Why Did God Save You?

The perception religious people often have of salvation is that it’s a “get out of jail free card." It’s an “insurance policy” we can cash in when we need it. One of the reasons I love to read and study the Bible is that it so frequently challenges my assumptions and makes me rethink my presuppositions. It doesn’t disappoint in this case!

The view of someone who sees salvation as a “get out of jail free card” is confronted in the pages of Scripture. And it does so through a question it indirectly asks: why did God save you?

How would you answer that question? Think for a moment…why did God save you?

The “insurance policy” view would answer that question something like: "God saved me so that I can spend eternity with Him in heaven.” That is a good answer, but an incomplete answer. Yes, one of the reasons God saves sinners is so they can spend eternity with Him in heaven (John 3:16; 14:1-4), but that’s not the only answer the Bible gives to that question. It turns out, God saves sinners for more than that!

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works” (Ephesians 2:10).

“Created in Christ Jesus” is not talking about God’s creation of human beings at the beginning of time. “Created in Christ Jesus” is referring to the moment a sinner is saved. According to this verse, why did God save you? “To do good works!"

“You were taught…to put off your old self…and to put on the new self created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24).

The reference to “the new self created to be like God” is another reference to the moment God saves sinners. Why did God save you? “To be like God in true righteousness and holiness!"

“[Jesus Christ] gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do good works” (Titus 2:14).

Jesus died for us to redeem us (a.k.a. save us) in order that we would be eager to do good works.

Why did God save you? Yes, so that you can spend eternity with Him in heaven. But God also saved you so that you would desire to pursue being like Him in holiness and righteousness.