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1 Timothy 4:10
“To this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.”
Having examined some of the more complex issues regarding the person of Christ, we now turn to His work on our behalf. We will begin by considering many of our Lord’s titles that assist us in understanding what Jesus has done. Today we look at one of the most well-known titles of Jesus: Savior.
When we think of salvation, we should think of the basic concept of rescue. That means that a savior is one who provides rescue. In Scripture, there are many different things from which one might need rescue, and the title savior can therefore be used differently. For example, Nehemiah 9:27 tells us that God provided many “saviors” to deliver His old covenant people from their enemies, and in context the reference is plainly to saviors who rescued His people from the nations and their destructive armies. These saviors provided a salvation from physical enemies. Proverbs 14:25 says that “a truthful witness saves lives.” The context here is the courtroom, so a truthful witness is one who saves the innocent from legal punishment.
Considering the title of Savior as applied to Jesus, we must think of physical rescue—Christ will save the present created order from its corruption (Rom. 8:19–21). Yet we cannot limit His salvation to a renewal of the cosmos. Jesus as Savior also rescues us from our sins. Matthew 1:21 and many other passages tell us as much. Heidelberg Catechism 29 states that Jesus is called Savior “because he saves us from our sins, and because salvation should not be sought and cannot be found in anyone else.” In saving us from our sins, Jesus also saves us from the consequences of our sins, and thus He delivers us from the wrath of God (1 Thess. 1:10).
Today’s passage tells us that God, in Christ of course, is the Savior of all people but especially of believers. Here we must understand salvation in two senses: sustenance that the Lord gives in the form of His benevolence toward all, and the full salvation that comes only to those who rest in Christ. John Calvin writes that by the title “Savior” in 1 Timothy 4:10, Paul “means that the kindness of God extends to all men. And if there is no man who does not feel the goodness of God towards him, and who is not a partaker of it, how much more shall it be experienced by the godly, who hope in him? Will he not take peculiar care in them? Will he not more freely pour out his bounty on them? In a word, will he not, in every respect, keep them safe to the end?”
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Christ is our all-sufficient Savior. Not only does He redeem us from the penalty of sin and the wrath of God, but He also will save us from the physical consequences of sin such as bodily pain and decay when He raises our bodies from the dead on the last day. Let us trust Him alone to save us from all that we need saving from.
For further study
- Psalm 17:6–7
- Hosea 13:4
- Acts 5:31
- Jude 24–25
The bible in a year
- Psalms 41–43
- Acts 24