ABCs of Salvation

We’re saved, we’re freed for evermore!
(Gretel: Your eyes are shut, pray who are you?
You’re sleeping, yet you’re singing too.)
O touch us we pray that we may all awake!
We thank you both!
The spell is broke and we are free,
We’ll sing and we’ll dance and we’ll shout for glee!
Come children all and form a ring
Join hands together while we sing!
Then sing and spring, then dance and sing
That through the wood our song of praise may sound
And echo repeat it all around!
The angels whispered in dreams to us in silent night
What this happy happy day has brought to light.
Ye angels who have watched o’er our steps
And led them right,
You we praise and thank for all our joy and wondrous Delight.
We’ll thank you all our life!
(From a children's opera by Engelbert Humperdinck based on the story of Hansel and Gretel)

In the scene above, from the re-telling of the story from Grimm's Fairy Tales, Hansel has just pushed the wicked witch into the oven and shut the door.  Scores of gingerbread cookies come to life, representing other children that the witch had kidnapped.  They all gather around Hansel and Gretel and sing the song, "We Are Saved."

In Christian circles, we talk a lot about being saved.  Salvation is an important doctrine, but I think very often we gloss over the term.  Some in the World mock Christians because they don't understand the term "saved."  Saved from what?  They don't understand the danger they are in spiritually--they believe the story of Jesus and his Redemption of all mankind belongs on the shelf with Grimm's Fairy Tales. 

The term "saved" implies that there was a danger that we have avoided.  Exactly what are we saved from?

Saved from Sin
Just like in the fairy tale above, where the children were in danger of being cooked for the witch's dinner, we are in danger of being consumed by sin.  Satan, the father of lies, lures us into complacency--a sense that we will be all right without God.  The more we see sin, the more accustomed we grow to it.  The more comfortable we are with it, the more we indulge in it.

At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures.  We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. (Titus 3.3)

Saved from Hell
Many people today think of God as loving and forgiving.  Followers of the social gospel believe that Jesus came to help the poor, and feed the hungry, and heal the sick.  They forget that He also came to save people from their sins.  God is a God of love; but He is also a God of judgment.  One day He will judge us all, separating the sheep from the goats.  Jesus came to give a hope and a future, a way to avoid sin and hell.  In His famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said:

If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away.  It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.  It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go to hell. (Matthew 5.29-30)

Saved by Grace
Once people realize they are in danger of hell fire, they try to clean up their act.  They try to avoid sin, and live a godly life.  But once sin blackens our soul, we cannot bleach it out; we cannot cover it up.  The stain is always there.  We would be willing to give our right arm for a second chance.  Thankfully, God has provided that for us.

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.  He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. (Titus 3.4-5)

So once we realize that we are separated from God by sin (Romans 6.23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord"), and that we are all sinners, every one of us (Romans 3.23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"), we come to the point where we know that we need a Savior.  Jesus is our Savior. Once we acknowledge that fact, and believe in Him, and call on His name, we will be saved.  It is as easy as ABC.

The story is told of a poor man who played the lottery religiously.  He hoped and prayed that he would win. One day he saw the good news that the ticket he held had all of the correct numbers.  He had won!  He danced for joy, because now all his prayers had been answered.  He put the lottery ticket in a safe place, and went out and quit his job.  He didn't need to earn any more money, he had won the lottery.  He bought a new car and new furniture on his credit card--he didn't have to worry about paying, because he had won the lottery.  But when the bills came due, he had no money to pay, because he had missed on crucial step--he had failed to cash in the ticket.  So his new car and new furniture were taken away.  He lost his house, because he had not kept up the payments.  He was hungry and destitute, even though he had won the lottery.

Many of us are just like that man.  We know that Jesus came to save us.  We believe His word of salvation.  But we do not receive it--we don't act on that knowledge and belief, so we miss out on the very thing we know is available to us.

This is the word of faith we are proclaiming: that if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord", and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. (Romans 10.9-10)

Acknowledge the truth.  Believe the word.  Call on His name.  Don't miss out.  Everlasting life can be yours.  Faith in Him will save you.  Grace is abundant and free.  Heaven or hell, the choice is yours.  I can't save myself.  Jesus is the only way. (You get the idea).