I’ve been blessed to be in good conversations lately with friends who believe very differently from me. It has grown me quite a bit, and I hope has challenged them too.
Through these conversations though I am becoming more aware of the fact that I view salvation much more different than many.
The way it first came up was the question was posed, what issues are salvation issues to you? I was like”…umm…none really. Well, I guess the only one that I’d really hold to as a salvation issue, as something that would cause you to lose your salvation, is if you reject Jesus. If you reject Jesus you will lose your salvation because you no longer want it. Other than that I don’t think there are any issues that are salvation worthy.” Is this revolutionary? Am I wrong? I thought this was the common belief of Christianity, but I may be wrong about this. Again I ask, am I wrong?
Isn’t this one of the main thing that separates Christianity from every other world view, grace. There is nothing you can do to get salvation. Jesus gives it and you receive it. You’re either taking grace from JC or you’re rejecting it from JC (Jesus Christ). And so that is why I believe there are no salvation issues. You may smoke and drink a lot, but if you’re pursuing Jesus, if you’re saying yes to his offer of salvation then you are saved. (obviously this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t pursue better behaviors. But your pursuit of better choices is not tied to your salvation, its tied to your response to your salvation). If you’re serving at the local homeless shelter every single day of your life, you give all your money to poor kids, you don’t smoke or drink or have sex with anything or anyone, and you’re just an all around nice guy, but you’re rejecting Jesus’ offer of grace…you’re not saved. It’s not about your behavior. Am I wrong? I might be. But I think this is central to Jesus following and, well, I want to know if I’m alone in this.
Musings From The Ground Up
Initiating a new grassroots movement in downtown Vancouver
You are not alone. I feel the same way. If there were sins that were not redeemable and covered by His grace…then I guess forgiveness and repentance would be obsolete.
Agreed.Maybe I, and others, get hung up on connecting saved people's actions with salvation. That's a terrible way of saying that if someone is saved, they're grateful, and they work towards following/being like Christ. Right? So, if I see someone who says he/she is saved because they accept Jesus' grace, but at the same time they aren't attempting to follow Jesus in their behavior, it's hard for me to not judge. Am I supposed to judge or not judge? I guess it's like seeing a man who says he loves his family, but then he beats his wife and abuses his children.Anyways, its probably just a problem of semantics. (PS: I suck at philosophy so everyone feel free to argue away.)
Jesus plus ANY THING ELSE is heresy; abominable; idolatry. It's Him.
I think you are right. If you pursue the salvation given by JC, everything else will follow it to place. Whatever that might be in you life. The only that I I want to add is, just because JC is given you salvation through grace, does not give you the right to sin and ask for grace, it that case you would be considered a hypocrite.
i like you mister.
This is an interesting post when read on the heels of your "Random Thoughts on Morality" post. (Just sayin'.)Probably just proves you are a deep-thinker and willing to blast your thoughts out for the rest of us to read.Don't know if it will make a connection with you, but as I read each post I kept thinking about Jesus' words near the end of the SOTM:"Knowing the correct password—saying 'Master, Master,' for instance— isn't going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, 'Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.' And do you know what I am going to say? 'You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don't impress me one bit. You're out of here.'" ~Jesus from The Message, Matthew 7:21-23What's required? Serious obedience. And none of that churchy stuff that you think is going to score points in the end. Wanna know what obedience he's talking about? Just back it up 3 chapters and start to read, its all there: and generosity and selflessness are right at the top.
Deep thinker or just incredibly random.But I do think that's the tightrope that the New Testament walks constantly. We are not saved by anything we do whatsoever. There is not an absolute thing we can do to be saved. While at the same time Jesus' call to discipleship wasn't weak. Not by any means. Jesus called for radical, belligerent discipleship that flew in the face of culture, kingdom, and heritage.Anyway, I wish you'd comment or post more Jason, you've always got something insightful to say.