Saved...From What?

Those who have come face to face with Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit (John 16:7-11) understand that our sin separates us from holy, righteous God. We have confessed Jesus as Lord and repented of, or turned from, our sin and have been saved.

Romans 10:9, "...if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." 
1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Reading that you might automatically say I'm saved from my sins. And you would be correct to a certain degree. We are cleansed of our sin and given a new life in Christ.

But what we are saved from is the wrath of God. We know that Jesus paid the price for our sins but I don't think we really understand what that means because we don't hear much about the wrath of God that was poured out on Jesus as punishment for those sins. The Bible is very clear that every person who ever lives will stand before the judgement seat and face the wrath of God. It is only those cloaked in the righteousness of Jesus Christ who have their names written in the book of life and who will be saved from God's wrath. (Revelation 20:11-15)

Zephaniah 1:14-18 says, "The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter; the mighty man cries aloud there. A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against fortified cities and against the lofty battlements. I will bring distress on mankind, so that they shall walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the Lord; their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of the Lord. In the fire of His jealousy all the earth shall be consumed; for a full and sudden end He will make of the inhabitants of the earth." 

Revelation 6:12-17 tells us of the future destruction of the earth, the sun going dark, and the stars falling from the sky then, "The kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling on the mountains and rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of [God] who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day has come and who can stand?'"

Christians should feel an urgency for our family and friends and neighbors to share with them the Good News of Jesus Christ. This wrath should bring fear to those who don't know Jesus. However, God doesn't want us to live in fear. Before God pours out His wrath, He poured out His love. "In this the LOVE OF GOD was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In THIS IS LOVE, not that we loved God, but that HE LOVED US and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 1 John 4:9-10

The apostle John records Jesus' own words in John 3:16-17, "For GOD SO LOVED the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him." 

God has made a way for us to avoid His wrath. That way is Jesus! As the propitiation for our sins Jesus has already faced the wrath of God. He has already made full payment for the sins of the world. But we have to acknowledge and accept, individually, that payment by surrendering our lives to Jesus. There is no other way.