Let’s start with a quick review.
We’re using as our main text book, God’s own word, the Bible. A key to our study can be found in Proverbs 4
My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your sight; Keep them in the midst of your heart. For they are life to those who find them And health to all their body. – Proverbs 4:20-22 NASB
We started with a look at Jesus. Clearly, in the hour we spent we just scratched the surface. If the earth can’t hold the books telling of all that He did, imagine how large the volume would be to contain all of who He is.
But our look simply had to do with the fact that Jesus is the express image of the Father. He is a perfect representation of the will of God. Nothing was done, in His ministry, that was not exactly what God desired.
Next, we looked at all the times in His ministry when He healed the multitudes, or equipped others to go and heal. We asked and answered two important questions. What kind of people did Jesus heal? What kinds of diseases or ailments did He heal? We found that both of these questions could be answered in one word, all.
In our third gathering, we went to the Old Testament and read portions from Deuteronomy 28. This chapter details the curse of the law. We saw, again, every kind of sickness and disease, as well as all kinds of other problems, were promised to those who would not walk in relationship with the Lord, under the Old Covenant. We saw that Paul in Galatians 3:13 told us that we are redeemed from the curse of the law. That everything that could be found in that horrible litany of curses and doom was paid for by the cross of Christ and is available to anyone who follows Jesus as Lord.
In week 4 we started to talk about faith. We worked on some definitions of faith. We learned that faith is a confident expectation of things not yet, and the proof of things not seen. We took as a starting place for faith the quote from FF Bosworth, “Faith begins where the will of God is known.”
As a jumping in point, we looked at the leper who met Jesus in the public square. He said to the Will of God Incarnate, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” He put it right out there. We might put a religious twang to it and say it this way, “If it be Thy will, O Lord, You can heal me.” Of course, we know the answer was another simple one. “I will, be clean.”
Week 5 we went back to the leper again and looked in detail at leprosy, and we saw that in Exodus 13 and 14 the Law provided a lengthy test for the diagnosis of this dread disease. We looked that the harsh penalty for contracting leprosy. Finally, we saw that the Law made provision for the restoration of anyone found with this disease.
Next we saw looked at what the leper did, and what Jesus did.
The Leper asked and he humbled himself. Then Jesus had compassion on him, touched Him, risking His own exposure, as well as making Himself unclean, and He commanded healing.
We were reminded of Bill Johnson’s quote, “In the Old Covenant, when you touched a leper you became unclean, in the New Covenant when you touch a leper, the leper becomes clean.”
For the last two weeks, we’ve been looking at the story of the Paralytic, carried to Jesus by his four friends. We looked in-depth at the idea that in a house full of people, with the power of the Lord ready to heal, until these men of faith showed up on the scene, no one was healed. We saw that faith looked like something. Faith hears and obeys.
We took some time looking at the link between forgiveness of sins and healing. These two are linked from the start. Psalm 103 puts them together in the same breath, and Jesus, here, early in His ministry, does some serious feather-ruffling linking healing and forgiveness in a room full of Scribes and Pharisees.
We also saw some strong hindrances of faith. Scoffers will not receive a touch from the Lord. Fear of what other people think will keep you from your miracle. Pride will stop faith. You can be in the right place at the right time and still miss God. You can sit under the best preaching in the universe where the anointing is flowing for healing, and never feel a thing.
Tonight we are going to take a look at the wonderful New Testament word for Salvation.
Sozo – the way God saves.
In the healing of the paralytic, Jesus linked two aspects of our salvation. We see them linked and compared throughout scripture, and it’s clear that Jesus’ ministry prioritized both fully and equally. We’ve looked at this description of Jesus’ ministry many times, but it bears repeating.
Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people. – Matthew 4:23 NASB (Emphasis mine)
The preaching of the gospel of the kingdom was always accompanied by healing in Jesus’ ministry. So much so that the Scribes and Pharisees would lay traps for Him when they knew He was in town, bringing sick folks to Him in the synagog to try to catch Him healing on the Sabbath. They knew He could not resist.
