Scripture References: John 3:17
On a number of occasions certain people came to Jesus asking him to heal them of their different diseases and infirmities of the flesh etc and he did exactly that. He healed the sick, he healed the blinded eyes, and he healed the cripple that could not walk, he raised the dead back to life again, but there was one thing that Jesus did not do as a man as he walked in the flesh during his three and half years of his ministry. Not one time during his ministry as a man did he save anyone. There is not one single incident found in the book of Matthew, or the book of Mark, or the book of Luke, or the book of John where anybody came to Jesus asking to be saved and Jesus saved them. Do you realize that when Christ was preaching the gospel that he was revealing a new covenant that was established upon better promises, as Hebrews 8:6 states saying, “But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.” Do you know what the purpose of this covenant was going to serve as he began to reveal it to his disciples? To answer this question let me tell you right here and now that Christ did not come into the world to save it, nor did he come to save individuals in the world, but rather he came and he established “a way” that the world or individuals of the world could be saved through him and not by him, because as a man he himself did not save the world nor any individual of the world at that time. The way that he revealed that the world or individuals of the world could be saved is revealed within all his teachings of the NT covenant, but multiplied millions of people today and in times past believes that Christ saved them somehow like he saved many from a sickness or disease in an instant of time.
To be saved by Christ would mean that he personally saved a person instantly through and by the power of the Holy Ghost that resided in him, but that is not the truth of the matter. Your believing that Christ personally saved you will cause you to believe that he saved you in your sins and not from your sins. You are failing to realize that to be saved means to be saved from the power and influence of sin, but your still being in subjection to sin in your life is an evident fact that you have not been or are being saved from sin, and you are certainly not saved in your sin like millions think and believe.
We are not saved by Christ personally, but rather we can only be saved through Christ, which means that we can only be saved through belief and obedience to his many teachings. Does not Hebrews 5:9 tell us these words saying, “And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.” To obey Christ is to obey his word, which are his teachings. And does not Paul tell us these words in I Timothy 4:16 that says, “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” It’s our continuing in his doctrine or his teachings that will save us; not asking him personally to save us like multiplied millions of people have been led to believe today. And does not the apostle James tell us about the same thing in what he said in James 1:21-22 that says, “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” Is not James telling us here that it’s the “engrafted word of God” that saves the soul if we become doers of it, and not just asking Christ personally to save us? Christ personally does not save anyone, but rather it’s the power of his gospel, which are his many teachings that saves us. Paul tells us these words in Romans 1:16 that says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” Paul is not saying here that believing on Christ or asking Christ to save us is the power of God unto salvation of our souls, but rather it’s believing his gospel, which are his many teachings that is the power of God unto salvation unto everyone that believes those certain teachings of his. Gods word is powerful as Hebrews 4:12 reveals saying, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Gods word being powerful reveals that it can heal, it can create, it can destroy, and it can save, but most people fail to realize that it is Gods word revealed within the teachings of Christ does the actual saving of the soul from the power and influence of sin. It’s the scriptures like John 3:16; Acts 16:31, and Romans 10:13 that causes millions of people to get the mistaken idea that belief on Christ is what saves, but a mere belief on the person of Christ has nothing to do with believing his gospel that reveals his many teachings. We absolutely must believe on Christ, but its believing and obeying his teachings that progressively saves the sinner from a devastating life of sin as they walk in the light of those truths revealed within his teachings. This is why believing and obeying the gospel is the power of God unto salvation and not just believing on the person of Christ alone.
Millions of people believe that Christ is the only Lord and Savior, but they fail to understand how he saves and what it means to be saved. Jesus being the only Savior reveals that he is the only one that can save sinners, but if Christ was on this earth and was a man his word would be just as powerful today as it was when he actually went around doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, as Acts 10:38 states saying, “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.” This scripture says nothing about Jesus going around saving people, because he did not save anybody during the entirety of his three and a half years of his ministry. What he was doing for those three and a half years was establishing a way that a person can be saved, which is of course through and by the power of his teachings. The person of Christ never saved anybody like he saved many from a sickness or disease, because the New Testament covenant that he was mediator of did not come into power until after he shed his blood and died on the cross. Now the NT covenant is the power of God unto eternal salvation to whosoever will receive it and begin to believe and obey it. So its plain to see that we are not saved by Christ, or his person, but rather we are saved through Christ, which is the many revealed truths of his teachings. Did he not say himself that he is the “the way” “the truth” and “the life?” He is the way to God, and the truth of God, and the very life of God that was manifest in the flesh. “He that has an ear to hear let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.” amen