When God says something is great; it’s great. When God says, “It’s so great!” it must really be great!
Hebrews 2:1
Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
This is comparing us to the Old Testament saints who had a good covenant, but we have a better covenant. The actual meaning of we should let them slip is we should drift by them. It’s a picture of someone in a boat who just happens to drift by and miss their port or their mooring.
Hebrews 2:2-3
For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward;
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
This verse says, how shall we escape. He’s talking to believers and when we have been given so great salvation, we have a greater responsibility to the Lord than even the believers of the Old Testament had. The Old Testament saints received the Word of God by angels, by revelation from God, but we have received the Word of God in our time period from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God is saying the things we have received are so much greater than what they received in the Old Testament.
Notice the phrase so great salvation. Salvation began when Jesus began to preach it. He preached things that had not been heard before. Salvation was available in the Old Testament, but Jesus came and preached so great salvation, something that eclipsed what was available in the Old Testament. We believe in the Lord like they believed in the Lord. Yes, it was accounted to them for righteousness as it’s accounted to us, but we have so much more. We have the new birth. We have the Holy Spirit living in us. No longer does the Holy Spirit live in a temple made by man. The Holy Spirit moved out of that temple and moved into you and me on the Day of Pentecost. God as being so valuable that the Holy Spirit desired to move out of a temple made by man into a temple created by God!
The key word throughout the book of Hebrews is the word better. What they had was good, but what we have is better. Confirmed unto us by them in verse 3 are Peter, James, and John, the disciples.
Salvation is greater than what you received when you asked Jesus to become your Lord and Savior. When you said, “Jesus, come into my life. Jesus, come into my heart. Jesus, be my Savior,” that was an awesome day, but so much more happened.
The point of salvation is referred to in Romans 10:10 tells us the way we received righteousness was by believing. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Salvation began with the Lord Jesus Christ, but in our own personal lives it started when we said, “Yes” to Jesus Christ.
Christians have two birthdays: the day they are born and they day they receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. For us, salvation is not just past tense. There is also a progressive salvation going on in our lives. When the term so great salvation is used, it doesn’t just refer to something that happened in the past; it’s also something that’s working in your life today. Aren’t you glad Jesus Christ is working in your life right now? Salvation started working in your life when you accepted Jesus, but it will continue working throughout your entire life.
When I teach Greek, one of my favorite areas to teach is on Greek verbs. There’s a verse of scripture that stands out because the perfect tense in the Greek is a mixture of the past and the present put together. No language has the perfect tense like the New Testament Greek does, and by putting those two together, you actually have something that began in the past with results that keep on coming right up until the present. It’s hard to see that from your English Bible, but the main place it’s found is in Ephesians 2:8-9. For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast.
When it says For by grace are you saved, that’s really the perfect tense. The only English Bible translation I have found that correctly translates this verse is Kenneth Weust: For by grace were you saved in the past with results that keep right on coming up until the present. Isn’t that good? I don’t have to think about it. It’s inside of me, working every single day. It just keeps on working, keeps on working, keeps on working, and keeps on working. That’s what God did inside of me. Not only was I saved back then, I’m progressively saved every single day.
The salvation I received when I was born again is complete, but the work inside of me progressively keeps on going and gets better each and every day.
In Philippians 2:12, Paul says, Wherefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. He didn’t say work for your salvation. He said work the salvation that’s in you out. What is inside you needs to come out so people can see it and witness what’s inside of you.
First Samuel 16:7 says man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart. God can see I’m saved in my heart, but there’s a world out there that needs to see my actions and hear my words, and those actions and words reflect outwardly that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior.
There are many people in the world who will never read the Bible, and you may be the only Bible they’ll ever read. Second Corinthians 3:2 says you are an epistle known and read of all men. The teachings of the New Testament are lived out in our lives so they can see God’s Word in us.
Salvation is past tense when I accepted Jesus Christ; it is present tense in that He works in my life each and every day; it is also future tense. One day my salvation will be complete and I will have a brand-new body just like that of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 13:11
And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
Notice what a contradictory statement this seems to be. It’s closer now than when we believed. You believed many years ago, but this verse says your salvation is nearer now. This is not talking about your spiritual salvation; it’s talking about your physical salvation. One day we’re going to rise to meet Jesus in the air and every day we live, we’re closer to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. You can look at world events and because there are so many things happening today, we know Jesus’ return must be very soon. But you can also tell in your heart that Jesus is coming very soon.
