What Really Happened When I Got Saved?
After the first glow of joy and excitement that comes when a new convert realizes he or she is now a child of God, the question arises, “What has happened in my life?”
The purpose of this page is to help you to understand what it means to become a Christian and enable you to better explain to others what happened when Christ came into your heart. People use certain terms to describe their conversion experience and sometimes the terminology is confusing. Some of the key words you will understand better when you have finished this page are redemption, justification, reconciliation and regeneration.
These words are used to describe the process and results of what we commonly call “getting saved.” The Bible advises in 1 Peter 3:15: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”
Redemption-I’m Redeemed
A hymn we sing uses the expression “I’m redeemed!” A good starting point for understanding what has happened to you is this very word- redeemed. It is used commonly in conversations about pawnshops. Suppose a person who owns an expensive watch discovers he needs money. He takes his watch to a pawnshop. The pawnbroker accepts the watch and gives the man a certain amount of money for it. Along with the money the pawnbroker also gives him a redemption ticket. The customer may return with the ticket, the amount of money he received from the broker for his watch, plus extra money for interest-and buy back his watch. We say he can redeem his watch.
Basically, this is what happens in the life of a person, who has become a Christian. Man originally belonged to God. Because God created him and loved him, man was related to God-much as a child is related to his father. Instead of obeying God however, man chose to turn away from Him and live according to his own desires and wishes. We can think of man as a rebel against God.
Man’s choices were bad; they were in conflict with God’s will. Man’s bad choices, called sin, separate him from God and make him guilty, deserving punishment. Man is unable to pay the price required to make up for his sins. In the opinion of God, only a perfect man could possibly make up for the badness of all men. God, in His love and mercy, provided Someone who could pay the price for man’s sin. God gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, who came to earth and lived as a man. Jesus died, even though He was guilty of nothing bad, so that His death could make amends for the sins of every person.
Do you remember how you felt when you grasped the fact that you were a sinner in the eyes of God? How terrible it was to realize that you had no power to do anything to help yourself! You were hopelessly lost! Then it dawned on you that Jesus Christ had paid the price you could not pay! You decided that with His help you would turn away from the sin that separated you from God. When you trusted in Him and what He did on your behalf, then you were saved.
Meaningful words are used in the church to describe what happens. One of these words is redeemed, which we have already discussed. When we talk about Christ redeeming us, we mean that He is the One who paid the price for our sin so that we could once again belong to God. This is what Christ said of His own ministry in Mark 10:45: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Atonement- I’m Right With God
Perhaps you have heard sermons urging the hearers to “get right with God.” The Bible uses a beautiful word to express what it means to be right in the eyes of God. It appears often in the Old Testament, but only once in the New Testament (KJV). It is the word atonement. Actually it is made up of three smaller words: at-one-ment.
God’s plan was for humanity to live in harmony with Him and to enjoy fellowship with Him. But God’s holy nature cannot tolerate the presence of sin. Sin has come between God and man and has caused separation.
The good news, according to Romans 5:11, is that “we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement” (KJV). When you were saved, you received “at-one-ment.” That is to say, you were no longer separated from the presence of God; you were “at one” with Him. Do you remember how you felt when you realized that you were no longer separated from God?
“Rejoice,” the verse says. This means we have reason to be happy. And happiness extends into heaven itself. Luke 15:10 tells us, “There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Peace-I’m at Peace With God
Along with the feelings of joy and happiness comes a deeper emotion which we call peace. Peace means “freedom from strife; harmony and con- cord; an undisturbed state of mind.” Paul explains it simply; “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).
A vivid word picture of this peace is found in the Bible. In Ephesians 2, Paul discusses the relationship that existed between Jews and non-Jews during the lifetime of Christ. He pointed out that in the Jewish Temple there was a barrier, a wall beyond which Gentiles could not go. They could not enter the inner recesses of the Temple, the area reserved for the Jewish people. Paul thought of this wall as a symbol of the division that exists between men and other men, as well as between men and God. So he said, “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility” (Ephesians 2:14). What Christ did when He paid the price for your sin was break down the dividing barrier that existed between you and God.
You have peace when you are saved. There is no fence between you and God!
Justification- The Judge Says, “Not Guilty!”
What has happened to the sins you committed? According to the Bible, the record is clear; you no longer have to answer for those sins.
The word we use to describe this happy state of affairs is justification. Paul used this term often. The word comes from the Roman law courts and may be illustrated by a man being brought to court to answer for a crime. Then, for some reason, he does not have to stand trial; he is acquitted. Simply, he is justified.
The Word of God says that as a Christian you are justified in the presence of God. Because of what Christ has done, you don’t have to go on trial for your sins. Quite literally, justification means ‘just as if I’d never sinned.”
