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Why Jesus Wasn’t Saved

By Jeremy Myers
20 Comments

Why Jesus Wasn’t Saved

Jesus  savesJesus wasn’t saved.

That’s right.

And I have a Bible verse to prove it.

In Matthew 27:42, some of the people who were watching Jesus die on the cross said this: “He saved others; but He can’t save Himself!”

You see? Jesus wasn’t saved. He did not save Himself.

That’s ridiculous, right?

The people in Matthew 27:42 are talking about dying on the cross. They are referring to how Jesus rescued and delivered many people from sickness and even death, and they find it ironic that although Jesus rescued others, He cannot rescue Himself from death on the cross.

And of course, we all know that Jesus could have rescued Himself, but He didn’t. Jesus did indeed die on the cross. He was not saved (from death on the cross).

But does this say anything about His eternal destiny? Of course not! (Jesus always had eternal life, for in Him is life — 1 John 5:11).

Anyone with a little bit of sense understands that in the context of Matthew 27:42, the word “save” does not mean escape from hell and entrance into heaven, or receiving eternal life. The context clearly shows that the word “save” means deliverance from death on the cross.

So in the context, when people say, “He cannot save Himself” they are saying “He cannot rescue Himself from dying on this cross.”

Why do I bring this up?

I have been having numerous online (and offline) conversations recently about various theological topics (baptism, unpardonable sin, women in ministry, etc.), and in these discussions, people will often quote a verse to defend their view, and these verses often includes the word “save” (cf., Matt 24:13; 1 Pet 3:21, 1 Cor 3:15; 5:5; 2 Thess 2:10; 1 Tim 2:15; James 2:14-26).

They read these verses thinking that the word “save” means “deliverance from hell, entrance into heaven, justification, or receiving eternal life,” when in reality, the context indicates otherwise. But when we think the word refers to hell, heaven, justification, or eternal life, confusion and really bad theology are the results.

When Dr. Earl Radmacher used to go speak in churches, he often would open in prayer before he began to preach with these words:

Father, as I preach today to these fine people who have gathered together today, I pray that they would get saved, and I would get saved too. Amen”

He says that he always loved to pray this with his eyes open so that he could watch the reaction of the people in the pews. They would open their eyes and glance around at each other, apparently thinking, “What? Did we just bring in a guest speaker who is unsaved? Uh oh! This church is going liberal on us!”

Then Dr. Radmacher would go on to teach them something similar to what I am teaching in this post. Dr. Radmacher’s prayer did not mean that he thought his listeners and himself did not have eternal life. No, he was praying that they (and he) might get saved from some incorrect thinking about God, or saved from some misunderstanding about Scripture. This is a completely appropriate and biblical thing to pray for!

Dr. Radmacher knew that the word “save” in Scripture usually has nothing to do with receiving eternal life. (If you haven’t already, you should read his book, Salvation.)

The Word “Save” in Scripture

I believe that somewhere between 99%-100% of the uses of the word “save” in Scripture (and it’s cognates: saved, salvation, Savior, etc.), do not refer to “deliverance from hell, entrance into heaven, justification, or receiving eternal life.” Instead, some other sort of deliverance is in view (cf. Matt 8:25). See a post I wrote about the word “save” here.

From the results of my own study, I believe there are only two likely candidates for places where the word “save” refers to receiving eternal life: Acts 16:30-31 and Ephesians 2:8-9. And to be honest, I am not fully convinced about these two either (But I’m not going to explain why in this post).

So next time you are reading Scripture and come across the word “save,” stop and think about what you are reading, and then look in the context to help determine what sort of deliverance is being discussed.

Isn’t this just semantics?

Yes. It is.

And when it comes to the Gospel, semantics are vitally important.

How many of us have told people, “Jesus Saves” or asked people, “Are you saved?” Not only is such a statement or question not found anywhere in Scripture, it is hopelessly confusing to most people. People who have not been raised on Christian lingo automatically think, “Jesus Saves? Saves me from what?”

Don’t believe me? The following pictures poke fun at Christianity, but they show you that the statement “Jesus saves” is confusing.

Jesus saves
Jesus Saves Soccer

When telling others about the offer of the Gospel and how to receive eternal life, use the terminology most often found in Scripture: Jesus gives eternal life to anyone who believes in Him for it.

Thankfully, this offer is backed up by Jesus through His death and resurrection. Jesus was not saved from the cross so that we can have eternal life through faith in Him.

God is Redeeming Theology Bible & Theology Topics: crucifixion, Earl Radmacher, Easter, Jesus saves, Matthew 27:42, resurrection, salvation, save, Theology of Salvation

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Q&A: Image of God in Genesis 1:26, 5:1

By Jeremy Myers
2 Comments

Q&A: Image of God in Genesis 1:26, 5:1

I occasionally write posts in response to questions sent in by readers. Read on to find out how to submit your question.

Here is a question that a reader sent in about the image of God in humans.

The question:

Image of God
Is this what God looks like?

You invite questions; so here we go:

Genesis 1:27-27 says this: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

Genesis 5:1-3 says this: “This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created. When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.”

Were we created in Godโ€™s or Adamโ€™s image or how do I understand this verse?

Here is my response:

Good job noting the repetition of the โ€œimageโ€ theme in Genesis 1:26-27 and 5:1-3.

The author of Genesis was not intending to show a distinction between the image of God in Adam and the image of Adamโ€™s descendants, but rather their similarity.

Just as Adam and Eve were made in the image of God, so also, all their descendants also bear the image of God.

