There is No Other Name...: What does it mean to be saved?

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Salvation is something that is very personal. Many like
me are often pushed into trusting Christ for salvation. We do
what we think others expect us to do, what our parents want,
or what would make our Sunday school teachers, or others,
happy.

On one hand, to become a Christian, to trust Christ as one’s
Savior, is the most important decision that anyone can make.
On the other hand, salvation is very personal and requires
an honest commitment to God. Salvation is literally a lifeand-
death decision. It cannot be lightly entered into. And yet
too, it cannot be put off. Life is too tenuous and short. And
eternity is an awful long time! Our salvation moves us to
another level of existence. We must contemplate and decide
relatively quickly about Christ in order to settle the issue
about our eternal destiny.

Unfortunately, too many connect the spiritual issue of
trusting Christ to church matters. To trust Him is a churchy
thing to do. But in reality, it is not! To believe in Him as our
Redeemer and Savior cannot be put off. And it cannot be
instutionalized or formalized. It is about the most intimate
and personal decision one can make in living out life.
After telling my parents that I had accepted Christ as my
Savior, I went into an embarrassed mode at home! I did not
want to talk about my weekend experience and so-called
acceptance of Jesus as my Lord! And, I certainly did not want
to come off as a goody-two-shoes! I did not wish to share my
decision with my Junior High friends. I continued to live out
my life as before. I still enjoyed dirty jokes and saucy talk
about the girls in my class at school. Though I was attending
a good church which made the gospel of Christ clear to all
those in my Sunday school class, I still wanted to go on as
before. I put aside any idea of a commitment to the Lord as
my Savior. I was delighted to keep everything just copasetic
in the way I lived. And after all, what more could a twelve
year old do? Life is bursting forth with fun and games. There
was a lot to do without becoming too serious and spiritual
about religious things! I knew what was right, and I knew
that I was a sinner, but it was not time to accept Christ as my
Savior—or so I reasoned!

Many after reading this you can identify with what I was
going through. Or, it is possible, that your experience was
somewhat different. Whichever, every person, no matter how
old, or in what circumstance, must make a decision about
Christ. He is either the Savior of the world, or He is not. We
must make a decision for Him, or simply ignore Him as the
only One who can save us! Also, many reading this chapter
may still be ignoring the issue of salvation. You do not want
to be pushed into some kind of commitment that you do
not understand. However, such an issue cannot be ignored
forever!

As the Bible well states: “How shall we escape if we
neglect so great a salvation? ... Today if you hear His voice,
do not harden your hearts” .