It began around midnight with a few songs and prayer, which preceded the earthquake that opened all the prison doors. Immediately, all the chains that bound the prisoners were loosed.  The Philippian jailer panicked and drew a sword in order to kill himself but was stopped by Paul and Silas who wanted to assure him there was no need to do himself any harm as everyone was accounted for. His question in response was profound in many ways and has been repeated around the world for centuries, ever since that night: 

“Sirs…what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:25-30)

One thing I have noticed over the decades with my involvement in the ‘church world’ is how certain words and phrases we find in our Bibles can be tossed around so frequently, and as familiar as they might be to us, we can still lack understanding as to what they actually mean. You know, words like: ‘sin, righteousness, wrath, holiness’, and yes- even ‘saved’.

If you have been following my postings here for any length of time, you are probably aware of the fact that I tend to shy away from using this word ‘saved’ as I sidestep getting in to the discussion as to how one can ‘get saved, stay saved’, and heaven forbid dare we even talk about whether one can get ‘unsaved’.

The subject matter that I am compelled to focus and teach on is whether or not one is ‘abiding’ in Jesus. It is pretty safe to say that whoever is abiding in Jesus (John 15:1-8) is ‘saved, was saved, is being saved and shall be saved’, agreed? I mean really…what better place could anyone be in, outside of abiding in Jesus? And I suppose we could toss that word (abiding) into the mix of those others as well that can easily roll off our lips without fully grasping what it means.

For example, just because one says they ‘believe’ in Jesus does not automatically suggest they are ‘abiding’ in Him. To assume differently would be deceptively dangerous. Let me explain:

The word ‘abide’ found in John 15 comes from a Greek word that means to ‘remain or to continue’. This is no small detail.

On the day that the towers collapsed in NYC (9/11) there were numbers of people who made it out of the towering infernos before they came crashing down. Firemen and other rescue workers made their way up countless flights of stairs and found pockets of people huddled in fear under tables and desks as flames and smoke billowed all around them. You can only imagine the relief that many of those terrified souls had to feel when seeing those firemen arrived on the scene.

While I was not there among them, I feel pretty confident when I suggest that those firemen did not show up and simply tell those individuals to just ‘believe in them and they would be saved’.

Picture this if you can, being crouched under a desk and you see the comforting face of your rescuer appear as he assures you that everything is going to be okay. “Believe in me” he whispers to you. Do your eyes fill with tears as you let out of deep sigh of relief and then sit back and begin singing hymns while thanking God you have been ‘saved’? )Well, maybe that first part accompanied by a quick whisper of 'Thank you, God!')

Are you indeed ‘saved’ in that very moment as all worry and dread and fear leaves you? Or is this just the beginning of you…’being saved’? I’m pretty certain that the comforting voices of those heroes that day wanted to convey calm and reassurance that everything was going to be okay, but they would need to hurry and get up and…follow them out of the room and down the stairways to fresh air and safety. In other words, in that moment that they 'put their trust’ in those rescue workers, they were not instantly transposed outside or back home with their families.

What do you suppose would have happened if any of them had remained under their desk and just wept tears of joy over seeing the firemen, but then opted not…to follow them out to safety? Yet, they loudly proclaimed their ‘faith’ in the firemen and thanked them for ‘saving’ them while singing another verse of Amazing Grace.

It's important we see here that simply declaring their ‘faith and trust’ in those firemen who were there to ‘save’ them, involved more than just a verbal affirmation of agreement while ‘believing in their hearts’ they were there.

They had to get up and follow them out to safety. They had to ‘abide’ or ‘continue to follow’ them down the stairways if they had any hope in ever seeing the light of day once again. And if for any reason, if any of those who were following these heroes made a choice to turn around and go back and grab a purse or their phone or maybe even doing something stupid like running to the break room to grab a soda and a sandwich, it could have proven to be fatal. Were they still ‘saved’ if they made that choice, especially if they lingered and then the collapse came?

I bet you can see where this is going. We know that God sent Jesus into this world, not to ‘condemn the world, but that through Him the world might be saved’. (John 3:17)

His message was clear from the beginning: “Repent…and follow Me.” (Matt. 4:17,19). And later on we would hear His words of promise as He said: “but he who endures to the end shall be saved.” (Matt. 24:13).

