Nougat 10

Acts 2 is rich in content and merits ‘independent’ reflection. Today’s Holy Nougat invites us to take a deeper look at a key idea covered there.

Acts 2:21 CEVDCI

[21] Then the Lord will save everyone who asks for his help.”

The Lord Saves

I might have shared before that when I was 7 years old, two of my sisters got saved. They came from a nearby crusade (i.e., an evangelistic service or a tent meeting) very excited about their decision. My mom was also excited for them. I had no idea what it was, but I wanted some of their excitement. And like Simon the Sorcerer, I said I wanted to be ‘saved’ too. Thankfully, that’s where the similarity ends, because I didn’t have any money to purchase salvation.

I believed that my sisters referred to ‘savings’ in the bank, and not saved. My mistake is understandable as the nearby banks had just introduced personal banking for children through ‘Schools Savers Clubs’, and I was working up the courage to ask my mom for permission to join.

Thanks to the misunderstanding, I was permitted to open an account. But far more importantly, it was explained to me that ‘saved’ for a believer in Y’shua was the fact of accepting Y’shua’s Lordship over my life, in exchange for salvation from hell. The concept is the foundation of our relationship with Christ.

Deeper Dive

Saved, as used in our Nougat derives from sózó, a Greek root that refers to healing, preserving, rescuing or deliverance. It could also refer to protection. Under the Hebrew Covenant, being saved was used in the context of Lot’s escape from the volcanic destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Noah and family escaping the Great Flood, or Job’s servant escaping the fire. In those stories, the act of salvation is limited to one person or a family. We may also extend the idea to include the Children of Israel being saved from pharaoh as God delivered them from bondage into the Land of Promise. Without a doubt, those stories remind us that God is mighty to protect, deliver heal and restore. But that concept was not universal for all humanity.

There is a shift to include ‘Gentiles’ among God’s ‘saved’ under the ‘New Covenant’. When Peter refers to being saved in his sermon, it is directly connected to having a relationship with Christ. That’s when we not only look to God to protect us from danger (see Psalm 91), save us from enslavers, or heal us, but we also have the guarantee that non- Jews also have access to eternity.

In that regard, we move beyond salvation for Jews only to salvation for all being accessed through the crucified King of theJews (see John 4, and Matthew’s account of the crucifixion). In Christ, we are written in God’s redemption story. We have spaces reserved for us in Heaven. All paid in full by the blood of Jesus. Then, it matters not how much we have saved in the bank, or secured in cryptocurrency. It doesn’t require circumcision or observance of all the feast days.

What is critical, is our willingness to seek Christ first and allow Him total access to our hearts. When we yield to His authority, we allow Him to save us in every sense of the word.

Self-Check

How do we understand being saved, and are we excited about it?

Point to Ponder

If Christ offers us universal access to Heaven, with no requirements of being exclusively Jewish, are we sharing that Good News with others?

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May all we seek be found in Christ