Sometimes a story helps us to understand a topic better. The story below is meant to give us a better understanding of the question, “What does it mean to be saved by Jesus?” It’s a short read that I hope will draw you closer to Jesus His saving grace.

*The following story is taken from A Beginner’s Guide to the Christian Faith: What Every New Christian Should Know.

JESUS AND THE CROSS

I would love to put a real-life analogy here, instead of a story, to help you better understand what Jesus had done for us.  However, no comparison or story is as impactful as Jesus and the cross.

Picture a house fire. Inside that house are two people and they have no idea what is happening. They’re living in smoke and flames, not knowing they’re in immediate danger. Meanwhile, outside a stranger is walking by who sees what’s happening. He decides to go into the burning house to save anyone inside. He has no protective gear to keep him safe from the fire. He knows if he goes into the burning house that most likely he will not survive. Knowing this, he is still willing to try and save the people inside (who also might not survive this burning house fire).  

When he reaches two people inside, he is battered and burned. He tells them that he is there to save them. The two people ask the stranger what they need saving from. He tells them about the fire all around them. He describes in detail what is happening, telling them that the fire is traveling fast, and almost to them. The walls in the house are on fire, the ceilings are starting to fall down, and there is thick smoke throughout the rest of the house.

He asks them both to trust him because he wants to help them, taking them to safety. They both listen to what the stranger has told them.

The first person looks around and says he can get out on his own, rejecting the stranger’s help. The second person looks around the room and then looks back at the stranger. He notices the soot all over the stranger, seeing the burns he has received trying to get to them.

He asked the stranger to lead him to safety.

When they escape the burning house, the second man looks back and sees it in flames, destroyed. He falls on his knees thanking the stranger. He knows he would have been lost in the fire if it wasn’t for him.

The first person, who rejected help from the stranger, never made it out. He was not able to save himself.

The stranger was able to lead the second man on the best path. He gave him the shirt off his back to use as a mask, to limit the amount of smoke he would breathe in. He also gave him his boots so his feet would be protected from the hot coals they would have to walk across. He then used his body to shield the second man from the burning fire, coming at them from all directions.  

The stranger died for two people, but only one accepted his help and was saved from the fire.
Jesus died for everyone, but not everyone will accept His help.  

CONCLUSION

This story represents the simple fact that Jesus died on the cross for everyone. He died so that we don’t have to experience the second death (Revelation 22:14-15). The second death is the punishment given to those who have not let Jesus take their sin upon Himself. Jesus willingly took our punishment (the consequences of our sin), to the point of death, for us. He did this because we can not be with God and sin at the same time, and He wants us to have the opportunity to be with God. It’s one or the other. You can accept His help and live, or deny His help and experience the second death. It is a decision that everyone will have to make.

I pray you have a better understanding of the question that many people have: “What does it mean to be saved?” To learn more on being saved please read our bible study S.A.V.E.D What does it mean?

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We hope you search our website, Christian Fellowshipping, for more encouraging ways to fellowship with God and other believers. To learn about salvation and what it means, read What is Salvation and God’s Promise of Salvation, it will guide you through this with scripture. If you are new to the Christian faith, please visit My Bookshelf. You will find free eBooks that will help you on this new journey.