There will always be people saying, “We shouldn’t build buildings if Jesus is coming soon.” I’d rather be doing these things when Jesus comes than not be doing them, sitting down, and waiting for the Rapture to come. When He returns, I want Him to find me doing something for the kingdom of God. That verse of scripture tells us t not only is salvation past, but there’s also salvation present and salvation future. That’s wrapped up in one phrase in Hebrews 2:3—so great salvation.
We know we have been saved. We also know we will be saved one day. All that’s included in our salvation. Why? Because we are creatures of time. We look back and say, “I remember when I was saved. I can see salvation working in my life even right now.” We look to the future, saying, “I can see the time when I will be saved physically. I’ll have a resurrection body just like the Lord Jesus Christ.” But look at that so great salvation through the eyes of God.
Romans 8:29-30
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
We know that God lives in a place where there is no time. A million years into the future looks as clear to God right now as today looks to us. God sees all time mixed together, and in this passage tells us God prepared the plan of salvation before the foundation of the world. From the foundation of the world He saw us saved.
When was that? Before you and I were there. We weren’t even around when the universe was just being formed, and God already had the plan of salvation. He already saw you and me saved. He clearly saw those saved, yet to be born, before the foundation of the world.
Many years ago when I accepted Jesus, my salvation became real to me, but it became real to God before the foundation of the world. Here’s the great part—my future was seen by God before the foundation of the world. He not only saw me justified, (saved); He not only saw me conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, (today); but He also sees me glorified and I haven’t even been glorified yet. How do I know I’m going to heaven? Because God already sees me there. Let that sink in for just a moment. God already sees me there. In fact, I’ve already been glorified—past tense.
How do I know I’m going to get through this problem I am in this week or next week? How do I know I’m going to get through this negative situation? Because God already sees me in heaven at the Throne of God. For God, it’s already a done deal. I’m going to get through my problem next week because God already sees me through that problem, through the next problem, through the next problem, problems yet to come, and if Jesus doesn’t come for another twenty years from now or a hundred years from now, He already sees me in heaven, shouting and rejoicing around the Throne of God in a resurrection body, already glorified! So what do I have to worry about? Nothing!
That’s how God sees my salvation. No wonder it’s called so great salvation. My past is taken care of, my present is taken care of, and my future is taken care of by a God who saw it all before the foundation of the world, and once He saw it, He stamped done on it. It’s done. It’s complete. He saw the day I would accept Jesus and stamped done. He’s predestinated an entire life and plan for me and already sees that plan complete. He already sees me in heaven. What do I have to fear from the devil or demons or the circumstances of life? No wonder I can say to the circumstances of life, “If God be for me, who can be against me?”
When we ask a believer to describe salvation, they say, “Oh, I have eternal life.” And you do. “I’ve been justified.” Yes, you have. “My name’s in the Book of Life.” Yes, it is. “I have all of God’s blessings given to me.” Yes, but most of the time we talk about what we were saved to. What were we saved from? We were saved from sin. Sin is not a popular subject today. People talk about God’s goodness and God’s love, but if you never were in sin, Jesus wouldn’t need to come and save you. If somebody’s drowning and you saved them, most of the time they thank you for saving them from death.
I died in Adam, but Jesus resurrected me from the dead. I was lost and dead in my trespasses and sin and Jesus came and died for me. Salvation in all areas is from sin. When I received Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I was taken out of sin, but my daily salvation also removed me from a life of sin. Why do I want to be sanctified today? So I don’t live under the control of sin. Even Christians can still be under the control of sin. My future salvation yet to come will be to redeem me from this body that still carries the brand of sin. One day this body is going to be changed into a resurrection body and on that day my salvation will be complete. No more will salvation have to be accomplished in me. It will have been completed.
God saw us in our sins. Adam passed sin upon all men and women, for we are born into this earth under the control of sin, yet Jesus came so we could be redeemed from sin and find Him as our Lord and Savior. I have been saved from sin and forgiven of my sin, yet I’m surrounded by it every day. However, God does not want me to be under the control of it. My future salvation will remove me from even the temptation of sin that comes through this natural body I live in.
