What Does it Mean to be Saved?

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

So: what does it mean to be saved?  I mean, we say it all the time, but what does it mean?  If we’re going to be thankful for our salvation in Christ, this seems like an important question.

So what does it mean to be saved?  Well: our first inclination in answering this question usually involves a pretty heady answer.  We’ll offer some doctrine on the theory of the atonement, attempting to dot all the right “i’s” and cross all the right “t’s” to ensure that our answer comes down clearly as “truth.”  So we’ll say Jesus died for our sins; paid the penalty for our sins for us, took the wrath of God upon himself—something like that. 

But these answers are more about the mechanics of how God saved us.  How God got us from being sinful people to saved people.  And it must be noted that the church has spoke in terms of “theories” of the atonement, because while we know and believe that it happened—that Jesus died for us—we remain somewhat unsure of what all exactly did happen to make us right and well with God when Jesus died, was buried, rose, and ascended.  So, we have theories: different pictures that the Bible offers to help us understand it, but not necessarily a clear winner that topples all the rest.    

Ok, but that aside: even having laid down a good, faithful, and truthful answer about the doctrine of salvation—we still would not have really answered the question posed at the beginning, “what does it mean to be saved?” 

Because a question like that is actually quite a bit more subjective.  It’s a question about where God’s salvation in Christ meets us: real human people with real human problems and real particular struggles and sins.

After having been born and raised as a Christian all my life, it was finally in seminary that I discovered the answer to this question in my life—and not because of the education I was getting in theology. 

I had spent much time through my younger years trying to “save myself” from the threat of divorce that had broken apart a number of marriages in my family.  So I attempted to force dating relationships to work that really didn’t work, and burned myself out in the process.  I realized in reflection that what I had really been seeking, was salvation.  Not from some abstract concept of Sin: but from a very particular historical manifestation of Sin in my family history that I feared would swallow me up too—divorce.  And I had been seeking this salvation by my own works.  I was single-handedly attempting to redeem my own sin-broken family history. 

But here’s the thing: I’m not the saviour.  And that work is just too big for me.  It burned me out.  But then I remembered: I already have a Savior who saves and redeems from all our Sin and sin-broken realities, including broken-families like mine.  All at once, the Word was made flesh and moved into my life.  All of a sudden it clicked, and I knew what Salvation meant to me.  A huge weight was lifted and joy and thanksgiving spilled right out of me.

So, if you’re going to be thankful for your salvation in Christ, this is an important question: what does it mean in your life to be saved by Jesus?