2 Timothy 1:8-9 — Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began;

Pretty much every week there’s a song that we rehearse in choir that specially inspires me. (Well, I feel it’s inspiration, you feel free to disagree! This week we practiced a song called “What It Means To Be Saved”. I sometimes think we concentrate too much on the the mechanics of salvation and not enough on the impact. Look how this great song starts:

Out of darkness
From our hopelessness
And the pain of this life
You have called us
To Your promise
And Your grace has defined
What it means to be saved

It perfectly describes my experience of the effects of salvation.
Before I was saved I worried about my future. Not my eternal future, because I was carefully ignoring it, but what would happen in my later life. I knew that I was going to die destitute, alone, unloved and unwanted.
Since I got saved I’m not worried about my future! I’m confident about my short term future and the eternity I know I can look forward to.
I know that I will not die alone and unloved. Of course it’s possible that my beloved wife will die before I do — but there is one who said “lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” I might end up broke … penniless … but if I do I can still trust that God will take care of me.
I know that when I die I have an eternal life to look forward to. It’s going to be amazing!
None of this means that life is easy. That’s one thing that being saved doesn’t mean. The Christian life is hard. Jesus warned of the persecution we might face: “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.” (Matthew 5:10-11). Paul weighed in with a general warning, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Rom 8:18). Peter and James added their warning too. But no matter how tough this life might be, the benefits are infinitely greater.
We need to tell people this stuff! What does it mean to you to be saved?