[Read more…]

God is Redeeming Theology Bible & Theology Topics: Bible Study

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The Evolution of Communion

By Jeremy Myers
16 Comments

The Evolution of Communion

The Lordโ€™s Supper was not originally the way it is practiced today. It evolved.

Here is a brief summary on how this happened.

Theology and Empire

Emperor ConstantineAfter the church became the official religion of the Roman Empire, the church leaders had time to develop approved theology and doctrine. Among the things that were debated were the ways that the grace of God was distributed to believers. They came up with numerous ways, all of which required the involvement of the priestly class. Very frequently, the priests said special prayers or required people to say special words when undergoing these sacred rituals, so that over time, people began to think that there was actual power in these rituals, so that the way they were done did not matter as much as simply doing them.

This is how, for example, baptism by sprinkling began. It was thought that the significance of baptism was not in the symbol of going under the water and then rising back up as though from the dead, but in the power of the water itself after it had been blessed by a priest. Therefore, if the power was in the sacred water itself, the amount of water used did not matter. Why use a whole container of water when a few drops would suffice? Why require people to get into a river, when the priest could simply sprinkle a few drops of water on someoneโ€™s head? So you see, once the ritual was boiled down to the spiritual power within the ritual, the symbolic nature of the ritual disappeared, and the force was in the ritual itself, whether done in large quantities or little.

Changing Communion

The same thing happened with the Lordโ€™s Supper.

Receiving CommunionOriginally, as will be seen in future posts, the Lordโ€™s Supper was an actual meal. It was an actual supper. But as Catholic theology progressed, it was decided that the power of the meal was not in what happened during the meal, or in the gathering of people for the meal, or really in the food itself, but in the bread and the wine after it had been blessed by the priest. Therefore, why require people to eat a whole meal, when any amount would do, no matter how small? The significance of the bread and wine was not in the elements themselves, but in the power of the spiritual presence that came with it. So just as baptism could be done with a few drops of water, so also the Lordโ€™s Supper could be observed with a small bit of bread and a few drops of wine.

During the Protestant Reformation, as certain church leaders began to break away from the Catholic church, some of them dropped the idea about the mystical presence of Jesus within the bread and wine, but kept the practice the same. The Lordโ€™s Supper continued to involve a tiny bit of bread and a few drops of wine. It was in the late 19th century that churches began to switch to grape juice, and this became the standard practice during Prohibition in the early 20th century.

That is pretty much where we are today. The tradition of using a tiny bit of bread and wine (or juice) has continued to be practiced, even though it does not even come close to what was practiced by Jesus and His apostles on the night He was betrayed, and reflects instead some sort of magical ceremony where some people believe that God is giving them special grace and power through the ritual elements of bread and wine. Those who do not believe this, still put great emphasis and significance upon the ritual, because they seem to think that this is what the Scripture teaches (even though it doesnโ€™t), and that this is the way it has always been done (even though it hasnโ€™t).

We will begin to look at some of the key Scriptures on the Lord’s Supper tomorrow.

God is Redeeming Church, Redeeming Theology Bible & Theology Topics: Close Your Church for Good

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Tithe or Die!

By Jeremy Myers
5 Comments

Tithe or Die!

When we read about the early church and how they handled money, one of the first examples we come to, and also the most famous, is the account in Acts 4:32-5:11. The text begins by stating that nobody in the community was in need because those who had more shared with those who had less.One example is given where a man named Barnabas sells some of his property and gives the money to the apostles who then distribute it to those within the church who had need (Acts 4:32-37).

Following this, in Acts 5, we read about a husband and wife in the church named Ananias and Sapphira, who decide to do something similar. They also sell some of their possessions, with the intention of giving the proceeds to the church. But when they receive the money, rather than give everything, they only gave part of the proceeds. However, they tell the apostles and the rest of the church that they had given everything. As a result, both of them are struck dead by the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:1-11).

Ananias and Sapphira - Acts 5

[Read more…]

God is Redeeming Theology Bible & Theology Topics: Close Your Church for Good, Discipleship

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1000 Posts!

By Jeremy Myers
18 Comments

1000 Posts!

1000 posts

This is my 1000th Post!

If you want to read all 1000, check out the Blog Archives. Ha!

Brief History

Here is a brief history of the Till He Comes blog.

June 19, 2007. The first post on this blog:ย Welcome to the TILL HE COMES Blog. The website has been in existence since 2001, but this is when I launched the blog. Prior to the blog, I was posting mainly sermons and Bible studies, some of which I am migrating over to my sermon pages.

December 19, 2007. Things went pretty well with the blog for about 5 months. I had a small, but growing readership, in large part due to the traffic I already had through my website, and also due to my work at a Christian non-profit organization and publishing company. I was getting published and speaking in conferences and churches. But on December 19, 2007, I published a post calledย The Heretic in Meย which would change my life forever. I had no idea about the magnitude of the storm that this post would create in my life.

January 17, 2008. Within a month after writing that fateful post, I lost my job and most of my Christian friends. Though I had predicted that some would call me a heretic for the seven ideas I was studying (but had not actually believed), I didn’t actually think that anybody would actually call me a heretic andย turn on me. But they did. I can count on one hand the people who did not reject me, criticize me, and condemn me. This is not the worst crisis that a person can face in their life, but it was a crisis for me. I wrote a post about what was going on here: From Crisis to Christless.

[Read more…]

God is Redeeming Theology Bible & Theology Topics: Blogging

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