I'm discovering how thin the line really is between being shaped and being consumed by the circumstances in my life. I have convinced myself that I am who I am because of the things that have happened to me. Unfortunately, I am wrong. Sadly mistaken, I'm fighting against the things that once molded me, but are now a mold around me.They have ravaged my soul and changed my heart. No longer do I feel resilient and courageous, but instead wasted, unwanted, and damaged. Somewhere in the middle of it all, I have forgotten that in Christ's death has changed everything. He is what molds me, and he is the mold around me. Except this time, I can trust that what I am becoming is far better and safer than anything I had tried to create in myself. He truly is amazing, all forgiving, forever faithful, and glorious. I'm running from the darkness and shame into the arms of a King.

Picture your life as a flower. What type of flower will you become?  Will your color be vibrant and bold?  Or will your stem reach for the beckoning blue sky and be topped with only muted petals?  Often, we are too enamored with our vision of perfection to accurately see what creates a beautiful flower. Our efforts fail not for lack of imagination, but rather in disregard of the process. The beauty of our flower lies deep in the ground. We must first endure darkness to reach light.  Our roots must fight against the hard, cold soil. Each petal that swells from a tightly sealed bud is the product of a battle. The epic battle we fight each day to become who we are to be. Only after establishing roots deep within nutrient filled earth can a flower begin to display its beauty. For it is not our final bloom that makes us beautiful, but it is the beauty we see in the blossom first forged underground.    

I wrote this paper, or shall we say dissertation, in response to a friend's question.  She asked what my (and other people's) opinion was on salvation and asked that we leave as many 'christian phrases' out as possible.  My heart goes out to you, because my response ended up being quite lengthy.  I hope that something God stuck in my head for me to type brings you just an inch closer to knowing him more.  Enjoy!

I am eager to begin the task of unraveling my thoughts on salvation in a manner that excludes the euphemisms we as ‘Christians’ have come to live and breathe.  Although some of my thoughts and opinions originate from my own pondering and wrestling with the issue, I have taken some phrases as well as ideas from John Piper in his book Desiring God.  I unfortunately haven’t finished the book yet, but do look forward to discovering what else the Lord has shown him. 

Stopped at a traffic light in downtown Denton today, I was behind a small car.  It was older and looked a little… shabby, let’s say.  I’ve always thought that you can interpret multitudes about a person judging by their car.  The first bumper sticker I read on the back of the car said “Never buy a car you can’t push”.  Good advice I surmised.  Toward the right side of the bumper, the second sticker made me laugh giddily and then snicker with probably what could be considered ‘unchristianlike’ glee.  It read “If going to church makes you a Christian, does going to the garage make you a car?”  I love wit that slams society’s ideas of what being ‘Christian’ is.  More on this later….

To begin, I will agree with Piper when he asserts that the phrase “to believe in the Lord” has become useless.  I personally feel it is empty and creates a false sense of security for those who say they ‘believe in the Lord”.  People have the idea that believing in Jesus and the simple history of how he lived his life is enough to secure their seat in eternity.  I vehemently oppose this way of thinking.  Although the bible sates “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” in Acts 16:31, I think it is, in essence, more complicated than that.  There is a difference in believing in the existence of something, and believing in the existence and offering your life, here and eternally, on that belief.  James wrote in (James) 2:19 “Even the demons believe—and shudder!”  So, ultimately, it isn’t just the believing in the existence of Jesus, God, or the bible and what it teaches that creates the situation of ‘salvation’.  It is more, much more. 

To understand the idea of salvation, we must understand why we need it.  Paul wrote in Romans 3:22-23 “…For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”  I am hesitant to use this verse; I fear that it has been overused and has lost its potency.  Overused or not, it best describes our dire predicament.  Our hearts, the very genesis of our every desire, have been ruined. 

                    2 Corinthians 4:4—“In their case the god of this world has blinded the

                                                  minds of the unbelievers…

                    Ezekiel 11:19—“…I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh…”

                                 36:26—“…I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh…”

                    Ephesians 2:1—“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins…”

                                      2:5—“even when we were dead in our trespasses…”

The bible describes our hearts/minds as blind, stone, and dead.  On our own, there is no salvation or hope for our eternity.  Jesus tells us “I desire mercy…for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners”.  His purpose was to find the sinners, the people whose minds are blind, whose hearts are stone, and who are dead in their sins. Isaiah 53:5 tells us “he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.”  Romans 4:25 says “[Jesus] was put to death on account of our trespasses, and raised on account of our justification”.

Hovering over this idea, I also believe that there are people who will be ‘saved’ and there are those who won’t.  Romans chapter 9 is, in its entirety, devoted to discussing God’s sovereign choice.  Verse 18 clearly states “so then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills”.  It is God’s choice.  So you may ask yourself, “Doesn’t that make god unfair?”  Verse 14-15 addresses the issue: “Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!  For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion’ “.

