It’s truly a miracle that God saves anyone. The Bible says the following about the human race apart from a saving relationship with Jesus Christ: their father is the devil- John 8:44, they love darkness & our works are evil- John 3:19, their minds are blinded by satan to the truth– 2 Corinthians 4:4, their sin separates us from God– Isaiah 59:2, their deeds are like filthy rags– Isaiah 64:6, they’re enemies of God– Romans 5:10, their heart is deceitful & desperately wicked– Jeremiah 17:9, and so on. That’s quite the bleak picture that God paints of unredeemed mankind… and our sinful state keeps us from God’s holy presence. That describes everyone outside of Christ. We need an eternal rescue and thankfully, God does provide that rescue. But again, knowing our total unworthiness and the fact that God is perfectly holy, why does God save anyone?
God saves people because He LOVES them
John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
God saves people for His NAME’S SAKE
1 Samuel 12:22, ‘For the Lord will not forsake His people, for His great Name's Sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for Himself.’
God saves people because He DESIRES FOR US TO TURN TO HIM AND NOT DIE ETERNALLY
2 Peter 3:9, ‘The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.’
God saves people because of His MERCY towards them
1 Peter 1:3, ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,…’
Titus 3:5, ‘He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,…’
God saves people because of His PURPOSE & GRACE towards them
2 Timothy 1:9, ‘Who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,...’
God saves people because of His GIFT OF GRACE towards them
Ephesians 2:8-10, ‘For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.’
God saves people to be GLORIFIED BY HIS PEOPLE
John 15:8, ‘By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be My disciples.’
God saves people because of His MERCY & GREAT LOVE
Ephesians 2:4-5, ‘But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—’
Why does God save people? He desires to give His saving love, mercy, grace. Those who are God’s people are the recipients of, and the personal objects of, His giving and saving nature. God saves people because by virtue of His own nature, He is the Savior. He has given a promise to His people, and His promise is unbreakably linked to His Name. Anything that has to do with His Name is kept in His perfect will and it is God’s will to save people. With each reason that comes with God saving His people, He does so ultimately because it’s His desire and joy to save people. Beloved, God saves people for various reasons but none of them have anything to do with the false notion that we can gain His favor. Salvation is a work of God, and His desire for us is to receive. We see God’s great mercy & love for us and we are compelled to forsake our sinful desires and live for Him. What a great God He is and what an amazing, unspeakable gift His people have received!
Christ’s Blessings to you,
pastor Scott Welch