What Does it Mean to be SAVED?

This post is not exhaustive in any way, but does provide a glimpse into the definition of the ensuing question:

What does it mean to be saved?

Have you ever heard of the term “SAVED” and thought, SAVED from what?  What does SAVED mean?  Well, in biblical terms, it can mean many different things depending on the context of the scriptural passage.

In the general sense, it might mean for a thing to be preserved or rescued from harm or simply kept, guarded, or stored away for stockpiling or protection. 

For instance, people oftentimes speak of money that they have “SAVED” for a rainy day, rather than squandering it on frivolous purchases.  This is a common usage of the word, and it is likely not thought twice about as to the meaning of the word in everyday dialogue. 

In another sense, you may have read the news or heard of a story about a person who was cast from a ship overboard at night into the perilous waves of the ocean, treading water for countless minutes, without hope, nearly drowning to death, but was miraculously "SAVED" by the Coast Guard just before their life slipped away.

But regardless of its common usage, people will read the word “SAVED” in certain passages of the Bible and totally misunderstand or misinterpret its meaning, which can cause confusion within the context; even some pastors, unfortunately, are guilty of misinterpreting it.  We all could be guilty at some point, even when we mean well. 

This misinterpretation could simply be due to poor hermeneutics, in theological terms.  Or maybe a person might be trying to make a verse or passage appear to mean something that it’s not, simply to fit their denominational doctrine.  I guess there could be several reasons for misinterpretation.  I am sure you could think of a few reasons yourself.

By the way, hermeneutics is simply how one interprets or explains, or even expounds the Holy Scriptures, according to Webster's 1828 dictionary.

The interpretation of the term SAVED I am specifically referring to is in part for a person’s soul to be delivered from Hell upon the death of the mortal body.

But let us first look at an example of an UNSAVED person, to help us understand in more detail what it is to be SAVED.

In short, every living human being, saved or unsaved, is a trichotomy.  They are comprised of three parts—the body, spirit, and soul, which make the whole.

Genesis 2:7

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and BREATHED INTO HIS NOSTRILS THE BREATH OF LIFE; and man became a LIVING soul.”

In the first book of the Bible, the Holy Spirit of God records at the macro-level, the creation details of the first human life.  God squeezed, shaped, and sculpted from the lifeless, inert elements of the soil to mold the first man, Adam.  God, then through inspiration gave life to man, by expressing air into his lungs, in which he became a living soul; capable of autonomous movement, thought, emotion, understanding, communication, learning, creation, and so on.  He was made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26).

Of course, you were not made exactly the way Adam was made—that is, from the dust of the ground (although the earthly elements are within you), but rather through the God-ordained way of procreation.  Nevertheless, the Bible demonstrates that your composition, bodily or spiritual, is identical to Adam's.  You are a trichotomy, and you are his progeny.

This is what the Apostle Paul says here to those at Corinth: 

2 Corinthians 4:18:  

“While we look not at the things which are SEEN, but at the things which are NOT SEEN: for the THINGS WHICH ARE SEEN ARE TEMPORAL (temporary); but the THINGS WHICH ARE NOT SEEN ARE ETERNAL (everlasting).” 

This verse can be applied to human beings.  You and I naturally had come to understand by experience that the physical body is temporary because it IS SEEN, as Paul says.  The body will perish.  It will not last forever.  This we know.  But some folks might not totally understand that SPIRIT and SOUL are ETERNAL; this is that which is NOT SEEN.  In fact, some folks might not even understand that they have a spirit and a soul because it is NOT SEEN. 

And the soul in particular, though NOT SEEN, is the REAL YOU, not the body!

Keep these thoughts in mind as we read further.

In the time in which we now live when an UNSAVED or LOST man dies, (3) things immediately happen to him (or her):

The first thing is, that His body or tabernacle (as Paul calls it in 2 Corinthians, or Peter in 2 Peter), in that he is clothed in, goes to the grave. 

I think this is an easy concept to understand because it is very visual and experiential.  It is concrete in terms of evidence.  We can relate to the body because of the aforementioned thought of 2 Corinthians 4:18—things which are SEEN. 

Most people know that when someone dies, their body is put in a box and lowered down into the earth about 6 feet and covered with dirt or even placed in a tomb, in which the body begins to decompose, back to the earth (remember Adam was made from the elements of the soil). 

Sometimes those who are deceased are simply cremated; but there are those cultures that have their own ways to deal with the body based on their beliefs that might be different than burial or cremation.

As an example (of which there are numerous), here is what was done with John the Baptist’s body after Herod’s executioner beheaded him:

Mark 6:28-29

“And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother.

And when his disciples heard of it, they came and TOOK UP HIS CORPSE, AND LAID IT IN A TOMB.

The second thing is, that his spirit goes back to God who gave it.

Remember that when God formed the first man Adam, He breathed the breath of life into his lungs to make him a living, animated, thinking, human being.  This breath of life, I’d argue, is a man’s spirit.

Genesis 2:7

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and BREATHED INTO HIS NOSTRILS THE BREATH OF LIFE; and man became a LIVING soul.”