Many sincere 'believers' like to remind themselves as they reassure one another that ‘no one can snatch you from the Father’s hand’. (John 10:28). But you do realize who Jesus was making that promise to there, yes? He was talking about ‘His sheep’ and ‘His sheep hear His voice…and they follow Him.” (10:27). They abide…in Him. They ‘do’ what He says. (Matt. 7:21,24; Luke 6:46). Failure to do ‘whatsoever He says’…could lead to ‘utter destruction’. (Acts 3:22-23; Luke 13:3,5)

Some folks may agree with Jesus, where simply ‘saying Lord, Lord’ is not good enough to be ‘saved’. They have to ‘really believe in their heart’ that Jesus is who He claimed to be and rose from the dead’…and if they ‘really believe’, then they will be ‘saved’. But Jesus did not say we must ‘really believe and put our trust in Him’ in order to be ‘saved’, or to ‘enter the kingdom of heaven, He stated rather plainly: “Those who do the will of the Father will enter in the kingdom of heaven’ (be saved). (Matt. 7:21)

So…let’s take a look at what it means as to what we are ‘saved’ from? That would be a good place to start. When you say you are, or were 'saved’, just what were you ‘saved from’? This is where responses might vary and the picture gets fuzzy; which is why turning to the Bible is a good idea.

“Saved” folks understand that “God demonstrated His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8) And if you read on there, we are told that “now having been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from (God’s) wrath through Him.” (9). It is the ‘wrath of God’ that Jesus came to ‘save’ us from.

So what exactly is ‘wrath’? A simple definition is ‘anger and indignation poured out as a form of punishment for wrong doings’.

John 3:36 states that the ‘wrath of God’ abides or remains on all who do not ‘believe in the Son’. And Why…is God’s wrath on everyone who does not ‘believe’ in the Son? The short answer is this: God set a law in place - the law brings wrath when we break it - sin is breaking that law, and everyone has sinned. (Gal. 3:17,19; Matt. 5:17; Rom. 4:15; 1 John 3:4; Rom. 3:23). And Jesus came to ‘save’ us from that ‘wrath’.

And just ‘how’ does Jesus ‘save us from the ‘wrath of God’? Well, since breaking God’s law is ‘sin’, and whoever commits sin is a slave to sin (Rom. 8:34), and we know that breaking God’s law brings wrath, Jesus leads us as He frees us to ‘go and sin no more’ because He sets us free from the power that sin had over us. (Luke 4:18). And if/when God's Spirit shows up in your life, it can happen rather quickly, almost like it did for those prisoners in the jail that night at Philippi. ;- )

But simply saying you ‘believe’ in Him or ‘trust what He did for us’ is not enough to escape the wrath of God. You have to follow, or ‘abide’ in Him. He makes it pretty clear that a day is coming (and is already here) that “every tree that does not bear the right kind of ‘fruit’ will be cut down and thrown in to some ‘fire’.” (Matt. 3:10; 7:19). He also made it rather clear for anyone who reads that unless we are ‘abiding’ in Him, there can be no good fruit produced in our lives. (John 15:4-5). You have to abide in Him. And guess what? IF…you are abiding in Him, you no longer sin. (1 John 3:6). How can I say such an outlandish thing? Well, I really didn’t say it or make that up. I’m just telling you what the Bible says. And this is how we can know if we are abiding in Him, and know Him…and are ‘in Him’ – we keep His commandments and walk just like Jesus walked. (1 John 2:3-6). His words, not mine.

This is how Jesus ‘saves’ us from the wrath of God. He sets us free from the power of sin and the devil (Acts 10:38; 26:18) and He leads us in the pathway of peace (Luke 1:79) so that we can ‘go and sin no more’. (John 5:14; 8:11) This is what it means to ‘abide’ in Him.

Now I realize that many folks have been taught differently and that if they ‘accepted Christ’ or ‘joined the church’ that they are now ‘exempt’ from being punished for sins; as in God’s wrath can’t or won’t come upon them. Yet, Paul said: “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things, the wrath of God comes’. (Eph. 5:5-6; Col. 3:6). Why, even Jesus added that warning when He told that man whom He healed…to ‘go and sin no more or…something worse might come upon you’. That would be ‘wrath’ that comes when we break the law.

Do you know how to escape God’s wrath? Abide in Jesus. And if you do, He enables and empowers you by His grace…to walk just like He walked, which means that we too, will ‘fulfill the law’. (Matt. 5:17; Rom. 8:4). Oh, and just to clear up any lingering confusion, it will be rather clear if you are abiding in Him as you will ‘love as He loved’ which is…the fulfillment of…the law. (John 13:34-35; Matt. 22:34:40; Rom. 13:8-14). And these are the ones who will be justified, or ‘saved’. (Rom. 2:13)

Have a nice day. :- )