The Word for salvation in the New Testament Greek is Sozo – and it is used in the gospels to point to salvation as we use it today It also is used for physical healing and deliverance from demons, and even the raising the dead. The NASB translates it “Made Whole” much of the time.
Here are a few examples:
“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” – Matthew 1:21 NASB
“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. – Luke 9:24 NASB
for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” – Luke 9:56 NASB
“For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. – John 3:17 NASB
“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” – Luke 19:10 NASB
This is our classic understanding of salvation. Jesus came to solve our sin problem. And by far, this is our largest problem. Far more important that our sickness and disease, is our relationship with God. The consequenses of our remaining in our rebelion far outway any physical sickness or problem we might be facing. An eternity exluded from the presence of God would be bad enough without the firy pictures of hell taht Jesus paints for us.
God does not do things halfway. When God does something, when He acts, He does it all the way. Check out another use of the word, Sozo, from Hebrews…
Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. – Hebrews 7:25 NKJV (Emphasis mine.)
This word “uttermost” means, “perfectly, completely, utterly.” As we’ll see as we walk through some other Sozo verses, salvation was not just about going to heaven when you die. In fact, going to heaven when you die is a very small part of the Bible teaching about what we refer to as salvation. More often than not, Jesus’ own language about what we call salvation was very different than you are likely to hear in conversation with the classic evangelical.
God doesn’t take half measures. When He saves, He saves our body, soul, mind, emotions and spirits. We are completely redone.
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. – 2 Corinthians 5:17 NASB
He talked about entering the kingdom of heaven, or the kingdom of God. He talked about the Way to the Father. He spoke of unity–oneness–with the Father. He talked about the very Spirit of the Living God coming and taking up residnece in the being of the believer. He talked about us in Him and Them (the triune God) in us.
Check out this description of the coming salvation spoken hundreds of years before Christ by the prophet Ezekiel.
“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. – Ezekiel 36:25-27 NASB
This is one aspect of Sozo. But the word applies to much more than our reconciliation with the Father.
The next use of Sozo, and the one that brings it to our attention in this class, is where it is used to mean healing, or as the NASB puts it “made well.” Here are a few examples.
Wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured.- Mark 6:56 NASB
And a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak; for she was saying to herself, “If I only touch His garment, I will get well.”
But Jesus turning and seeing her said, “Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well.” At once the woman was made well. – Matthew 9:20-22 NASB
But when Jesus heard this, He answered him, “Do not be afraid any longer; only believe, and she will be made well.” – Luke 8:50 NASB
This is just one more evidence, one more witness demonstrating that healing is part of the atonement.
This word Sozo, has one more application for us to notice.
Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. And when He came out onto the land, He was met by a man from the city who was possessed with demons; and who had not put on any clothing for a long time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs. Seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before Him, and said in a loud voice, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me.” For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had seized him many times; and he was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard, and yet he would break his bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert. And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. They were imploring Him not to command them to go away into the abyss.
Now there was a herd of many swine feeding there on the mountain; and the demons implored Him to permit them to enter the swine. And He gave them permission. And the demons came out of the man and entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran away and reported it in the city and out in the country. The people went out to see what had happened; and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting down at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they became frightened. Those who had seen it reported to them how the man who was demon-possessed had been made well. – Luke 8:26-36 NASB
We see here, that Jesus’ ministry of salvation included forgiveness of sins, healing for the body and deliverance from the influence of demons. We see in the above story a man thoroughly posessed by demons. Sozo will deliver us from any level of demonic activity.
It’s interesting to note that when Peter is preaching in the book of Acts about Jesus, he made this statement indicating that all sickness his it’s origin in demonic oppression.
“You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. – Acts 10:38 NASB
I mentioned earlier that Jesus used many other words to speak of this sozo, this salvation.
One chapter in Matthew had nine mentions of this concept in short order, eight of them in one encounter. I want to take a few minutes and read this encounter with Jesus, even though it did not end in healing, or even in salvation. This interests me because, as least as far as we can see in the gospels, it was far more likely that someone would come to Jesus asking about healing than about salvation.
Turn with me to Matthew 19 and let’s look at a day in the life of Jesus together.
And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?”