 

Job 27:3

“All the while my BREATH IS IN ME, and THE SPIRIT OF GOD IS IN MY NOSTRILS;”

It is said that King Solomon who authored the book of Ecclesiastes is the wisest person that ever lived.  He wrote by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God that a man’s spirit upon death goes back to God that gave it.

Ecclesiastes 3:21

“Who knoweth THE SPIRIT OF MAN THAT GOETH UPWARD, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?

Ecclesiastes 12:7

“Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and THE SPIRIT SHALL RETURN UNTO GOD who gave it.”

And the third thing that happens is his soul goes to Hell, in the heart of the earth, to await final judgment, just like the rich man Jesus speaks of in the book of Luke.  Again, this is the UNSAVED man—the lost man.  Mind you, this is NOT where you want to be:

Luke 16:22-24

“And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the RICH MAN ALSO DIED, AND WAS BURIED (body in the ground);

AND IN HELL he lift up his eyes, BEING IN TORMENTS, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; FOR I AM TORMENTED IN THIS FLAME.” 

I know people joke about hell, talking about how fun it will be when they will be hanging out with all of their friends, partying, and having a good time. 

I assure you, this is not how it will be, especially after the Great White Throne of Judgment, where all the lost souls (unsaved) will be judged by God and the Lord Jesus Christ according to their works, whose names were not written in the Lamb's book of Life.

After this judgment, those souls will be cast into the Lake of Fire with the devil, the beast, and the false prophet, who shall be tormented, every minute of every day, day and night, for eternity future.

Not only will the unsaved die a mortal first death (as all men, Hebrews 9:27), but they will die a second death in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone, where there will be excruciating torment; where the worm dies not and fire is not quenched, and there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth, separated from the love of God, friends, and loved ones, paying for their own sins to satisfy the judgment of God, because they never knew Him, thus they never knew Christ.

Those individuals in hell will have soulish-type bodies.  They will be conscious and have a conscience.  They will be able to feel, hear, see, think, taste, touch, and burn—just not the exact way a normal human body does—but they will have a soulish, what I would call, a spiritual body, nevertheless.  Those unsaved individuals in hell will also remember their past and be haunted by their former life, their decisions, and their deeds; how they have shunned the Son of God and will cry with great sorrow and regret, with no way to reverse the judgment of God.

Let’s look at the revelation of Jesus Christ received by the apostle John:

Revelation 20:10-25

“And the devil that deceived them was CAST INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE AND BRIMSTONE, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be TORMENTED DAY AND NIGHT FOR EVER AND EVER.

And I (John) saw a GREAT WHITE THRONE, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

And I saw THE DEAD, SMALL and GREAT, STAND BEFORE GOD; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and THE DEAD WERE JUDGED out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

And THE SEA GAVE UP THE DEAD which were in it; and DEATH and HELL DELIVERED UP THE DEAD which were in them: and THEY WERE JUDGED every man according to their works.

And DEATH and HELL were CAST INTO the LAKE OF FIRE. This is the second death.

AND WHOSOEVER WAS NOT FOUND WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE WAS CAST INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE.”

Do you understand what this passage is saying?  The UNSAVED, LOST man will be judged according to his works in which every possible work that he had done during his lifetime is recorded in THE BOOKS—even the things in which he, himself, had forgotten.

Every idle word, deed, and action will be brought to light and judged accordingly in perfect and holy righteousness.  He then will be cast—thrown—into the Lake of Fire forever and ever.

So what does it mean to be SAVED?  It means to be SAVED from the Great White Throne Judgment of God, the Lake of Fire, and the wrath of God.

I hope this post has provoked the question in your mind of HOW CAN A MAN THEN BE SAVED? 

The first step is understanding that YOU are a sinner (all mankind is born into sin and are sinners by nature), and you are headed to hell by default and cannot ever pay for your own sin penalty to be accepted into the presence of a Holy God.  You can only pay this sin penalty, yourself, by eternal damnation in the lake of fire after the Great White Throne of Judgment.

HOWEVER, GOD, BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU SO MUCH, sent His only begotten sinless Son, Jesus Christ— born of the virgin Mary, conceived by the Holy Spirit—God manifested in the flesh—to this earth, to pay your sin debt—your sin penalty by willingly dying on the cross, shedding His own blood on your behalf, in your place, satisfying the justice of God, and was buried and rose again the third according to the prophetic scriptures.

If you trust that God through Jesus Christ has done this for YOU, THEN YOU ARE SAVED!  You are SAVED from hell, the Great White Throne of Judgment, and the Lake of Fire, and have heaven as a present possession and will make heaven your permanent home when you die.

This is the GOSPEL by which YOU ARE SAVED.

1 Corinthians 15:1-4

“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you THE GOSPEL (good news) which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

BY WHICH ALSO YE ARE SAVED, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS according to the scriptures;

And that HE WAS BURIED, and that HE ROSE AGAIN THE THIRD DAY according to the scriptures:”

In this very instant, the moment you believe in His work on the cross—the gospel you just read, God SEALS you with the Holy Spirit of Promise!

Ephesians 1:13-14

“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”

Life is extremely short.  What's your decision?  Have you trusted?  Or were you already saved?  Leave me a comment or private email me at shortbiblestudy@gmail.com.  I’d love to hear your decision or your story.

I hope you found this a blessing.  Please pass it on.

Brother, Michael Huotari