salvation for living
When I was in college, I would go through phases where I was genuinely trying to be a good person. I would be in a rhythm of reading my Bible almost everyday. I would pray frequently, and invoke God’s name in many conversations so that others would have the benefit of knowing that I was “spiritual.”
I would not swear when I stubbed my toe, my lips would be devoid of profane talk, and I would not smoke cigarettes. I would not drink any kind of beer, and I would dress appropriately. I would go along like this for a few days or weeks, and really believe that I was doing great spiritually.
Then something in my head would click. I can’t explain it. For what seemed a dark moment, I would go to the store to buy a bottle of Dr. Pepper and something inside me would want a cigarette. So I would buy a pack, and smoke one.
I would then in disgust take the other 19 in the pack and throw them out the window of my car, and lament over my sinfulness. That night I would lie in bed, and wonder to myself if the tapping of the branches on my window was really the four horsemen trying to break into my room to take my sinful body from this world. I would go through this awful doubt about who I really was, and where I would go if I died that night.
A few days later, after the charcoal blessings were off my breath, I would regain composure, and try to be a godly person again. Then came another store and another bottle of Dr. Pepper …
I remember speaking to people over and over about this fear of not getting in the door of heaven some day. I even had a hard time laughing at jokes about “So-and-So died and went to the gate of heaven.” I would think worriedly, “I hope this guy makes the cut.”
During this time I was blessed to have a mentor in my life, and I recall a conversation with him about my miserable rhythm, which led to my insecurity regarding my getting to heaven. He looked at me and said, “What makes you think that being ‘saved’ is only about you getting into heaven?” I shifted uneasily in my seat, looked out the window, and said with a nervous laugh, “I … well then where am I going? I mean … are you … ?” My words trailed off, and at that point I was sure that I was going straight to hell.
He handed me a book, and simply said, “Read this.” I read for what seemed an eternity. I then came across one sentence that began my journey of understanding of how I think about salvation. The writer said, “How is it possible that one can rely on Christ for the next life without doing so for this one.”
It was at that point that I realized that as much as I wanted Jesus and all that he had to offer I had saddled myself with the burden of ensuring that I would get to experience all that he had to offer. I was the one who was going to live the kind of life that would ensure a ticket to the streets of gold.
The more I thought about it the more depressed I was. I had not really been living. While Bible reading and praying are not bad, when they are done for the sake of insurance they are not exactly life changing.
Salvation is about much more than just not going to hell. Salvation is about living life the full. We often use the word “saved” as a synonym for Christian. In some circles “saved” is defined as: Not having to go to hell when I die, but now I am going to heaven.
If this is all salvation was about, then why did Jesus tell His disciples as he went up to heaven, “Go everywhere and tell everyone to obey what I have taught you.” The plan of Jesus is so much more. Jesus was interested in all people not being separated from Him in the life to come, but he was also interested in people following Him in the here and now.
Being saved is being freed. Jesus has come and freed us to live in His ways. When Jesus told His disciples to go and make more disciples, part of me thinks they smiled at each other with anticipation of what they were going to do (after getting over the shock of seeing their Rabbi ascend up into heaven). The Holy Spirit would be with them shortly, and they had begun to grasp that all they had witnessed was what they needed to live like Jesus.
The salvation offered through Jesus is empowerment through the Holy Spirit to live like him now, to be like him now, to be the kind of man or woman that actually reminds people of Jesus now, to bring his justice, peace, love and hope to our world now. This is a powerful thought. When I tell someone that I am “saved” I am telling them, I have been given the grace to live like Jesus, and that I am acting on that. There is tremendous hope in that statement.
No more wondering if I am going to get there someday. Rather a humble confidence in our God knowing that we are living life more fully. Through salvation, we experience Jesus’ reason for coming. Nervousness about getting to heaven fades, and peacefulness about bringing heaven here through the life of the community of God begins to grow.
I would not swear when I stubbed my toe, my lips would be devoid of profane talk, and I would not smoke cigarettes. I would not drink any kind of beer, and I would dress appropriately. I would go along like this for a few days or weeks, and really believe that I was doing great spiritually.
Then something in my head would click. I can’t explain it. For what seemed a dark moment, I would go to the store to buy a bottle of Dr. Pepper and something inside me would want a cigarette. So I would buy a pack, and smoke one.
I would then in disgust take the other 19 in the pack and throw them out the window of my car, and lament over my sinfulness. That night I would lie in bed, and wonder to myself if the tapping of the branches on my window was really the four horsemen trying to break into my room to take my sinful body from this world. I would go through this awful doubt about who I really was, and where I would go if I died that night.
A few days later, after the charcoal blessings were off my breath, I would regain composure, and try to be a godly person again. Then came another store and another bottle of Dr. Pepper …
I remember speaking to people over and over about this fear of not getting in the door of heaven some day. I even had a hard time laughing at jokes about “So-and-So died and went to the gate of heaven.” I would think worriedly, “I hope this guy makes the cut.”
During this time I was blessed to have a mentor in my life, and I recall a conversation with him about my miserable rhythm, which led to my insecurity regarding my getting to heaven. He looked at me and said, “What makes you think that being ‘saved’ is only about you getting into heaven?” I shifted uneasily in my seat, looked out the window, and said with a nervous laugh, “I … well then where am I going? I mean … are you … ?” My words trailed off, and at that point I was sure that I was going straight to hell.
He handed me a book, and simply said, “Read this.” I read for what seemed an eternity. I then came across one sentence that began my journey of understanding of how I think about salvation. The writer said, “How is it possible that one can rely on Christ for the next life without doing so for this one.”
It was at that point that I realized that as much as I wanted Jesus and all that he had to offer I had saddled myself with the burden of ensuring that I would get to experience all that he had to offer. I was the one who was going to live the kind of life that would ensure a ticket to the streets of gold.
The more I thought about it the more depressed I was. I had not really been living. While Bible reading and praying are not bad, when they are done for the sake of insurance they are not exactly life changing.
Salvation is about much more than just not going to hell. Salvation is about living life the full. We often use the word “saved” as a synonym for Christian. In some circles “saved” is defined as: Not having to go to hell when I die, but now I am going to heaven.
If this is all salvation was about, then why did Jesus tell His disciples as he went up to heaven, “Go everywhere and tell everyone to obey what I have taught you.” The plan of Jesus is so much more. Jesus was interested in all people not being separated from Him in the life to come, but he was also interested in people following Him in the here and now.
Being saved is being freed. Jesus has come and freed us to live in His ways. When Jesus told His disciples to go and make more disciples, part of me thinks they smiled at each other with anticipation of what they were going to do (after getting over the shock of seeing their Rabbi ascend up into heaven). The Holy Spirit would be with them shortly, and they had begun to grasp that all they had witnessed was what they needed to live like Jesus.
The salvation offered through Jesus is empowerment through the Holy Spirit to live like him now, to be like him now, to be the kind of man or woman that actually reminds people of Jesus now, to bring his justice, peace, love and hope to our world now. This is a powerful thought. When I tell someone that I am “saved” I am telling them, I have been given the grace to live like Jesus, and that I am acting on that. There is tremendous hope in that statement.
No more wondering if I am going to get there someday. Rather a humble confidence in our God knowing that we are living life more fully. Through salvation, we experience Jesus’ reason for coming. Nervousness about getting to heaven fades, and peacefulness about bringing heaven here through the life of the community of God begins to grow.