Jesus: The Savior

Cross with red cloth on cloudy backdrop

Photo by Alicia Quan on Unsplash

Over the last few weeks, we have been looking at the various, individual offices of Jesus. We have seen Him as Prophet, Priest, and King. But there is a more common title that we use for Him that in some way wraps all of these titles together, Savior. Now, like all church terms we have some sense as to what they mean, but if we are actually stopped in the street and asked to give a definition, we might have to think about it for a minute. Once we have supplied that definition, we are then given the task of saying what precisely we mean. A great example of this is the word “Holy.” I think if you were to ask your average church goer what “holy” means, you’ll get something like “sin free” because we know that God is Holy, Holy, Holy, because that is how the song goes! It actually means, “separate.” God is “different” from us. Certainly that includes not sinning, but that is only part of it.

The same thing I think applies to the word “Savior.” What that word means and how we are supposed to respond to it will be the focus of our time together here.

Our main point is Jesus, Our Savior, delivers us from sin.

Jesus, Our Savior, Delivers Us from Sin.

Jesus is given this title, Savior of the World here in our passage in John 4 by the Samaritans. “Savior” is “one who saves.” But what is Jesus saving us from? If we were to look at Matthew’s gospel, we would plainly see that He is given the name Jesus because He will save His people from their sins. He didn’t come to save us from bad marriages, strained finances, or political problems. He came to save us from our sins, but how does He do that?

Most would answer that question I think with reference to the office of King and somewhat the office of Priest. We have been judged guilty. That is a reality, and yet, the King has decided not to punish us because an atonement has taken place thanks to Jesus the Priest. All of that is very true and cannot be minimized whatsoever. But there is even more to Jesus’ saving work than that.

How does Jesus save us from sin in His office of Prophet? He defines what sin is! In His sermon on the mount, He shows that the intention of the law was never meant to just stop at the action. For example, the commands not to murder or commit adultery wasn’t allowing someone to simply hate or lust in their heart. God saw the heart, too, and while the consequences are different, it really is the thought that counts.

This is a real gift to us for a couple of reasons. The first and most obvious one is we don’t want to commit sin that offends God. If we are unaware that we are offending God, we would like to know to adjust that!

But the second reason is that God’s laws are not arbitrary. God isn’t commanding us His preferences as if our behavior doesn’t really make a difference to our own lives. It turns out that sin, even if we don’t feel its effects immediately, is damaging to our own lives. Sin doesn’t promote human flourishing. For instance, we are finding that people who regularly attend church live longer! There is something about the fellowship and rest that is good for the body as well as the soul.

Sin just isn’t good for you. And as much guidance as we can have in this area, we need to take it. Doesn’t mean life will be easy. A healthy life isn’t easy to maintain. But there is no argument that introducing sin makes life ever more complicated.

Jesus saving us from our sins as King and Priest is clearer to us here in a country that sees things in terms of guilt and innocence. We were guilty, but an authority has said we don’t have to serve our sentence because we had a substitute. Perfect justice is satisfied.

But there is more than just getting rid of the presence of sin in Jesus work there. Jesus also saves us from the shame of our sin.

Now, this needs to be approached carefully. I don’t mean, of course, that we are now proud of the sin we have committed. The sins that we have committed were and always will be things that we will wish that we didn’t do, say, or think.

When I say that Jesus takes away our shame, I mean that sin doesn’t have the final definition in our lives. Paul can, with a straight face, call all the people in his letters to the churches “saints,” the set apart ones! He calls them that even though most of the reason that he is writing a letter to them is that they are getting something wrong! The Corinthians were a mess, but he still called them saints because that is the title that Jesus has purchased them.

The Church isn’t a collection of thieves, liars, and murderers. It is a collection of former thieves, liars, and murderers. They are given a new identity. 1 Corinthians 6:9–11 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

Before God, you are no longer defined by what you do or did but by what Christ did. All that sin isn’t going to come up at the judgement to come. It is paid for. The account is clear!

