How fully do you think you are saved right now? Do you think you’re 50% saved? Or perhaps you think you’re doing very nicely, and you think you’re 80% saved: almost there, really!
Here is a promise from God you need to hear:
This is why he can completely save those who are approaching God through him, because he always lives to speak with God for them (Heb 7:25, NIV).
The Greek word which is translated here as “completely” really means 100%. The King James Version translates this verse as: “he is able to save to the uttermost.”
This word “uttermost” is an old-fashioned word that you really won’t hear much these days. But it captures the meaning well. It means that no matter how far you think you are from God, Jesus can save you. It means that no matter how “unsaved” you may feel, Jesus can save you absolutely, totally, completely.
What is the condition to receive this amazing salvation? The verse says that you need to be “approaching God through him.” This is best translated as the present participle in English, because that is exactly what it is in the original Greek. What this is saying is that if you are approaching God through Jesus then he is able to save you completely.
Right now you can have complete salvation.
We’re always trying to arrive, aren’t we? But this isn’t saying that you need to have arrived. It isn’t saying that you need to have found your way to God. It isn’t even specifying how far along the journey you need to have come.
What this verse says that if we are approaching God through Christ then Jesus can save us completely. Think about it. If we are approach God through Christ, then Jesus has saved us completely. That’s what Jesus means when he said,
Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life (John 5:24, NIV).
However far away you are from God right now, all you need to do is to hear his word that calls you to repent and believe in him, and you have eternal life: you can be completely saved right now!
In Hebrews 7:25 it says that we need to be “approaching God.” How does that work? Jesus also said,
I, when I am lifted upfrom the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die (John 12:32-33, NIV).
Jesus is saying that if you will let him, if you don’t resist him, he will draw you to His Cross. And as he is drawing you to him, and him suffering in your place for your sins, and you are putting your faith in him, you are saved to the uttermost.
You might not think that you could really have eternal life. You might not think that you look like the average Christian. You might not think that you deserve it. Well, you don’t, and that’s the whole point! Right now you can have complete salvation if you put your trust in Jesus.
Article supplied with thanks to Dr Eliezer Gonzalez.
About the Author: Dr Eli Gonzalez is the Senior Pastor of Good News Unlimited and the presenter of the Unlimited radio spots, and The Big Question.
