by Jacob Ninan
Different ideas about salvation
As a young man, when I was working in an office, I used to wear a badge that said, "Jesus saves." But at one time I was shocked to hear from someone that he thought I was wearing it as a lucky charm, hoping that Jesus would save me from accidents! In the multi-religious, multi-cultural world we live in, 'salvation' means different things to people. So, what we Christians mean by it may not at all be obvious to others. Some people believe in an idea called reincarnation where they imagine that after they die they will be given a new birth as a higher or lower form of life, depending on how good or bad they have been in their previous life. For them, salvation means to be set free from this cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Some people's philosophy of life is that the life we live now is actually not real, and that the happiness or pain we feel now are not real but the result of a big delusion we are in. And so, for them, salvation is about being set free from this delusion. Some others think that ignorance is the cause of all problems, and that salvation will come when we acquire true knowledge. Many are waiting to be free from the poverty, sickness, injustice, pain and suffering in this life, and deliverance from that kind of life is the salvation they want.Much confusion exists even among Christians concerning salvation. This comes because of lack of clarity in much of preaching, and also because, unfortunately, many people's knowledge of the Bible is very much lacking. For a lot of Christians, what they have heard is that God is extremely loving, kind, patient and forgiving, and so they imagine that whatever 'mistakes' they make will be quickly forgiven. According to their understanding, Jesus has paid for their past, present and future sins, and their idea of salvation is just about being free from the condemnation and finding acceptance. Some Christians assume that when they 'accepted Jesus', they have been given entry into heaven, and they don't have to go to hell which is for all the others. They also believe that since their salvation is eternal, that matter is settled for all time. There are Christians who relate salvation with having a comfortable life on earth and then through eternity, and their focus is on getting miraculous help from God to give them wealth and health. Some others assume that salvation has raised their status from being weak people to children of God who are going to rule over everything and everybody in this world.
This great salvation!
If we study the Bible carefully, we can easily understand that this salvation that Jesus came with is much bigger than all these ideas – greater, higher, wider and entirely comprehensive. If this salvation required Jesus to suffer and die in order to be able to offer it to us, it must certainly be an extremely precious gift for us. Before God created the world and man in the end, He had already planned this salvation in His mind, involving His Son Jesus, foreseeing that man might sin and come to need salvation (1Pet.1:20). God knew that we could not be redeemed with whatever good works we might try to do, any sacrifices we might make, and that this salvation could not be purchased with gold, silver or any other precious thing. So He was willing to offer the precious blood of His only Son to make the payment for our sins (1Pet.1:18,19). It is only because Jesus has borne the punishment that is due to us that God's justice is met and He is now able to offer us free forgiveness.It is because many people do not realise the depth of damage we have in our fallen nature that many do not look for salvation or value what God is offering them. Some teach a wrong theology that when Adam and Eve, our first ancestors, sinned, their guilt was passed on to us. We cannot be held guilty of any sin that we have not committed. Otherwise, if it were so, it will be no wonder that unbelievers scoff at such an unfair decree.
No. When Adam and Eve sinned, they immediately suffered 'death' which God had warned them about (Gen.2:16,17). This death was far more dangerous to them than the physical death they suffered many years later. They lost the favour of God that they had been freely enjoying till then. They were no longer able to have fellowship with God and they felt guilty and scared before Him. They themselves became greatly damaged in their nature, and this damaged nature is what we all have inherited as their descendants. We are born with a nature that is inclined to sin for getting what we want (Psa.51:5). All our faculties are corrupted with selfish interests. We think wrong ideas many times and foolishly imagine that they can solve our problems, only ending up mostly in making things worse. Our goals are predominantly self-oriented, but we feel convinced that we are right. We are surrounded by all kinds of negative feelings that propel us in wrong directions. This is our nature that God now wants to transform.