Now, having said all of that, this does not mean that sin has no earthly consequences. If you steal and are caught, praying to Jesus doesn’t get you out of jail free. There are consequences to face even in the church for past sins. If you have embezzled funds at work, don’t expect to be on the finance team at the church. A criminal record keeps you out of the nursery. Sin has consequences, and some of them follow you for a long time.

Further, regret lasts longer than consequences. If you say something sinful, there is no taking it back. You can hurt people with your words, and not having it on your heavenly record doesn’t do much to soothe those you’ve hurt. Sin causes regret, and Jesus doesn’t take that away from us fully. That’s a mercy.

Voddie Baucham compares regret of sin to burn marks from a fire. Can you imagine if every time you burned yourself, God made you forget why that happened? He says, “We’d all be wandering around a bunch of crispy people wondering why this keeps happening!” You’d never know not to touch the stove, the fire pit, or the exhaust pipe. That burn, that pain, that memory, helps us not to do it again.

Regret of your sin is another way to train you away from it. If you see the pain on someone’s face after you’ve said something hurtful, you will hopefully be a little bit more measured with your words next time.

But because Jesus has redefined you, taken away the shame, you are doing so from a position of safety. You aren’t a liar desperately trying to reform to make it into heaven. You are no longer defined that way, so you are now working to align your behavior with your new name.

I like to compare it to a sweater your grandma makes you that is way too big. She says, “you’ll grow into it.” She’s knows that. In a similar way, Jesus gives you His clothes. You’re not worthy of them. You will never be in this life. They don’t fit. But you will grow. They will start to fit better. You will always be fully covered.

And that is where I want to come full circle here. Jesus saves you from the penalty of sin, the shame of sin, and finally, He saves you from the power of sin. Jesus as King sits on the throne of your heart. And day by day takes greater control of your actions by changing you at the heart level. He does this through the often forgotten member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. As King, He directs you more and more away from sin and to Himself. Slowly, you will indulge in those sins less and less, and find greater joy in Him more and more.

This means that you don’t have to sin. You are no longer compelled by your nature to sin in the way that a bird by its nature is compelled to fly. You have been made a new creature! Old things have passed away, behold ALL things are new! Does that mean we can achieve perfection here? No, but it does mean that we don’t have to choose sin every time! We can be genuinely prompted to avoid sin for the glory of God, a motive that cannot exist in an unregenerate heart. It isn’t inevitable that you will sin in absolutely every decision, totally. By the power of the Holy Spirit, you can do things that please God.

Now, you may be hearing this right now and thinking, “Ah, I don’t know if that’s true in my life. It just seems like the more I get to know Jesus the MORE I sin, not less.” I have some comfort for you this morning. Seeing your sin more clearly is a paradox of the Christian life. The more progress you make in holiness, the more you will see sin for the ugly thing it is and see new areas you didn’t think were sin before. You think you see fine until you get glasses. The ability to see now heightens how blind you were before.

You’re a worse sinner than you can know, but you have a Savior Who is more gracious than you can possibly imagine.

And even if you find that no, in fact, you are not getting any better. The solution is the same. Turn from your sin, and come to Jesus for mercy and transformation. This isn’t an overnight change. You actually aren’t just one more New Year’s Resolution away from finally getting your life perfect. In Christ, you are taking one more step closer to holiness.

But Jesus isn’t waiting for you at the end of that road. He’s walking with you—for you— the whole way. We aren’t getting our life together enough to be worthy for Jesus to start working on us. We come just as we are, shrugging our shoulders wondering how on earth Jesus is going to fix this, and then start the process of walking with Him further and further from our sin and on to heaven.

That is what it means to have a Savior. Jesus isn’t providing a license to sin but a life from sin. He isn’t promising the removal of regret, but He is providing the reality of reform. He is saving you from the ignorance of sin, the identification with sin, and even the inevitability of sin.

And one day, we will be saved from the possibility of sin. In heaven, Jesus’ clothes will fit perfectly as we bow in gratitude! We will be finally, fully recast in the image of Christ, shining brighter than the sun by the reflected glory of seated Prophet, Priest, and King for all eternity!

So! Celebrate Christmas with gusto, My Loves! Feast! Sing! Live the joyfully holy lives as befits a member of God’s Family! For the best presents are yet to be opened!