The first area we were saved from is the pleasure of sin. Hebrews 11:25 says there’s pleasure in sin for a season, but the pleasure that’s in sin as a Christian isn’t the same as the pleasure you had when you were a sinner. There’s a difference because God has dropped His pleasure and His desires in your heart. When you were a sinner, you didn’t walk away with all the guilt hanging over you like you do now that you’re a Christian because God’s nature is inside of you—His nature of goodness. It’s even stronger than the nature that’s in your body, the nature of your flesh. Once you became born again, the true pleasure of sin is gone. There may be a momentary pleasure in it, but it’s so different than it used to be when you were a sinner.
When God saved us, He took the sting out of sin but He also took the great pleasure out of it. We don’t get the same pleasure from sin that the world seems to experience. For a Christian to truly enjoy sin, he has to jump a lot of hurdles in his life to get there. He has to ignore a lot of conviction of the Holy Spirit and get to a point where 1 Timothy 4:2 says, “His conscience becomes seared,” because the Holy Spirit in you is always urging you to follow after God. Therefore, the first area in our life we are saved from is the pleasure of sin.
Proverbs 5:4 tells us for a Christian the end of sin is as wormwood and is as sharp as a two-edged sword. The result of sin is no longer the pleasure that it used to be. The love of the Lord is now placed in our heart and we have to go to much effort to override the love that God has placed inside of us.
Psalms 4:2 says the sinner loves vanity. In Psalms 11:5, it says the sinner loves violence. In Psalms 52:3, it says the sinner loves evil. In Proverbs 1:22, the sinner loves lies. Isaiah 66:3 says the sinner delights in their abominations, and 1 John 2:15 says if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
You may have an attraction for the world at times, but the love of the world is gone from you, and when you dabble in the things of the world, conviction comes on you like it never comes on a sinner. The most miserable people on the face of the earth are not sinners; they are Christians trying to live their old life, Christians trying to run from the Spirit of God, Christians trying to smother the love of God on the inside, and trying their best to live like the world. They are more miserable than anyone can possibly be.
David committed adultery with Bathsheba and covered it for a whole year, but by the end of that year, David was so dull toward spiritual things. However, he was angry inside himself when Nathan the prophet came and told him the story of the ewe lamb. David stood up and pounded the table and screamed and yelled that the man who had done this thing would pay fourfold, not even knowing Nathan was describing him in that story. Nathan finally had to say, “You are the man,” and David understood. David got to a point where he became dull in the things of God, but David was also an angry man.
Find a Christian who’s trying to live in their old, sinful lifestyle and you’ll find an angry person. The pleasure is gone out of it and they’re trying their best to find the pleasure they used to have. There’s a nature of the Holy Spirit is inside of me and the Holy Spirit causes the love of God to be shed abroad in my heart; therefore, the pleasures of sin have been removed from me. The sinner loves vanity. He loves violence, evil, and lies. He delights in their abomination. There is a difference between loving sin and committing sin. The world loves committing sin. A Christian can commit sin, but he doesn’t love it because the pleasure of it has been removed.
Proverbs 8:13
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
Proverbs 6:16 says the fear of the Lord is to depart from evil. When we start to follow after the Lord, we start to hate evil and we depart from it. The love of God abides in the spirit man on the inside of us. The love of the world is in our flesh, but not in our spirit.
Which is the greater man, your spirit man or your flesh man? Your spirit man is greater, and that’s why the Word of God declares that greater is He that is in you than he that’s in the world. (1 John 4:4) So greater is your spirit man than your flesh man. Your flesh is temporary; it won’t last forever. You’ll have your flesh only while you’re here on Earth. One day you’ll have a resurrection body, which will not even be made out of flesh, but out of spirit. On the other hand, your spirit is eternal; therefore, the love that’s in your heart is eternal also. The good that is in us fights the evil in our flesh so we cannot enjoy sin like we used to.
Romans 7:21
I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Verse 21 says we desire to do good, but evil is present. Verse 22 says we delight in the law of God after the inward man. What’s in my inward man? A delight for the things of God. Although my flesh would rather go after the things of the world, I delight in my inward man for the things of God.
