There is a phrase in Christian usage that has caused a lot of trouble. We hear it as "He got saved" or something similar. I've tried to find the etymology (origin) of it but haven't found anything.
It certainly does not appear in the Bible but that alone doesn't mean it is wrong. Christians use lots of words to describe doctrinal beliefs and these words are not in the Bible. An example is "Trinity." Right or wrong, it is a concise way of describing the three-in-one nature of God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The phrase "got saved" probably started out as a short way to say "He received Jesus as his savior". However it did come to exist, it was made too short and it became unclear and lost too much of its meaning. That left it open to misinterpretation and those misinterpretations led to false doctrines in the church.
In this study we will look at what the Bible says about salvation and the assurance we can have that we will be saved.
What Does it Mean to be Saved?
The first thing to understand about "got saved" is the word "saved". It means to keep safe or rescue from a danger. We might use it in a sentence like "he saved her from drowning." The word "salvation" has the same meaning but is a noun instead of a verb.
So what is the danger that Christians are saved from? They are saved from Judgment Day and the Second Death in the Lake of Fire, as Revelation calls it. In truth, they are saved from the wrath of God. These are events that are still in the future.
Most Bible verses that speak of being saved speak of it as a future event.
You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved. (Matthew 10:22, Mark 13:13)
But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. (Matthew 24:13)
He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned (Mark 16:16).
I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. (John 10:9)
In a few Bible verses, "being saved" is described as a present state. In these though there is a conditional clause "if you continue" that is either implicit or explicit. An example of the present tense "are saved" with the explicit clause is:And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Acts 2:21 quoting Joel)
Is it a Possession?[…] by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:2)
The second thing to understand about "got saved" is the verb "got". It implies that the person now possesses something. In the same way we could say "He got paid" and expect the person now possesses pay.
"Got" is a present tense verb meaning "received." Salvation, however, is a future event, as we have seen. We can't be saved now from a future danger. For example, we can't save someone today from drowning next year.
So "got saved" can easily be misinterpreted as describing salvation as a present possession, when it is actually the beginning of a new life, a new walk, that will result in future salvation … if we continue on that path. What we do possess after accepting Jesus is a promise that we will be saved, but the promise is contingent on continuing in faith.
Once a person starts thinking of it as a possession, it is possible to think it as something a person can gain, through his own actions, or lose, accidentally or unknowingly as though through a hole in his pocket. These are very mistaken ideas. The promise of a future salvation is conditional on the faith of the person, at his death or on judgment day. Until then we have nothing.
How This Went Wrong
Faith is difficult for everyone. We prefer proof and reality. We understand that salvation is by faith alone, but how can we be assured that we are still on that path to salvation, even years after the day we received Jesus as our savior? Shouldn't there be some way of knowing that for sure?
Out of questions like this came the different versions of the false doctrine of "Once saved, always saved." Their basis is that once you have possessed salvation, you can never lose it. As we've seen though, salvation is not a present possession nor a possession at all, but a future event.
These doctrines have to twist the plain meaning of Bible verses, including the quote above from 1 Corinthians 15:2 where Paul says "you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you"
The "got saved" error and the desire to be assured of salvation led to a false doctrine that has resulted in many leaving the path to salvation without realizing they ever left.
Can We be Assured that We are Still on the Path
It's a natural thing to ask. Am I still on the path? How can I know?
The short answer comes from the question. If you care enough to ask the question "Am I still on the path" and to check yourself, then there probably isn't a problem. Ironically, those people who are in danger, are those who say they know for sure.
These questions must have also come up in early Christianity because the apostle John addresses them in 1 John. In that epistle we lays down standards that can be used to check yourself.