On the top of all this, we are born into a world that is hostile towards us and where we have to struggle to make a living. As a way of disciplining Adam and Eve, God made life very difficult for them on this earth, and it is into this world that we all are born. Therefore, for salvation to be complete, it is not sufficient to give us forgiveness of our sins. We must come into a life that stops sinning and enters more and more into fellowship with God. We need to get a new nature. We also need to be given a new world.
Therefore, salvation starts with forgiveness of our past sins as an unmerited favour God shows us because of Jesus (Eph.1:7), followed by giving us grace as help to enable us to overcome in temptations (Heb.4:16;1Jn.4:4) and to stop sinning (1Jn.2:1). It is in that way that we can follow Jesus in the way He walked on earth (1Jn.2:6;3:3). It is thus that we partake of His nature, which is the most precious promise God has given to us (2Pet.1:3,4). Finally we are going to be given a new earth and new heaven that will be perfect without any problems (Rev.21:1-4). In other words, this is a total reversal of the consequences of sin and a restoration of fallen man to the original plan God had for him.
Most people are not aware of the terrible state they are in and that is why they are looking only in the direction of a salvation that will take away their problems, rather than deal with the sin that causes all the problems at the root. Moreover, they are not thinking of the guilt they have accumulated towards God because of all the sins they have committed. So they imagine that they don't require much of salvation, and they are satisfied with a preaching of salvation that will comfort them and assure them of a good future. They are walking on the broad way that leads to destruction, but they are totally unaware of where they are heading to.
How can we neglect such a great salvation?
There are so many ways in which we can neglect this great salvation which God has prepared at great cost to Himself, out of love for us. We are aware of how millions of people reject the gospel of Jesus Christ altogether and choose to live their own way. Those who have begun to experience this salvation can easily see that these other people have rejected the narrow way and chosen the broad way that is leading them to destruction (Matt.7:13,14). But right now, my focus here is on how we who have chosen Jesus as our Saviour may still be neglecting this salvation in many ways."For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?" (Heb.2:1-3). Most Christians seem to think of this only with reference to the majority of people who reject the salvation that comes through Jesus. The assumption is that once someone has chosen Jesus, all else will be taken care of by God. But the reality is that even after people choose Jesus, many stray away from Him in the course of time. Also, many others neglect to receive the fullness of what God has prepared for them. So let us look here at Christians who subsequently neglect this great salvation.
Just think of this. Imagine standing there before God's presence immediately after getting there and receiving a clear understanding of what He had planned for us as human beings and for us individually, seeing the blueprint He had for our life, and realising that we have missed quite a lot of it! I don't think there is going to be anyone there who has followed the blueprint exactly! There will be place for everyone to sense this regret and remorse thinking about what could have been! Isn't this regret something we will have in eternity, and which we want to avoid?
Paul said, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing" (2Tim.4:7,8). By this he is not implying that he was perfect in everything he did or that he never made any mistakes. He was only making an overall statement that he had held on to his faith without giving up under the pressure of situations, and that he had overall accomplished what the Lord had entrusted him with. He learned from his mistakes and kept pressing on (Php.3:12). He took heed not to neglect such a great salvation.
What are some of the different ways we may be neglecting this salvation? Due to ignorance or deception, we may not know what all God has prepared for us, or we may be under a false sense of security imagining that everything is just fine. Let us look at some of the common mistakes we can make in this connection.