At this time Paul is describing what a carnal Christian is like and how miserable he is. Yield to the delight of the inward man, not to the lust of the flesh, and you’ll be happy. Happiness is not found by yielding to the lust of the flesh because when you became born again, the pleasure of sin was removed. The only true pleasure a Christian can have is to serve the Lord Jesus Christ every day. Who are the happiest people on the face of the earth? Christians serving God day after day after day.
In addition to being saved from the pleasure of sin, we have also been saved from the penalty of sin. In Luke 7:50, Jesus told a woman who had just received Him as Lord and Savior, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” When we have been saved from the penalty of sin, peace overwhelms us. Haven’t there been times when you’ve gone through something traumatic, but the moment it’s over, great peace comes on you? I’m talking about a peace that overwhelms us. When you became born again, a peace came into your life because the penalty of sin was over once and for all.
1 Thessalonians 1:10
And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
The penalty of sin is spiritual death and banishment from God, but you and I have peace today because we have been saved from the wrath that is to come. God might have displeasure in us toward our sin, but we will never face the wrath of God because that verse says He has saved us from the wrath that is to come. I’ve been saved from sin, I’ve been saved from the pleasure of sin, and I have been saved from the penalty of sin. It will never touch my life. I never have to worry about the Lake of Fire, because I know in my heart I’m going to heaven one day. The penalty of sin was over in my life the moment I accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior.
Romans 8:1
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
The opposite of condemnation is justification. Condemnation is being charged with a crime. Justification says we have been found guiltless of any crime and the law holds nothing against us even though the law should have condemned us. We should not be able to say, “There’s no condemnation,” because we were guilty. We were sinners, but Jesus took the condemnation of sin and then He was justified. By accepting Him, my sin is transferred to Him and the condemnation of it is gone and I receive His justification. I can say there’s no condemnation because I’m in Christ Jesus. Jesus took the sin and the condemnation of sin and removed it once and for all, so I stand free and have been found guiltless of the crime for which I was charged.
2 Corinthians 5:21
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
My sin was transferred to Jesus; His justification was transferred to me. I’m free from the penalty and the condemnation of sin. Not only does the law have nothing against me, I’m also entitled to all of its rewards.
It’s important to grasp the fact that we are saved from the power of sin. Does sin have a power? Oh, yes, but I have a greater power living in me and I am free from the power of sin. The power of sin and being free from it is not only something given to me at the new birth, but it’s something that I grow in each and every day. I learn to overcome the power of sin. Provisionally, it was given to me at the new birth. The moment I was saved, God gave me the power to overcome sin, but it’s something I must walk in and grow in every day.
It’s also the most difficult part of salvation to understand because we have a mindset that salvation is completely over, which it is, but we don’t realize salvation also works in our life each and every day. Therefore, not only was I set free from the power of sin, I walk free daily from the power of sin. Just because I was born again doesn’t mean I’ll never face sin again. I face sin each and every day, but I grow in His power, which is greater than the power of sin. No matter how powerful sin is, I have been set free and delivered from the power of sin.
Many believe that when they were saved the desire for sin was removed, but that is not true. God gave us a greater power than the power of sin. We gain that power day by day to walk free from sin through the Word of God. God’s power comes to us through His Word.
1 Timothy 4:16
Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.
Paul is talking to a man who is already saved, but he tells him that by the power of the promises of God, he can save himself and those surrounding him each and every day. There is a salvation which comes by the power of the Word of God. As you walk in the promises each and every day, you see the daily deliverance from the temptations of the world around you, daily deliverance from the sins you’ve committed and didn’t resist, and you can walk away from those by the power of the Word of God.
Psalms 119:11
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
The power to walk free from sin comes by our understanding of the Word of God. We need to fill ourselves with more of the Word of God, because we know that today, tomorrow, and next week we’re going to face the temptations of the world and the Word will cause us to walk in victory
As we learn more about so great salvation that began to be preached to us by the Lord Jesus Christ, we grow every day, and one day we will see the finalization of that salvation. We can live a life above sin that is pleasurable to God, we can delight to do the things of God, and we can have a complete change of nature inside of us through His “so great salvation.”
If you like this outline, check out So Great Salvation (also available on MP3) at the BYM Store.
Copyright 2010 by Bob Yandian Ministries.
Reproduction of this material in whole or part in any format without
written permission is prohibited. All Rights Reserved.