To remove God’s choice would be to undermine his supreme authority, which in return would make him ‘not-God’.  If anyone other than God had the choice of our salvation, he wouldn’t…COULDN’T, be God. 

A great example of this is in verses 20-21

                    But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say

                    to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right

                    over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honored use

                    and another for dishonorable use?

So basically, if God created us from NOTHING, doesn’t he have the right to make us whatever he wants?  Who are we to question his creation of us?!

The second portion of this idea, deals with why some people must be created for ‘dishonorable use’ and, in the end, why we must suffer.  Verses 22-23:

                    …God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power,

                    has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for

                    destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of

                    mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—

The ‘vessels of wrath’ are what create sorrow and suffering in our lives; but, without the sorrow and suffering and brokenness, salvation would have no value.  He had to create people for specifically for destruction, so we can understand his mercy and measure the value of his grace.  More examples of God’s choice are named as sheep and goats (Matt 25:32), wise and foolish (Matt 25:2), and saved and unsaved (1 Cor 1:18). 

Is it wrong to think God is unfair because the people who don’t ‘hear the gospel’ are the ones who aren’t saved?  Yes actually, it is wrong.  In Romans 1:20-21 this is explained.  “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.  So they are without excuse”.  THERE IS NO EXCUSE.  God is revealed in the earth and the things that he has made.  His glory and his works are inescapable. 

So, what is salvation? 

                    Acts 3:19-20 says “Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may

                    be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the

                    Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus.”

                    Acts 16:31 says “Believe in the Lord and you will be saved”

                    John 3:18 says “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever

                    does not believe is condemned already, because he as not believed in the

                    name of the only Son of God”

From these examples (and many others not listed), salvation involves repentance and turning as well as believing.  This belief, according to Hebrews 11:1 & 2 could be classified as faith.  “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” and “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible”.  I would venture say that our salvation is hoped for and the conviction of what is not seen. We have the faith ONLY because of God’s grace.  Romans 5:2 tells us

                    “Through him [God] we have also obtained access by faith into this grace

                    in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God”

                    Ephesians 1:7-9—“In him we have redemption through his blood, the

                    forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which

                    he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the

                    mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ”

                    Ephesians 2:4-8—“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love

                    with which he loved us…made us alive together with Christ—by grace you

                    have been saved…For by grace you have been saved through faith.  An

                    this is not your own doing: it is the gift of God”

It is only by God’s beautiful gift of his grace that he gave us, the sinners, the faith in Jesus and his death and resurrection.  John quotes Jesus in John 6:65 “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father”.

When God grants us his grace and creates the want for Him and for Jesus, HE begins the faith we must have to be saved.  We are then called to turn from our sins (See Acts 3:19-20 above).  Peter tells us in 1 Peter 1:14 “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance”.  We MUST change our ways.  It is an act of diligence and an act of faith.  We must strive (in faith/hope) to become like Jesus.  Fortunately for us, we have been promised that the Holy Spirit will help us.  John 15:13 says “When the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth”.  John also says in 3:30 “He must increase, but I must decrease”.  There is a shift in the way of thinking when God allows people to experience his saving grace.  Just read Philippians 1:18-26—Paul says things that sound crazy to most people “To die is to gain” vs 21 or “my desire is to depart [die] and be with Christ” vs 23.  The Holy Spirit begins to mold our lives into what we are meant to be like—Christ. 

James adds on to what we must do to be saved.  He speaks to us about faith and works.  In chapter 2 verses 14-26 he writes to us on how faith without works is dead.  To summarize, let’s explore the example he gives of a poor starving person.  If we were to tell them “‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?” Faith without ACTION is worthless.  Here is where I must stress the meaning of works.  It is not just ministering to the widows and the children.  The works James is speaking of are actions, behaviors, changes in the way we live.  There must be evidence that in the world we exist in, Jesus has and is constantly changing who we are to be more like him.  Works without faith, you may ask?  Answer the question to the bumper sticker I saw this morning and tell me how it is any different.  James concludes by saying that “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead” (vs 26).  Matthew told us this in another analogy.  He says “You are the salt of the earth, but if has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored?  It is no longer good for anything”. (Matthew 5:13) To believe (we are the salt) and to not practice (lost its taste) is WORTHLESS. 

I love the way that Peter explains the idea of being born again.  1 Peter 1:3-9 says

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by  fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

--How powerful.

After this salvation, or more aptly named by Piper, conversion, we are to seek God diligently.  In my opinion, there will never be a certain point in life where we ‘seek God’s will’ perfectly.  We are sinners.  We were born that way, we will die that way, and we live that way every day.  God has so keenly created things so that we must constantly be begging for him to reveal himself and his ways to us.  How perfect he is.  The New Testament is FILLED with instructions, guidelines, letters of sorrow, of empathy, and of rejoicing for Christ’s followers.  Ultimately, we must seek him and his will for our lives. 

~“But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.” Jude, vs 20-21