What does it mean to be "saved"?

It should be clear by now, James is not speaking of

getting saved from hell.  So why have so many interpreted

the word "saved" in James chapter 2 as salvation from

hell?  When a word or phrase has more than one possible

application or meaning, the interpretation by the hearer is

influenced by the context as perceived by the hearer.

Comedians have long exploited the phenomena of double

meanings, or the "double entendre," wherein the audience is

aware of two separate perceptions of two separate speakers.

Abbot and Castello's "Who's On First" is a wonderful

example of such humor.

Similarly, there is an old joke which works better when

spoken aloud. The questioner begins:

"Say ten" ten times."

The participant, knowing it is a joke, and typically

sensing a hidden trap, responds by saying, "ten ten times."

Eventually, however, the participant is persuaded that the

trap will come later, and coxed into saying, "ten, ten, ten, ten,

ten, ten, ten, ten, ten, ten."

Next, the questioner asks, "What are aluminum cans

made out of."  In American vernacular, however, cans for

canning food and drink have commonly been called  have

been called "tin cans" regardless of whether they are made

from tin, aluminum, steel, mixed alloys, or any other

material.

Because this expression is so common throughout

American vernacular, the participant jumps to the conclusion

that the repetition of the word "ten" was done to get him to

mispronounce the word "tin."  Believing he has discovered

the trap, and carefully enunciates the word, "TIN," with clear

and careful elocution.

The joke, of course, is that aluminum cans are not made

of tin, they are made of aluminum!  The very answer was in

the question itself.  But by orienting the attention of the

listener to something irrelevant, specifically, the repetitive

pronunciation of the word "ten," the listener is focused on the

wrong thing when trying to avoid the hidden trap of the joke,

and thereby walks straight into the trap.

The above joke illustrates a well recognized principle of

human psychology.  One interprets an event or statement

according to the context perceived by the hearer.  If the

context is perceived accurately, the interpretation of an event

or statement has a good chance of being accurate.  However,

if one's contextual predisposition is biased, errant, or

otherwise inconsistent with the proper meaning of a word or

phrase, the conclusion will usually be wrong, and sometimes

even funny.  Such as concluding that aluminum cans are

made out of tin, or that "Who" is the name of a man playing

first base.

In evangelical Christianity, those who have been saved

by the blood of Jesus Christ have that salvation as the center

of their mind.  And well they should.  We shall, throughout

eternity, worship the lamb that was slain from the foundation

of the world, paying, by that death, the penalty due for the

sins of the whole world.  And that salvation is by faith alone

in Jesus Christ alone.  So central is the "faith alone," doctrine

to Christianity, the apostle Paul wrote a letter to the church of

Galatia warning them that, if someone comes to Christ while

believing that circumcision is also necessary for salvation,

they are not trusting in Christ alone, and are not even

demonstrating a saving faith.

Against this great truth, however, there is a profound

limitation of faith.  Although faith in Christ saves one from

eternal hell, that is probably the only circumstance from

which faith will save one!  Salvation or deliverance from

nearly all other circumstances, trials and perils require works.

If one parachutes out of an airplane, faith will not save them.

They must pull the rip cord.  This is a work.  If one is being

hounded by bill collectors, faith will not save them.  To be

delivered from the harassment of the bill collectors, one must pay his bills.  This is a work.  If one is in the habit of

drinking to excess and then driving a motor vehicle, faith in

Jesus will not save them from a serious, and possibly fatal

accident.  They must stop drinking and driving.  This is a

work.  If one has an exam in algebra, faith in Jesus will not

help make a good grade.  They must study.

The truth is, eternal salvation is probably the only form of

salvation that is based on faith alone.  Virtually every other

circumstance or danger on this earth requires works to be

saved!

This is not simply common sense.  It is true throughout

Scripture.  The words "saved" and "salvation" are far more

frequently used within Scripture with respect to earthly

dangers that with respect to hell. For example, in

Deuteronomy 22 we read:

25.         But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field,

and the man force her, and lie with her: then the man

only that lay with her shall die:

26.         But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing;

There is in the damsel no sin worthy of death: for

as when a man riseth against his neighbour, and slayeth him, even so is this matter:

27.         For he found her in the field, and the betrothed

damsel cried, and there was none to save her.

Or again, in Matthew 8 we read:

24.         And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the

sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the

waves: but he was asleep.

25.         And his disciples came to him, and awoke him,

saying, Lord, save us: we perish.

A "hermeneutic" is a presupposition, or set of presuppositions, (both substantive and methodological),

that that are used to interpret a passage.  In any passage of

Scripture, the object from which a person is being saved must

Be drawn from the context, not imposed on the context.  It

should be transparently obvious to even the most

unintelligent reader that neither of the above passages in

Deuteronomy and Matthew have anything to do with getting

saved from hell, and that to impose such a hermeneutic on

either of these passages is plainly idiotic.

A young maiden is saved from an assailant when a

man of strength and valor happens on the attack and kills

the assailant, or drives him away.  One is saved from a storm

on the sea by bailing water out of the boat as quickly as

possible, and making for shore as quickly as possible.  It

would be plainly idiotic to interpret the word "save" in

either of the above passages as being directed at salvation

from the eternal judgment of God.

Unfortunately, the very hermeneutic which was so

plainly idiotic in the above referenced passages of

Deuteronomy and Matthew is typically imposed upon the

meaning of the word "save" in the second chapter of

James.  Without any supporting context, those of simple

minds and limited understanding of interpreting according to

a context rush forward to interpret the word "save" in James

as referring to eternal salvation.

When James speaks of being saved by works, he is not

speaking about eternal salvation before the throne of God.

He is talking about salvation from the trials and hardships

of unemployment, homelessness and poverty.

Chapter 7: What Does it Mean to Be "Saved?"