here, and some suggest that this could go several different ways. So if what I am being led to share here does not agree with what you have always thought this means, just know that its meaning is somewhat open to interpretation, although the overall emphasis is still the same.

 

The subject primarily focuses on the Lord being our salvation, and here I believe I am to talk about our eternal salvation, not physical salvation from physical harm. But since this also talks about enemies attacking a man to batter him, to knock him down, and that these enemies take pleasure in falsehood, it appears that they plan to take down this man with their lies coming from their mouths, and not physically with physical weapons.

 

The ”man” is not defined here for us, though the commentators will take a stab at interpreting who they believe the “man” is. I believe I am to look at the “man” more in a general sense, describing all of humanity, at least in this writing. And since this is connected to our salvation from sin and our eternal life with God, the Lord is leading me here to see this attack as an attack against the gospel of our salvation for the purpose to destroy man.

 

For many people today are purposefully lying about the gospel of our salvation, and for the express purpose to thrust humans down from God’s intended will and purpose for them, to bring them down to a lower level not fitting to the gospel of our salvation but fitting to the desires of human flesh. And so they are teaching our salvation from sin as though it is merely forgiveness of sins, an escape from hell, and eternal life with God in heaven.

 

So, in doing so, they are leading many people to a false hope of salvation from sin and eternal life with God based on a lie. Since they are not teaching that Jesus died to deliver us from our slavery to sin so that we can now live as slaves of God and of his righteousness, they are leaving their adherents still dead in their sins, still bound for hell, yet on the false promise of forgiveness of sins and of eternal life with God in heaven when they die.

 

And many of them are taking it to the degree to where they are teaching that we must not submit to Christ as Lord, that we must not obey his commands, and that we must not forsake our lives of sin, for they call that works-based salvation. And so their followers are continuing in their sin deliberately and habitually, convinced that all their sins are forgiven and that their sinful lifestyles will not impact their eternal security with God.

 

Psalms 62:5-8 ESV

 

“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,

    for my hope is from him.

He only is my rock and my salvation,

    my fortress; I shall not be shaken.

On God rests my salvation and my glory;

    my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

Trust in him at all times, O people;

    pour out your heart before him;

    God is a refuge for us. Selah”

 

Now this passage of Scripture teaches that God/Jesus Christ is our sole source of salvation from sin, not the teachings of man. Jesus Christ alone is our rock and our salvation, not man in his deceitful scheming. So, we need to make sure that we are getting our teachings on salvation from sin from the Scriptures themselves, and that we are studying these Scriptures in their context, for many lies come from Scriptures taught outside their context.

 

So, let’s look at what the Scriptures teach regarding our faith in Jesus Christ, regarding what Jesus did for us on that cross, and regarding what we are actually saved from and saved to. And let’s begin in Ephesians 2:8-10:

 

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

 

It is by God’s grace alone, via Jesus’ death and resurrection, that we are able to be saved from our sins and to have eternal life with God. We can do nothing in and of ourselves to earn or to deserve our own salvation. No amount of “good works” by our own efforts will ever secure for us salvation from sin and eternal life with God. Even the faith to believe in Jesus Christ comes from God and is gifted to us by God and is not our own doing.

 

But our salvation is not absent of works. For by God’s grace, through God-given faith in Jesus Christ, we now become God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus FOR GOOD WORKS, which God prepared beforehand, that we should WALK (in conduct, in practice) in them. So these works are of God and they are empowered by God, but we still must walk in them. We must still do the works God has for us, but in his power and strength and wisdom.

 

But what are we saved from? And what are we saved to? We are not saved merely from the penalty of sin and we are not saved merely to have eternal life with God in heaven. We are saved from our slavery to sin and we are saved to being slaves of God and of his righteousness, and to obedience to Christ, and to walking in his ways and in his truth in holiness, righteousness, moral purity, honesty, faithfulness, uprightness and in integrity.

 

On continuing in sin: “But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (See Ephesians 4:17-24).

 

“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.” “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?” (Romans 6:4,6,11,12,16)

 

“And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (1 John 2:3-6).

 

[Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2; Jn 6:44; 2 Pet 1:1; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-32; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:21-25; Rom 12:1-2; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Matt 7:21-23; Rev 18:1-6; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13]

 

Bring Him Home

 

By Alain Boublil / Claude Michel Schonberg / Herbert Kretzmer

 

God on high

Hear my prayer

In my need

You have always been there

Let him rest

Heaven blessed

Bring him home

Bring him peace

Bring him joy

You can take

You can give

Let him be

Let him live

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXnRf3TQcpk

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