Saved From What?
Yes, God is love. He is also righteous, just, and pure. He is uncompromising when it comes to sin.
“That if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9 WEBU)
Strong’s Greek Dictionary defines “save” as: deliver, protect, heal, preserve, do well, made whole. It defines “salvation” as: rescue, safety, deliver health, saving.
God is patient, but at some point only he knows, he will drop the hammer on those who do evil things or continually ignore him.
God is not an indulgent grandparent who caters to your wishes or lets you get away with everything. Jesus is not a softie. When you disobey God, you are poking a bear. You are playing with dynamite.
Saved from what, indeed. Take a look at these verses from the Bible.
These are from the Old Testament. God sent prophets to warn the Israelites to repent and turn back to God.
But the destruction of transgressors and sinners shall be together, and those who forsake the LORD shall be consumed. (Isaiah 1:28 WEBU)
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20 WEBU)
Therefore as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and as the dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust, because they have rejected the law of the LORD of Armies, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 5:24 WEBU)
“Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.” (Isaiah 13:9 KJV)
“Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched. (Jeremiah 7:20 KJV)
“Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them.” (Jeremiah 11:11 KJV)
“But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the LORD.” (Jeremiah 12:17 KJV)
“And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the LORD: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them.” (Jeremiah 13:14 KJV)
“Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good. When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.” (Jeremiah 14:11-12 KJV)
“They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcasses shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth. For thus saith the LORD, enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, even lovingkindness and mercies.” (Jeremiah 16:4-5 KJV)
There is much more in Isaiah and Jeremiah. Some of it is very graphic. Also look at Ezekiel, Hosea, and Amos.
Many people think of Jesus as only kind, warm, gentle, and loving. He is those things, but he is not only those things.
And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.” (John 2:15-16 KJV)
Jesus lays a ton of woe on the scribes and Pharisees (the rulers of the time) to their faces in Matthew Chapter 23. He calls them hypocrites, pretentious, a child of hell, debtors, fools, blind, and whitewashed. Then he asks,
“Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?” (Mat 23:33 KJV)
Look at why Jesus said he came.
“I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! (Luke 12:49 ESV)
“Do you think that I have come to give peace in the earth? I tell you, no, but rather division.” (Luke 12:51 WEBU)
In Revelation, chapters 1-3, Jesus gives performance reviews to the seven major churches. Some of it is harsh.
So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: (Revelation 3:16-17 KJV)
The Bible describes what happens to those who ignore, turn away from, or reject their Creator.
“The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 13:41-42 KJV)
“…, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,” (2 Thessalonians 7-9 ESV)
“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” (John 3:18 KJV)
“ He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36 KJV)
“ 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. (Revelation 20:12-15 ESV
Pay attention.
Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. (Matthew 13:9 KJV)
God, in his infinite mercy, provided a path to salvation.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17 KJV)
“Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16 ESV)
“Look to me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.” (Isaiah 45:22 WEBU)
“The LORD preserves the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me.” (Psalms 116:6 ESV)
“I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.” (Psalms 18:3 KJV)
“He said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.’” (Luke 7:50 WEBU)
“And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Acts 2:21KJV)
“Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we will be saved from God’s wrath through him.” (Romans 5:9 WEBU)
“that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9 WEBU)
“For, ‘Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” (Romans 10:13 WEBU)
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,” (Ephesians 2:8 ESV)
“not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,” (Titus 3:5 WEBU)
Dear God,
The devil has caused me to doubt your existence. And if I did believe, even a little, I thought you to be patient, loving, and forgiving. You are those things, but I see you are much more. You are holy and just, and you eventually run out of patience. I thought I had time, that I might get around to you later.
I see that I was misled and mistaken. You are God, and I am not. Thank you for opening my eyes with these verses to the dangerous path I am on. I see that you can be very hard. I realize now that if I died today, I would not have another chance to come to you. It would be too late and I’d be lost forever.
I’m terrified by this and I’m afraid of what it means to my lifestyle if I turn to you. Thank you for showing me the way. Thank you for hope. Please help me understand that your way is the best way for me. Please show me and teach me. Help me to fully embrace you and Jesus and model my life after your teaching and commands.
Amen