Who Can Truly Save?

Introduction

The romans had many gods, but amongst these many gods, there were two special gods.

Asclepius - we are most familiar with what’s called the rod of Aclepius which is the serpent entwined around a walking stick / staff - symbolizing healing, medicine.

Zeus - the king over all the roman gods.

The city of Pergamum had built two altars - one to Asclepius and one for Zeus.

They called them by special names - Asclepius Soter and Zeus Soter.

The word soter means savior.

So the ancient romans saw the god of medicine and the king of all the roman gods - as their saviors.

They saw these gods as beings that gave them good things (such as healing, prosperity, joy) and also as beings that gave their life meaning and purpose.

They truly saw them as the true joy and hope for their lives.

However, Christian believers knew that only Jesus was God.

There are no other Gods except the only true God revealed in the OT and NT.

Jesus is God made flesh who lived among us.

They knew that God had sent Jesus - which means savior - and that only Jesus could truly save humanity from eternal condemnation.

…and yet these beliefs went against everything that the ancient romans believed.

For the romans, the emperor was the savior of their civilization.

Asclepius - the god of healing was a savior.

Zeus - the king of all gods was another savior.

Anyone of their gods was a savior.

…and here they were having christian believers saying that Jesus was the only savior - there are no other saviors.

How did the romans react to this news?

The Bible tells us of the danger that the believers faced in Pergamum.

Apocalipsis 2:13 ESV

13 “ ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.

One such believer was killed for believing that Jesus was the only savior.

Notice how Jesus calls Pergamum Satan’s throne and where Satan dwells.

This was a city filled with false worship and superstition.

It was a very dark spiritual place where people worshipped many idols.

But in the midst of all this, there was a handful of people that were gloriously saved by the Gospel of Jesus Christ and declared with firm conviction - Jesus is Lord!

…and the romans persecuted them, brought them before their judges, and sentenced at least one of them, Antipas, to death.

Now, we may believe that we live in very different times.

…and yes, in one sense we do live in different times.

We have technology that they could only have dreamed of.

We have medical advances that simply did not exist in their times.

But at the end of the day we are very much the same - our society has the same idol worship tendencies.

You see, people have no problem in worshipping a musician like Taylor Swift.

Others have no problem in thinking that Elon Musk with all his brilliance and business savvy is like a god to them.

Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama - some say, are the chosen ones, they will save us from all that wants to destroy the United States.

…but the reality is that all of them - is that many look to them as if they were gods…

…as if they give people purpose in this life.

…as if they are worthy of our adoration.

…the reality is they are nothing more than false gods that will ultimately disappoint for they are simply sinful human beings just like you and me.

…only Jesus is Lord, only Jesus is the savior of the world…only Jesus is worthy of our praise.

Let us be brave in this world that seems to be against the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Let’s cry out with a firm voice - Jesus is Lord, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus is the savior of all those that would believe in him.