Salvation to the Uttermost (Part 1)

SALVATION TO THE UTTERMOST (Part 1)

By Robert Wurtz II

Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25)

Salvation is an English word that is used to translate the Greek word soteria. The word means to 'save' or to 'rescue'. The root word for soteria is soter (so-ture'), which is translated 'deliverer.' From these two words we learn that salvation requires a deliverer or a savior. The word soter (translated as savior) is from a tiny Greek word sozo which in it's root form is simply three letters; SOS. These three letters, SOS, form the universal distress signal that resounds with utter helplessness and a need to be saved from a dire condition. God in His infinite wisdom and love sent the Savior of humanity to bring salvation and yet man did not recognize the need, much less, send out a SOS to God.

Yet scripture speaks of the salvation of Jesus Christ not merely as 'deliverance,' but as "so great a salvation." The word translated as 'great' in this passage is translated also as mighty in other passages. If the salvation that Christ provides is mighty then the condition of man must be by contrast astonishingly dire. In fact, all of mankind apart from a right relationship with the Savior Jesus Christ is in utter dire straits; that is, complete dreadful distress. And that, because God has appointed a day in the which He is going to judge the world in righteousness and is going to execute a just punishment against every transgression of God's boundaries and disobedience to His commands. Every time that the conscience warned a person that what they were doing was wrong and they did it anyway- they are going to receive a just punishment. One sin is worthy of eternity in a devil's hell no matter how small that sin may seem. Imagine the staggering judgments that will be meted out on that day and yet many people have decided willfully to reject the only one that could save them from that circumstance.

Salvation Neglected

How long would it take to catalog the average person's sins if they were to sit down and name them one by one and then organize them? Would it take days? Would it take weeks or months? I dare say it would take a lifetime to simply prepare the indictment against us. And that, because there are so many thoughts and motives and intentions behind sin that each sin would explode from a microcosm into a complex 'organism' that would have to be diagrammed to be explained. When God brings to light the hidden works of darkness and exposes the counsels of men's hearts along with every secret thing we have done whether in public or private; who will not tremble at the first sin exposed for fear of what shall soon be revealed? Is it not a marvel that the devils fear God more than most Christians to the place where they fear and tremble in His presence and plead and beg not to be tormented or destroyed before the time; yet Saint and sinner alike have made a perpetual habit of neglecting so great a salvation? The word neglected is translated from a word that means to be unconcerned with, uninterested in, and careless of. Does Christ interest you? Are you concerned about the suffering He endured to pay for YOUR sin? Do you even care enough to seek Christ for every good and perfect gift that He has purchased on the cross that we might be partakers of the Divine Nature and escape the corruption that is in the world through lust that we might be as a bride adorned for her Husband and not as those who attended the wedding without a garment? This generation, if it responds at all to the message of the cross does so for selfish motives. What can I get from this? What will God bless me with? What is in it all for me? They have found a way to 'get saved' without turning their life over to Christ in any real and meaningful way.

Turning to God from Idols

Everybody serves some god whether they serve God Almighty or not. I Thessalonians 1:9 tells of how the people turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. The Old Testament frequently used the term 'BAAL' to describe the various gods that the pagans and later Israel served. The word simply means lord or owner. What did you give allegiance to before you gave it to Christ? Who was the lord or owner of your heart? In the Old Testament there were many different gods called 'Baal.' There was Baal-Meon, Baal-Pezor, Baal-Peor, Baal-Zebub and a host of others. These were 'deities' that corresponded to regions of the area. It is believed that they were the demon principalities and powers over a certain local. There was also Astereth and Melech (Molech). The purpose of serving these gods was threefold: 1) they believed that by worshipping these gods they would prosper in terms of possessions 2) they served these gods to fulfill their desire for forbidden experiences 3) they served these gods to gain social ascendancy. These gods provided all the devil and this world has to offer. It is all simply just a repackaged version and twist on an old thing in every generation. The devil has only ever had the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life to offer man. These are his three tool cabinets and they are utterly filled with variations of these three things. The 'gods' of the land offered the people a means of gross expression of these three items that the world has to offer. The 'Baal's, Astereth, and Melech are just some of the various false gods that the pagan people served around the world and particularly in the area of the Promised Land that the Children of Israel were supposed to drive out. But instead of driving them out they got involved with the gods themselves and brought the wrath of God upon their heads. And this is the issue that every human being must face. Will you love the world and the things of this world or will you love the Lord Jesus Christ?

The Pleasures of Sin Last for a Season

Important to this study is I John 2:17 which reads... And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. All the world can offer mankind is things, forbidden or illicit experience, or status. 'Things' are the treasures of the earth that the moths eat and rust corrupts. 'Things' soon are obsolete and have to be replaced or break down and have to be hauled off and this corresponds to the "lust of the flesh". "Illicit experience' is the second thing the world offers. It deals with man's inquisitiveness and desire to know or see or touch things God has declared forbidden. Fornication, drunkenness, and a host of other things are forbidden experiences and they constitute the "lust of the eyes." Social ascendancy is the "pride of life." The desire to be exalted above ones fellows at work, in the community, in government, or even in the Church.

Solomon maxed-out ALL of these three things the Devil offers. He had possessions beyond measure and illicit experiences in abundance. He was the most powerful and wise man on earth in his day. Yet, Solomon was NOT satisfied with these things. In absurd abundance they could not meet the inner most need of man for His creator to live and dwell within him. Vanity, vanity, all is vanity and vexation of the soul Solomon declared. After he had staked his claim to plumb the depth of sin and mine out its very last gem it was nothing but counterfeit and artificial pleasures that were appearing for a time and vanishing away before he had chance to find contentment in them. The only thing Solomon was laying up in store for himself was a storehouse of judgments if he did not repent.

Solomon was the lord of his own life and he spent himself to the uttermost trying to attain this worlds offerings. There reached a time when the principals of idolatry were not enough to satisfy him and he gave himself to the real thing. If you are covetous you are already in idolatry. Do you lie, cheat, or steal to get ahead or misrepresent goods or services? Do you find yourself already succumbing to Astereth by flirting with forbidden experiences? Do you cut others down to exalt yourself or find other means of lifting yourself up? If so, you are already succumbing to the principals of Melech and are yielded to the pride of life. Jesus Christ came to deliver us from the powers that would bind us to commit these sins. He came to set us free to say no to Baal, Astereth, and Molech. How? Because He overcame the world. He overcame the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. He died on the cross willingly to condemn sin in the flesh. If we are to escape the wrath and penalty and power of these things we will only do it through Him. For it is only in Christ and He in us that we will find victory over Satan and this world.