Note: In Mark’s account of this story, we see this Rich Young Ruler actually comes running to Jesus and falls to his knees before Him.
And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
Note: See the contrast – the man said, how can I obtain–he was an obtainer. But Jesus lays down an invitation to enter. He doesn’t stop and correct him specifically, but tweaks the language to make it clear. Salvation is not a possession but a destination.
Then he said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER; YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY; YOU SHALL NOT STEAL; YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS; HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER; and YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”
The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?”
Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.
Jesus offers Him an exchange. Use your treasure to help the poor, and your treasure will be moved from your earthly bank to a heavenly bank. But the heavenly bank is a little scary to him (may I say to us?) because we can’t check the balance, and the withdrawals come through trust and faith, not through an ATM, or at a bank window.
And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. “Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?”
And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life. “But many who are first will be last; and the last, first. – Matthew 19:16-30 NASB
Let me read that last part in Mark’s gospel. Because I think many have the wrong idea about an account in heaven. I thought most of my Christian life, that a heavenly account was talking about rewards in the afterlife, but check out the way Mark records this conversation between Jesus and Peter.
Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.” Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life. “But many who are first will be last, and the last, first.” – Mark 10:28-31 NASB
You see. Jesus told the rich young ruler to make a deposit in a heavenly account, and live off that. He told Peter, anything you’ve given up, whether it be family offended by your stand for Christ, or financial giving into the kingdom, you will receive it back one hundred times or more in this present life, AND eternal life to boot.
It the twenty-first century, the words saved has fallen out of favor to a large extent. If you hear the word saved associated with Christians, it is usually a caricature of a street evangelist. But the word saved, Sozo, is so rich, we must get it back in our hearts, even if we can’t use it in our conversations.
I understand that trying to reach someone who does not know Christ with undefined Christian jargon is a bad idea. But we must understand the depth of our salvation.
Check out these two additional Sozo verses:
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. – Romans 5:9 NASB
let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. – James 5:20 NASB
Saved from God’s wrath, and from death, and sins forgiven. WOW. Beyond this, healing for the body, for the mind, for the emotions, deliverance from demonic influence, and complete freedom to live a life pleasing to God.
Maybe you’ve always thought of yourself as a Christian, but in my descriptions of salvation tonight, you wonder if you’re in, and you with the Rich Young Ruler wonder, how can I enter into this life.
Many, at this point would ask you to pray a “repeat after me” prayer, but I’m not going to do that. I’m going to take you back to our text book one last time for the night. Then we can pray.
Jesus said in John 14:6,
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. – John 14:6 NASB
Salvation is simpley stepping into a relationship with God. We come through Jesus, through faith in His complete work on the cross. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from our sins as we put our faith in Him.
Paul tells us in Romans 10
that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, (My Lord) and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. – Romans 10:9-10 NASB
Let’s be clear. As folks who have lived a life in sin, when we submit to Jesus as Lord, we must turn from (repent) our old sin life, and turn to (repent) follow Jesus.
We can do this with prayer, fully understanding that our old way of living was death, but as we turn and follow Jesus, He’s offering an entry into LIFE. He’s offering Sozo–salvation full and free. At one point in the prayer, I’m going to mention sin. At that point, I want you to name every sin you’re guilty of committing that the Lord brings to mind. It will help make this more real to you. The Bible tells us in 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. – 1 John 1:9 NKJV
So we’ll give you a little time to do that.
Father in heaven, I confess out loud with my mouth that Jesus is now and forevermore my Lord, my Boss, my Master, and my King. I renounce my alliance to myself as my own god and turn away from all my sin to follow you. I believe Jesus died on the cross for my complete salvation, body, soul, and spirit, and He rose again from the dead and is alive now, seated in heaven with You.
I thank You that You have made a way for me to become Your child, and this day I choose life.
I once again declare that Jesus is Lord.
In Jesus name,
Amen
If you have prayed this prayer from your heart, please reach out to me either in the comments or via email – ben@anotherredletterday.com.
I’m so glad you stopped by today.
Check out the video, there was some interesting converstaion after class that might help answer some quetisons for you.
Blessings,
Ben
