What Did God Save You From?

This question was posed on a radio station, and I am curious as to how you would answer. How we answer is a vital look into our understanding of the Gospel.

Consider this; one person called in and answered the question pointing to the type of person they were before they came to Christ, and his answer was that God saved him from those things. Another answer given was that God saved them from some horrendous event in their life. Lastly someone answered stating God saved them from their sin.

All these answers may be true to some degree, but are they really getting at the heart of the question? When we speak of God saving people, we are speaking of salvation, so with that in mind, what does salvation save us from? In reality there is only one answer. God has saved us from… God.

That may seem a bit odd to say, but it is true. Salvation is about dealing with the sin in our lives. Without salvation, we would be justly required to endure the righteous wrath of God for eternity. But God, through His Son, has saved us from His own wrath.

Some might argue that the third answer given by the radio listener was correct, but it is not. God did not save us from sin. Instead, he saved us from the resulting judgment caused by our sin. It is true that one day we will be totally freed from the bondage of sin in this flesh, but that is not the full or proper understanding of salvation.

One final observation. The first two answers I found to be disturbing. If people think this is what the Gospel is about, then we as proclaimers of the Gospel have not presented the message clearly enough, or we have failed to make sure our hearers truly understand the Gospel. We need to be sure to communicate that salvation is not about having a better life, it is about dealing with the sin in our lives. All other aspects of the Gospel are secondary to this most important facet.

Am I My Brother’s Keeper?

Such was the question Cain posed to God after God approached him asking where Abel was. Of course God already knew the answer, proven by His rebuke of Cain immediately following, so it seems God was looking to make known something else. But what?

Actually, we do not have to dig far to find the answer. I touched on this before, back in February 2009, in a discussion on the community aspects of Salvation. The point made then was that salvation is not just an individual affair, but by its nature saves us into a community. The main passage noting this is from Genesis 2:18 when God comments “It is not good that the man should be alone, I will make him a helper fit for him.” Just as I stated before, while the emphasis is on the institution of marriage, it also introduces man’s need to live in community with other humans. So when we come to Cain’s rhetorical comment, understanding the gravity of his sin becomes even greater, and while we may have never committed murder, we find that we too can be guilty of another sin which Cain committed.

God created us to look out for one another, to be each other’s “helper.” Throughout Scripture we find various “one-another” commands, all geared toward helping each other get through life. The idea is loving support, being there for each other in both good and bad times. Praising each other for good things done and rebuking when we allow evil to creep in. In effect, to be each other’s keeper. We are created to live in community with each other, and the breakdown of this communal living is what is so grotesquely on display in Cain’s statement. May we not fall into that same trap.