Here John says we should check ourselves for any darkness. If our walk, the life we live, is in darkness then we are not on the path. Later he will talk about that darkness as living without love for God and instead loving the world and living like the world.[…] God is light, and there is no darkness at all in him. 6 And if we say that we have communion with him and we walk in darkness, we are lying, and we are not informed of the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have communion with each other and the blood of Yeshua his Son purges us from all of our sins. 8 And if we shall say we do not have sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and he will purge us from all our evil. 10 And if we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not with us. (1 John 1:5-10)
He goes on to say that, if we continue to walk in the light, Jesus' sacrifice atones for our sins. Why would that atonement be necessary if we are walking in the light - because we sometimes sin, even though we walk in the light. If we reject the idea that we sin, he says, we are wrong, self-deceived, and the whole truth is not in us. If we go so far as to say we have not sinned, we effectively call Jesus a liar because he said we do sin.
When we sin and confess, he will forgive us and apply his atonement to purge us. Therefore we see confession not as a one-time event when we receive Jesus as savior, but as an ongoing process.
In summary he is saying that, if we are walking in the light we will desire to continue to walk in the light and care about sin, confession, forgiveness and atonement. The one who walks in darkness believes he has no sin and that he walks in the light.
It's important to understand here that John is talking to brothers in the faith. He uses 'we' and 'us' throughout these verses and therefore includes himself.
John Continues on With Another Self-test.
John says we sense or understand that we know the Messiah because we keep his commandments. His intent is not just that we keep his commandments but that we desire to keep his commandments so that we will keep on keeping his commandments. So his point is that we know that we know the Messiah because we have a desire to keep his commandments.And by this we sense that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 For he who says, "I know him", and does not keep his commandments, is lying and the truth is not in him. 5 But he who keeps his word, in this one truly the love of God is perfected, for by this we know that we are in him. 6 He who says, "I am in him", must walk according to his walk. (1 John 2:3-6)
So his test is this: do you still desire to keep his commandments? Are his commandments a burden to you? Are they something you do because you know you should? Are you spending time trying to find ways to skirt around them? Do you tire of walking righteously?
John concludes this point by saying you must walk the walk Jesus walked. From what John said earlier we know that we will not walk the walk of Jesus perfectly. John's point is that you should still desire to walk that walk.
John's Next Test
Again he see that John is speaking to fellow believers. Who would claim that they walked in the light except believers?Whoever says, therefore, that he is in the light and hates his brother, is in darkness still. 10 But he who loves his brother dwells in light and there is no violation in him. 11 But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. (1 John 2:9-11)
We also see that it is possible for a believer to say that he is in the light but is in fact walking in darkness and does not know it because he is walking in darkness.
John began this series by saying we should walk in the light. Then he said if you are walking in the light your desire will be to keep his commandments. Now he has spoken of the second of the great commandments "love your neighbor as yourself".
John's Next Test
John now switches to the other great commandment "love the Lord your God …" and his test is, what do you love? Do you desire the things of the world or do you know there is no lasting value in them? All of those things will be burned away. Only those who do the will of God will last.Do not love the world, neither the things that are in it, for whoever loves the world does not have the love of the Father in him. 16 For everything that is in the world: the desire of the body and the lust of the eyes and the pride of temporal life, these are not from the Father but these are from the world. 17 The world is passing and its lust, but he who does the will of God continues for eternity. (1 John 2:15-17)
In closing, John reminds us what this is all about.
SummaryAnd this is the promise which he has promised us: Eternal life! (1 John 2:25)
Being saved is a future event, not a current possession. We cannot lose our salvation because we do not possess it. What we do possess is a promise that we will be saved from eternal death in the future, but that promise depends on us continuing to walk in the light.
Assurance of salvation (that we will be saved) only comes by introspection, checking ourselves. These are the tests that John suggests.
- Do we desire to continue to walk in the light and care about our relationship with sin / darkness
- Do we hear the Holy Spirit convicting us when we sin
- Are we quick to confess when we have done wrong
- Do we desire to keep his commandments
- We must strive to walk as Jesus walked
- Do we love our brothers
- Do we love the world