1. Feeling no need for salvation
A lot of people feel secure in themselves or in their circumstances and do not realise what a great need they are in for salvation. Some people think that they are good Christian people, better than many others, and that God must be pleased with them. They may boast of their family greatness, how many generations they have been 'Christians', what a lot of good things they have done for others, etc., and imagine that God cannot simply ignore all that. Some others think of how regular they are with their religious duties, how they read their Bible, how they pray at different times or for long periods, how they make sure that they do not miss church on any Sunday, how much Bible knowledge they have, what position they hold in the church, how they have accepted Jesus by believing that He lived, died and rose again, etc. As a result of this self-righteousness, self-sufficiency or religious activities, they believe that they do not need any more salvation, but that it is the heathen or people from other religions who need to hear the gospel.2. Assuming they are saved
A lot of people have 'accepted' Jesus because they have experienced some miracle from Him. As a result, they consider themselves as 'believers' in Christ and assume they have been accepted by Him. But even those who have experienced supernatural acts from Jesus cannot be accepted by God until they see themselves as sinners, turn away from sin to Jesus the Saviour and decide to follow Him in every aspect of life. They remain as 'natural' people in the church and never become spiritual. In many churches, the gospel is not preached to those sitting in the church, because of an assumption that everyone inside the church must be all right because they have 'accepted' Jesus.3. Ignorant about the full scope
These are the people who have heard that once they become children of God, everything will be fine. They think God will bless them and transform them to become like Jesus, and that He has prepared a place for them in heaven. Because of this, they are only looking for a comfortable life here on earth, and their prayers are all about earthly problems and testimonies about how God helped them. They are not looking for overcoming sinful tendencies in their life, learning more from God, becoming more like Jesus, serving others in the name of Jesus, etc. What all they will miss, and what regret they will have when they see God's blueprint one day!4. Not pursuing after God
Many people assume that since salvation is from God and there is nothing we can boast from our side, there is nothing we need to do from our side! They then wait for God to do everything for them, and when there are problems they even blame God. Even when problems came because of their wrong choices, they still blame God for not preventing them from making those choices! We must not forget this one major point. All problems we have have come from man's wrong choices, beginning with Adam and Eve. God's salvation is now aimed at restoring us to Him. One thing that must happen then is for us to start giving up our own choices in order to do the will of God. If we are not doing that, but expect God to do things for us, we have not understood our responsibility in the matter. Salvation is not just through God's grace towards us, but we receive it through faith in Him, which is our trust in Him that helps us to renounce our own ways and choose His ways. If we don't read the Bible with the desire to know God and His ways more, and pray for help in our spiritual battles, we will not be able to make progress towards God, even if we have come to know Him.5. Preoccupied with life on earth
Some people think that by accepting Jesus they have procured a place in the life to come, and after that they have their entire focus on this earth. Just like all other people around them, they follow after pleasure, fame, power, position, opinion of man, and compromise godly values and principles for the sake of earthly gain. Some of them are careful not to sin in glaring ways, such as not to commit any sin which others can notice. Because they have a good external testimony they assume they are right with God, neglecting to be careful in their thoughts, attitudes, ambitions, etc. They do not realise what they are losing in the bargain – victory over sin and becoming like Jesus. After they have 'gained the whole world' what regret they will have in eternity!6. Somebody becomes more important than God
We are all amazed at the way King Solomon asked God for wisdom rather than all the other things he could have asked for. But later on we are shocked to see how he went away from God because he allowed his foreign wives to lead him away (1Kin.11:4). When we live daily with our spouse, it is easy to let our life be influenced by the spouse, even away from God. Yet many people neglect to take this into account when they develop relationships and choose to marry someone. Some believers convince themselves that after marriage, they will win their spouse for Jesus. If we let people become more important to us than God, we will be storing up regret for us in eternity (Matt.10:37).7. Being too busy
Of course, life on earth is very challenging in terms of the number of things that need to be addressed and the pace at which things have to be done. Demands at the workplace have increased unreasonably. Bringing up children requires a lot of attention. Life is so busy that it is even difficult to find time to sit together and talk things over when problems develop. But theoretically we know God must have the higher priority, but He is the One who usually gets neglected in the process. People are always planning to get back to God, the church, Bible, etc., but they seem to never be able to do it. Satan also diverts their attention by showing them many other things they ought to do. But what a tragedy when they find themselves looking at God's blueprint for their lives!8. Backsliding
It is sad to see many Christians who are even in leadership positions giving up after some time. Many give up when they do not get an answer to their prayer, when they are faced with some intellectual question they cannot answer or when they have a major setback in life. But backsliding can also be when a Christian who loses his first love for the Lord. He has lost his zeal and enthusiasm for the Lord because his preoccupation has changed or he has become disillusioned with his expectations. Backsliding is like getting admission into a college and then dropping out before completing the course or failing to take one's studies seriously. It is a very serious matter, but many people are backsliding and many never return to the Lord.Running after this salvation
I hope we realise how seriously we must ensure that we partake as fully as possible of this salvation which God has paid such a great price to make available. It is such an amazing grace from God that we have been given this privilege to receive it, and we must not be so foolish as to neglect it. I am thinking of three things we can think of doing in this context.1. Receive this salvation.
