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To know what it means to be "saved", I suppose the logical question to ask would be, "saved from what?" What exactly is it that Christians claim we are saved from, and why do we need saving?

Christians believe that natural man is in a state of separation from his Creator. They further believe that this separation is a result of mans sin - that man is utterly incapable of not sinning. So we have this problem, that of being separated from our Creator by our sin, and then our inability to not sin. It would seem to be a hopeless cause for anyone who wishes a relationship with his or her Creator. And for man, in and of himself, it is hopeless. But the Creator of man is a loving God, thank God.

Our Creator, knowing we were incapable of not sinning, provided a way for our sins to be made null and void. He did this through a process called justification. Justification is a big word that simply means it is just-as-if-you-never-sinned. Your Creator accomplished this through the death of His son Jesus Christ on the cross. Jesus provided the means for sinful man to approach and have a relationship with their perfect Creator. Jesus blood was shed for the forgiveness of all people's sins. As a result of Jesus sacrifice, all have forgiveness of their sins, and God chooses to not remember your sin, He places them behind his back, never to see them again. So is this what we are "saved" from?

Jesus Christ provided forgiveness of your sins when He died on the cross. But man still has one more problem, because there was a penalty for our sin, and that penalty was death. Not just physical death, but spiritual death. Our sin caused us to be separated from our Creator not just for this life, but also for all eternity. So even though all are forgiven, they have a greater problem, they are still dead. When Jesus died on the cross He was substituting Himself for you. It was rightfully you who deserved to be crucified and to die. If it had been you, there would have been no hope for you. You would have remained separated from God for eternity. But it wasn't you - it was Jesus Christ, God the Creator in human flesh, and death could not hold Him, it had no claim on Him for He is perfect. He raised Himself back to life eternal life. And He now offers every man, woman and child that very same eternal life. We are not saved from our sins; we are saved from the wages of our sin, we are saved from eternal death.

Sin is not the issue - receiving life is the issue. First a person must recognize their sin. Then a person must recognize their need for life. Then one has only to thank God for providing for them what they could not for themselves. This is the beginning of salvation.

The only thing a dead man needs is life. To be saved means that you have received eternal life.

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