Saved from what?

A big theme of Christianity is salvation. This is perhaps confusing to outsiders – I imagine they wonder what exactly do they need to be saved from. I think that this issue is further clouded by those who believe that they are ‘saved’ already and that no more salvation is expected to be forthcoming.

It is reasonable for their neighbors to look at them and ask themselves, “Saved from what?” Clearly believers aren’t saved from death, sickness, poverty or even sin. If by 'saved from sin' we mean that sin (even their own) no longer has power to wreck their life or corrupt their soul. I believe that faith in Christ does begin to save people from these things, such as sin, sickness in some cases. Probably the biggest effect that can be observed is that it saves people from despair.
I am reminded of a person who told me, as she was coughing and barely able to move that she had prayed to God and that she was therefore healed. My suggestion that she should see a doctor and continue to pray was met with indignation – anything of that sort would indicate that she didn’t have faith in Christ. According to her if she wasn’t healed it was because her faith was imperfect. Anything other than believing would leave her unhealed.
Christ saves us from sin, sickness, hunger, and death yet he works in his own time table and for his own purposes. As is said ‘For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.’ Thus we see salvation is something we are looking towards, not something that we have the full substance of yet.
He is seeking to perfect us, fill us with love (salvation from sin), redeem us from the our implacable enemy of mortality – which not only plagues us with infirmities but also separates us with death.

Therefore we can not be saved any faster than we allow Christ to direct our lives and live according to his teachings. Salvation is a process not a box to be marked at sometime in our life.