As you know, God offers us this salvation in three phases called justification, sanctification and glorification. At each step we must make sure that we receive what God is offering.Justification
This is the first step through which our sins can be forgiven and God can accept us as His children. God offers this to us an unmerited favour towards us when we recognise and admit that we do not deserve it, but we cling to the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for our atonement. It is not based on our qualifying for it by being good enough for God or by doing something like sacrifice, penance or religious ritual to earn His acceptance. But we do have to see ourselves as sinners who deserve God's judgment for each of our sins, and who are being shown mercy because of God's love for us. Without this repentance, we cannot say we have faith in Jesus, because if we understand what Jesus has done for us and what that really means, this will be the only natural response we will have. But when we go to God with this repentance and faith in Jesus, He cleanses us with the blood of Jesus, forgives us, and accepts us as His children.Sanctification
This is the process through which God wants to make us more and more like Him. The example He has given us is the life of Jesus. In order to follow Jesus, we must stop sinning and instead, do the will of God. That is why we have to deny ourselves what we naturally desire to do (Lk.9:23). Adam and Eve exercised their choice to do what Satan told them and denied the will of God. Now we can reverse that and choose for God rather than what we like, what people tell us and what the society around us wants. The Holy Spirit works in us, giving us godly desires and strengthening us to do God's will, and we work it out by taking up our cross and following Jesus (Php.2:12,13)Glorification
This is what God will do for us when we reach eternity in the new earth and the new heaven. He will give us a glorified body like what the Lord Jesus had after His resurrection. On earth, His body was usually invisible, but He could appear in His earthly form when He came to His disciples. The Bible refers to it as a spiritual body (1Cor.15:42-44). What is important for us to note is that this body will be without sin, and also without sickness or weakness. What we need to make sure from our side is that we will endure to the end in our life on earth, without giving up our relationship with God and our faith (Matt.24:13). That is not so easy as some people say who think that once we begin to experience salvation we cannot lose it. As you know, there are verses that show that God will not forsake us from His side. But the danger is that we can fall away by our own foolish choices (Heb.3:12). We will suffer loss if we neglect to take care.2. Worship God
This is another thing we ought to do, if we are to avoid neglecting this great salvation. By worship, I do not mean simply going to church on Sundays and singing some worship songs to God. Worship is a practical way of showing our admiration for God, for all that He is, all that He has done for us and all that He is doing for us. To be able to do this, we need to have a deeper and deeper knowledge of God from His word and through our experience with Him. Our relationship with Him must become a daily, moment by moment fellowship with Him. We connect with Him through our meditation on His word, prayer, praise and worship. God tells us that if we truly worship Him, we will serve Him by doing whatever tasks He gives to each one of us (Rom.12:1,2). This fellowship with God will keep us going and help us not to give up.3. Tell others about this salvation
If we know that what we believe is true, and it is changing our lives in practical experience, we will not be able to keep from telling others about it. It is like a patient who has come across a cure for his sickness who wants to share that knowledge with others. If we are not doing this, it shows that we are not really thrilled about it, and the chances are that we have not seen the glory of it ourselves. But as we share with others, our own faith becomes stronger as we deal with different questions that come up.Conclusion
May the Lord help every one of us to enjoy this salvation from God more and more, and may we bring greater honour and glory to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.