Salvation

To Be Pulled from the Fire.

There's this excellent story that Mark tells about Jesus. In this story, Jesus (plus his disciples, plus a large crowd) is leaving Jerusalem. As he is going, a blind man - named Bartimaeus - hears of it.

Loudly and unashamedly, Bartimaeus cries out for Jesus, the "Son of David." Upon hearing his cries, Jesus invites Bartimaeus over to himself and asks him this profound question: "What do you want me to do for you?"

"My teacher, let me see again," Bartimaeus answers. Here's what happens next:

Jesus said to him, "Go; your faith has made you well." Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way."¹

It's a miracle! Bartimaeus, this person who couldn't see (he was blind) and couldn't work (he was a beggar), was made well.

Now, there's one word in the verse above that I would like to highlight, and it's not an English word. It's a word from the original language in which the New Testament was written (Koine Greek).

The word is σῴζω, pronounced sōzō in English. It is a word that comes up often throughout the New Testament. While it can mean "heal" or "be made well" (as it is often translated in this passage), it can also mean "save." Thus, when Paul writes in Ephesians (which we will look at momentarily) that we have been "saved by grace through faith," he uses the same Greek word: sōzō.

I find it beautiful that the same word used in the New Testament for "heal" is the same word used for "save."

From this story, though, I want to focus on three observations that will be relevant going forward.

1. Bartimaeus' life looked a certain way before encountering Jesus.

2. Bartimaeus placed faith in Jesus and was healed/made well/saved.

3. Bartimaeus' life looked completely different after encountering Jesus.

With that in mind, we'll go now to perhaps the most detailed articulation of salvation by grace through faith in the New Testament: Ephesians 2:1-10. Whether you've read these verses one time or a thousand times, I invite you to read them once again - as they are so life-giving and full of truth.

You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, doing the will of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else, but God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we may walk in them.

Such powerful, powerful words these are. Let's briefly look at three phrases from this passage that will help us have a fuller understanding of salvation, one that opens our eyes to the richness of God's surpassing, indescribable gift of salvation.

"You were dead…" (Verses 1-3)

The first three verses here hold back no punches. They tell it like it is [was]. Before experiencing the gift of salvation, we were walking down the wrong paths. We were following false rulers. We were controlled by deceitful passions.

But, thanks be to God, we have been saved from a life of spiritual death. No longer are we walking in the sins and trespasses that we used to walk in, for now we walk in the light of God. No longer are we following the course of this world, for we are following Jesus, the One whom all things came into being.

However, there is more to the plan of salvation than being saved from slavery to sin and death. So much more.

In fact, Christians can get into trouble when we start emphasizing more of what we're saved from than what we're saved for. We can get a little too close for comfort to fundamentalism when we talk only about what God has saved us from and not all of the glorious things He has saved us for.

Salvation isn't just about being brought out of death. It's also about being brought to life.

Just as recovery from alcoholism isn't just about no longer being controlled by alcohol but also about living a life of sobriety and victory over alcohol, so is living a life of dedication and victory in Jesus.

Getting out of debt isn't just about no longer being indebted but also about living with fewer financial burdens and more freedom.

Getting serious about your health isn't just about leaving behind unhealthy habits but also about embracing a more active lifestyle.

"You have been saved…" (Verses 4-9)

Our God is gracious, a God who is rich in mercy, who loves us with a great love, and who is kind towards us.

Count the number of times you read the word "grace" in these verses. It comes up over and over again in just a few sentences.

Friends, we are saved by grace through faith. It becomes very, very clear after reading these verses that we do not save ourselves. People who are dead in sin cannot, on their own, make themselves come alive. In fact, only One can make dead people come alive - and it is the same One who raised Jesus from the dead on that glorious, first Easter morning.

Growing up, I thought that attending church on Sundays and knowing the classic Bible stories taught in Sunday School made you a Christian. It wasn't until I was in the eighth grade that I realized that's not what made a person a Christian. Instead, it is through placing one's faith in Christ and thus receiving God's gift of salvation that one becomes a Christian.

"Created in Christ Jesus for good works…" (Verse 10)

Alright, God saves us by grace, and we're saved from a life of spiritual death and darkness. Now what? Or, is that all there is - simply a life saved from slavery?

By no means! As Paul plainly states in verse 10, you and I were created in Christ Jesus for good works. A life that has received God's gift of salvation and has the fruits to show for it is beautiful.

Good works do not save Christians; we're created for them.

Of course, we do not do these good works by our own strength or power. Instead, we rely on God, as God enables us to do these good works. Paul writes in Philippians 2, "For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure."²

Who isn't inspired by stories of people who are rescued from disasters (whether they be fires, floods, bombings, etc.) - and then willingly choose to go back and help those who are still in need of rescue? In a not-too-different way, followers of Jesus are saved and then are sent out to give ourselves for others.

I recently heard the story of a group who called themselves The Rescue Society. The Rescue Society was formed by a group of people who lived along a coast where many shipwrecks took place - as the waters had many dangerous reefs and rocks. In its early days, The Rescue Society did a lot of good. They saved a lot of people. Unfortunately, that didn't last long. Robert Mulholland records what happened to this society that was initially created to save people who were in danger of being lost at sea:

"Before long, the maintenance and perfection of the rescue station, its techniques, its equipment, became the focus of the Rescue Society. One night, while the entire Rescue Society was attending yet another meeting to perfect their rescue skills, a great passenger liner struck upon the reef and sank. Hundreds of people were lost because there was no one left to go to their rescue. The Rescue Society had come to exist for its own perfection and not for the sake of others."³

What a tragic picture of what happens when saved people don't work towards saving others.

You and I, we were created for good works.

Back to Bartimaeus

Let's finish up where we began: the story of Bartimaeus.

I love the last sentence of that story: Immediately [Bartimaeus] regained his sight and followed him on the way.

What did he do after his sōzō experience, his healing/saving? He followed Jesus. The Savior of the World. The Great Physician. The Son of David.

And that's what we do as people who have received salvation. We follow Jesus. No longer are we "following the course of this world." No, for we have been saved by grace through faith, made alive in Christ, and now we follow Jesus - doing the good works we were created to do in him.

1. Mark 10:52

2. Philippians 2:13

3. From Invitation to a Journey by M. Robert Mulholland.