Another good way of thinking of justification is to compare it with forgiveness. The two concepts are basically the same. The difference is that justification is more of a legal term, whereas forgiveness is a more personal concept. For example, you use the legal term (justification) when you are thinking of an accused person being acquitted by a judge; you use the more intimate term (forgiveness) when you think about pardon being extended by a person who has been offended.
A good discussion of justification in Romans 3:23-26 explains that all men have sinned and come short of what God expects. They need an uprightness they are incapable of producing. But God through Christ produces it for them.
Since you have accepted Christ as your Savior you’ll never have to stand before Him when He is judging men to decide if they belong in the kingdom of heaven. In His eyes you are already declared innocent and set free!
Reconciliation-We’re No Longer Enemies
Have you ever started to discuss a mutual friend’s divorce action, only to be told. “Oh. Haven’t you heard the good news? They have reconciled their differences; they’re not getting a divorce…
You know what that means. The problem that caused the separation has now been resolved. It has been dealt with and settled and is no longer a factor that will result in divorce.
Reconcile is one of the Bible words that explains what has happened to you. Its other form reconciliation, means “a renewal of friendship.” Those who before were enemies and who had differences that hindered their friendship have resolved those problems and are now friends once more. The opposite of reconcile is alienate. People who cannot or will not, get along with each other are alienated.
Before you were saved, you were alienated from God. Paul describes such people in Ephesians 4:18: “They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.” He explains reconciliation in Colossians 1: 21-22: “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you. …”
In a nutshell, you are no longer an enemy of God; you are His good friend!
I Can Call Him Father
The clearest picture in the Bible of a sinner who returns to God and is accepted by Him is the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15).
A son asks for his inheritance before his father dies, runs away and wastes all the money. Finally, he returns home broke, hungry and destitute. His father, whom we might have expected to turn him away, welcomes him home and treats him with love dignity and respect.
This story illustrates God’s eagerness to pardon a repentant sinner. It also teaches another equally meaningful lesson: the intimate Father-son relationship that exists between God and His spiritual children.
One of the words the Bible uses to describe this close relationship is adoption. Adoption is a word familiar to us today. Prospective parents happily welcome a new child into their home and enter into a parent-child relationship just as if the child had been born to them.
Romans 8:15 explains: “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry , Abba, Father.”‘ Abba was an affectionate way of saying “Father” in the language spoken in Palestine in Paul’s day. It is similar to the expression “Daddy” we use today.
It means a lot to say you’ve been adopted into the family of God. When you think about all the implications of being able to call God “Father,” you realize just how great it is! Perhaps most amazing of all is that, according to the Bible, when we become His children we also become “heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17).
Regeneration-I’ve Been Changed
Perhaps the greatest happiness of your Christian experience comes with the knowledge that you’ve been changed. Think about how the Bible pictures the difference in your old life and your new life.
You are born again. You are born from above. You are a new creation. You have become pure in heart. You are forgiven. You have been made alive. You are a new man. All these expressions signal change.
The change takes place by regeneration. It might be helpful to think of regeneration as the divine side of what we call conversion, a work of God. We can even say it is a miracle of God. By an act of His favor, He changes the disposition of the soul so that it is renewed in the image of Christ. The sin you once enjoyed now seems awful to you, and you no longer want to engage in it. Sin no longer dominates your life as it once did. Instead, Christ occupies the center of your life.
You have been changed! It wasn’t the result of turning over a new leaf; it was the result of turning over a life! It didn’t come because of your own wishing and willing; it came because of His great power and His great love. Regeneration is just a longer word for what we call the “new birth.”
And There’s More!
These are just a few of the ways the Bible talks about the wonderful experience that has occurred in your life.
The important truth to grasp is that you are saved! Saved is the opposite of lost; and “lost” described your condition before you were found by Christ. Unhappily, we cannot agree with those people who say that everyone in the world is a child of God and that God is the Father of all. In the sense that He created us, this is true. But the Bible speaks too clearly of the awful consequences of sin and the separation caused by sin, as well as of the redemptive suffering of Christ, for us to treat it lightly or to think of His suffering and death as unnecessary.
You can now sing with all the saints of God the praise hymn that will be sung to Christ in heaven: “With your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:9-10).
You can join in the old hymn of the church that says:
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long!
-Fanny Crosby
FOR FURTHER STUDY
Little, Paul. Know What You Believe. Wheaton, Ill.: Scripture Press Publications, Inc., 1987.
Packer, J.I. Growing in Christ. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 1994.
Stott, John R.W Basic Christianity. Downers Grove, Ill. InterVarsity Press, 1977.
The preceding was an excerpt taken from ‘Getting Started – New Beginnings in the Christian Life’ by Bill George. The entire book can be obtained from:
Pathway Press
1080 Montgomery Avenue NE
PO Box 2250
Cleveland, Tennessee
37320-2250
Phone 1-800-553-8506