Saved or Lost
October 11, 2010 (Monday)
In yesterday’s game between the Cowboys and the Titans, Cowboy Roy Williams caught a pass that resulted in a first down on the six-yard line that led to a touchdown on the next play. The television replay, however, showed that he may have stepped out of bounds before he caught the ball. If indeed he had stepped out of bounds, the play would have been nullified. A review by the officials concluded that he did not step out of bounds. During the television replays, the announcers said, “Looks like he may have stayed in bounds by a half inch!” Half inch or three feet, makes no difference. In football, a player is either in or out. “In or out,” with no other place to be. So many things are like that.
Pregnant? Well, maybe a little bit. Nope. Either she is or she isn’t.
Alive? Perhaps a little. Nope. Either dead or alive. Barely alive is alive. Just died is dead.
Saved? Maybe to some extent. Nope. Either “saved” or “lost.” That’s it. This multiple choice includes only two items.
Since I am either “saved” or “lost,” isn’t it important to make sure I am saved? When a Roman soldier asked Paul and Silas, “What must I do to be saved?” they gave him a clear answer. They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). The man believed. He led his entire household of family and servants to believe also. Each one of them received Christ as Savior and Lord that night. What a transformation! They were lost. They believed. They were saved. Everything changed for them in one precious moment. Praise the Lord.
John 5:24 is a very interesting verse, especially in the original language. Jesus is quoted in that verse as saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life” (NASB). Instantaneously, when a person accepts Christ into his heart, he passes “out of” death and “into” life. I picture two rooms in my mind. Faith is the door. When one passes through the doorway, he leaves one room and enters the other. When a person believes in Jesus as Savior and Lord, he passes from one state of being into another–“out of” and “into.” Instant change.
You are either saved or lost. If you are lost, you can be saved. Right now. Immediately. As Paul and Silas said to the Roman soldier who was also their jailer, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved!” It can happen.