“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:3-4)

Quite possibly, the single most important portrait of Christ is as our Saviour. It is a very simple thing: if Christ is not known as our Saviour, then His other portraits avail us nothing.

At the same token of time, His other portraits point us to the one inexplicable fact that Christ is the Saviour of His people. Such a fact is almost without need of exposition – the whole New Testament proclaims Christ as the long-awaited Messiah of the Old Testament, so that we can trust, “…the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15).

However, a word or two should be said in regard to this aspect of saving as it applies to those saved. Our text seems to indicate that Christ (Who is God; John 1:1) either (a) saves all men, or (b) wants to save all men. Neither of these is true.

As Paul continues to explain to Timothy, “…we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially [especially] of those that believe” (1 Timothy 4:10). The word “specially” (or especially) indicates the sense of “particularly.” So Paul is seen to be qualifying the “all men” who are saved, as “those that believe.”

Christ is the Saviour of the believers. The Greek word for “saviour” is “sōtēr.” It has the significance of protector, deliverer, or preserver. Often times, this title was given to rulers, leading officials, or emperors. As Paul tells Timothy, Christ is the One to whom this title rightfully belongs, because He functions as the Protector, Deliverer, Preserver, and Saviour to the believers.

As Saviour, Christ saves the Church (Ephesians 5:23). This is important for us to know. Jesus has declared Himself to be the only Way to the Father (John 14:6); no other Name is given whereby we are saved (Acts 4:12). So Christ is the only Saviour, and He is only the Saviour of His Bride, the Church – NOT the morally good person; He does NOT save the unbeliever.

What then does it mean to “be saved”? As our Saviour, Christ grants repentance and remission of sins (Acts 5:31); He has paid the debt for our sins and given us eternal life (Romans 6:23), delivering us from death (2 Timothy 1:10) and the eternal wrath of God (Romans 5:9); He has given us His Sprit to indwell us (Titus 3:6).

As the Saviour, Christ is the King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16); establishing His Kingdom rule (2 Peter 1:11) in and through the regenerated lives of His people (Romans 5:17), those who have been called, chosen, and ordained to this position (Romans 8:29-30) and brought forth to the place of confessing His saving them (Romans 3:23-25; 10:9-10). These are the ones that say:

“… Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.” (John 4:42)