In Need of a Savior

Throughout history, mankind has sought to answer many profound questions. Where did we come from? What happens after we die? Are we alone in the universe? Religion, philosophy, and scientific reasoning desperately attempt to answer such nagging mysteries. There’s also a growing popularity with several concoctions of religion mixed with science in a sort of inconclusive evolution/deity cocktail. The result, unfortunately, is a diatribe of sloppy faith mingled with humanistic ideas of natural selection which result in a kind of secularist Christian approach. In a word, compromise. Darwin may have been on to something so, if we squish and prod enough, we just might be able to squeeze evolution into the six days of creation. Naturally, the conclusions are hardly sufficient and leave a bad taste in the mouth of both scientists and bible believers. However, I think we might be asking the wrong questions here.

Often when my wife and I discuss current events or some theological commentary, we discover a sort of unavoidable reoccurring conclusion: very few feel the need for a true savior. From the pulpit to the lab, synagogue to cathedral, there’s an unrelenting obsession with removing an actual divine savior from the human equation. While most physicists and like experts have always discounted the existence of intelligent design, it appears modern Judaeo-Christian religions, with all their vast variations, have effectively done likewise. Science removes logic while common religion removes a living God, but modern faith has removed the need of a savior altogether.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Matthew 7:21-23 (ESV)

All belief systems and religious credos require elements of dos and don’ts, rights and wrongs. This is the fundamental attribute of what constitutes belief in the first place. The same can be said of many modes of living. Citizenship, for example, requires adherence to basic laws and governing tenets. Family relationships require minimal mutual respect and concern for the collective well being. However, where faith is concerned, the rules diverge dramatically. There are vast chasms of thought between varying denominations, cultural traditions, and Biblical interpretations. Yet, as Christ reminds us, “not everyone” can be right and very few are honestly known by our Savior.

How many devout believers will stand before God on the day of judgment with a list of noble achievements as justification for entry into heaven? Virtually every flavor of faith, whether Catholicism, Rabinic Judaism, Protestantism, or Calvinistic heresy, has managed to effectively remove the need of a savior. Think about it, each has crafted a unique byway to heaven. Some require extreme adherence to non-biblical practices and go so far as to implement outright satanic ritualistic methods of devotion. While others so cheapen divine grace as to deny the power of Christ to transform. Still others count on their utterance of costly discipleship and site supposed persecution as evidence of their dubious obedience and justification for secret idolatry. Anything and everything but humbly approaching the throne of the true Savior (Titus 1:14-16).

Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

John 9:35-41 (ESV)

When Christ mercifully restored sight to the blind beggar, He opened the poor man’s eyes to observe the world around him. In that moment, he understood that which previously he could not even imagine. This is akin to the moment we decide to become a Christian. Jesus opens our eyes, and we behold the wretched world around us. We’re overjoyed and bewildered at the same time. Everything is new and terrifying all at once. We rush about praising God for the gift of forgiveness and the promise of a changed life. We speak of our joy of having once been blind but now being able to see our purpose for living. However, too many of us sit in our churches, convinced we’re saved, yet are missing the Savior Himself.

The vast majority of believers sadly never move beyond the healing moment. Perpetually lost in a fog of confusion, we live out our days thanking God for His restoration, examining His word for deeper understanding but never find Jesus. Like the blind man, we attend the church of our choice, only to be taught by those speciously more devout than us, a series of doctrines (or lack thereof) which actually bar our way to Christ. We are freed from our darkness but lost without a true relationship with the omnipotent Healer. Only after we have finally reached the end of ourselves, can we be “found” by Christ. He comes to our confused minds and pops the question, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” The trouble is, most Christians emphatically answer, Yes! We site years of faithful service, deep knowledge of scripture, and obedient self-sacrifice as evidence of our true belief. We don’t realize our need of the Savior standing right in front of us and so, like foolish Pharisees, we declare we can clearly see and sadly our “guilt remains.”

As broken believers we should daily implore Jesus, “Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” We must earnestly enquire if we want to truly know Him (Philippians 2:12). This one desperate question opens our eyes to see truth Himself. Christ did not merely come into the world to take away our darkness. He came so that we might know Him and know Him completely. Oh, the exaltation that would be ours if we could hear from His own lips, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” We need a Savior but one who not only removes our blindness but grants the everlasting light of His presence. We need Jesus so we may honestly worship and from the heart declare, “my Lord and Savior, I believe! Emanuel, God with us.”