Why Did God Save Me?
Originally published at Shane's Shack. Please leave any comments there.
Why did God choose to save me? Perhaps you’ve asked yourself this question at some point or another. I know that many times after I’ve done or said something and immediately I feel that nudge from the Holy Spirit which tells me I’ve acted or spoken sinfully, I ask myself that question. Particularly if its one of those nasty habitual sins which we all struggle with from time to time. Why did he save me? Of course, no one can answer the question, “Why did God save me and not this other person?” That isn’t the question of which I am speaking. In order to gain some insight into why God chooses to save us, let’s answer two other questions:
- What have I been saved from?
- What have I been saved for?
The simplest and most obvious answer to the first question is that we have been saved from hell. This answer is correct, but often doesn’t effect much of a change in how we live. Too many people who “get saved” do so to escape hell, but almost never live the way Jesus says born again people are supposed to live. Although we are all at risk of dying any moment and therefore one heartbeat away from heaven or hell, we don’t live or think that way. Consequently, we tend to think of heaven and hell as distant eventualities which we won’t have to worry about until we’ve lived a long full life. So escape from hell doesn’t normally result in a long lasting, life-long commitment to Christ-likeness.
A proper understanding of what we’ve been saved from not only involves our eventual salvation from hell, but it also involves a present, ongoing salvation from the power of sin. We have been saved from slavery. We are all born into slavery to sin and the powers which rule this earth, namely, Satan and his demons. Upon our birth into this world until the moment we are born again, we are helplessly enslaved to the passions and desires of our flesh. In the moment the Holy Spirit gives us the new birth, we are set free from our slavery because the Holy Spirit takes residence within us and gives us the power to say “no” to sin and ungodliness. From then on, for the believer it is simply a choice of obeying the Spirit or obeying the lust and passions of the flesh.
This is excellent news. However, in my experience and I’m sure in everyone else’s experiences, we don’t always understand the far reaching depth of our former slavery. After seventeen years of being a believer, I am only scratching the surface on understanding the depth of my former bondage. Because, even though I am set free, there are still areas of my life in which I live as though I were still enslaved. As I recognize these areas, I must allow Jesus to redeem them. I must allow the Holy Spirit to begin the process of shedding light upon these areas so I can confess them and repent. Bringing these areas under subjection to Jesus is the only way I will ever experience the freedom which Jesus purchased for me on the cross.
Answer: I have been saved from hell and I have been saved from the enslavement to sin which I was born into.
Question: What have I been saved for?
Everything which God does, God has a reason and purpose for doing it. This means that if you’ve been born again, God has a reason for saving you. He has a purpose for your life in the grand scheme of his ultimate plan for the Bride of Christ, the Church. Ephesians 2:10 has this to say:
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Every person whom He redeems, He has prepared for them redeemed works for them to accomplish. There are particular things which God will accomplish through us once we have been born again.
Unfortunately, armed with this knowledge, many people expend much time and energy trying to figure out these works ahead of time. “What’s God’s will for my life?” This maybe the most common question asked by Christians. It also may be the most misunderstood question which Christians ask. Because we as people like to know what’s coming at us so that we may map out our course, we tend to approach God’s will as a puzzle which must be pieced together and mapped out so we can know what’s coming. The problem with that is it isn’t Biblical because Jesus himself instructs us to cease worrying about tomorrow. It’s not that we shouldn’t try to plan and make provisions for the future. But we must ultimately understand that:
“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” - Proverbs 16:9
“The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way;” - Proverbs 37:23
Ultimately, no matter what our plans, if we delight in the Lord, he will direct our steps. It is in this directing that we accomplish each of those “good works” which he has prepared for us to do. Delighting in the Lord will always lead you to accomplish his will for your life. So delight in the Lord. If we have been saved for good works which he prepared for us, and delighting in the Lord will lead us to accomplish those good works, then the answer to our question is simple. Delight in the Lord.
Answer: We have been saved so that we may delight in the Lord and thereby accomplish every good work which he has prepared for us.
A natural side question might be, “What are these good works?” While no one can make an actual list because they vary from person to person and situation to situation, there are some works for which every believer shares responsibility. Here’s a short list just to name a few:
- Evangelism - Matt 28:16-20
- Love for each other - 1 John 3:16-18
- Hospitality - Romans 12:13, 1 Peter 4:9
- Bearing of each others burdens- Galatians 6:1-2
These works and many more should never be excused or rationalized away in our hearts. We are all commanded to do them. And if we truly love Jesus, why wouldn’t we desire to do these things?
So back to the original question: Why did God save me? I’m not sure I can sum it up succinctly in one sentence or phrase, but he saved you and I so we can be free from the power of sin. He saved you and I so we can take delight in him because there’s nothing else in the universe in which we can delight that satisfies us like he does. He saved us so that through that delight, we will do the good things which he prepared for us to do. He saved you and I because he chose to love us before the world began. We don’t deserve it, and it makes me all the happier to know that even still, he chooses to save.