"what must i do to be saved?" the rich young ruler asked Jesus.
hm.
how would you respond if you were faced with this question?
to be honest, i'm terrified of God. i'm just so aware of my own depravity, and of His perfection, that i can barely even stand in His presence. when i get a shadow of a glimpse behind the curtain, the weight of His glory pushes me to the ground. i am justly exposed to the wrath of God--
and so i'm working out my salvation with fear and trembling.
i've been taking a bit of an informal survey, asking believers around me, "what is required of us for salvation?"
what i'm picking up is that a big percentage of the Church doesn't know the gospel.
we are barely even able to explain what we believe about grace, faith, repentance, works, hell, heaven, judgement, Jesus...
these things are key. and i'd like to know the truth.
wanna know my opinion? :o)
i think ("think" being a key word-- like i said, i'm working this through) that maybe (another key word) we've been wrong for generations and generations.
only in the past few months have i been trying to read the Bible without twisting it to match my own opinions.
and as i read it, i find a lot of things that contradict, or are held in paradoxical tension with, Church traditions.
i wonder if what we preach-- "just believe in Jesus, and accept Him as Saviour"--might not be enough.
where is repentance involved?
what about predestination? Romans 9 would seem to infer that God chooses who He will have mercy on and who He will harden, and we shouldn't dare to question His choices.
what about those verses that tell us that we will be judged on our deeds?
"Look, i am coming soon! my reward is with Me, and i will give to everyone according to what they have done." Revelation 22:12
"And i saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throng, and books were opened. another book was opened, which is the book of life. the dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books." Revelation 20:12
and then there's Matthew 25. Jesus divides the sheep (the saved) from the goats (the unsaved) based on whether or not they gave water to the thirsty, invited in the stranger, gave clothes to the naked, and visited the sick and in prison.
i REALLY want to be saved from punishment and hell.
i also REALLY want everyone else to be-- so i need to make sure that what i'm preaching to them is the truth. i don't want to be held accountable for telling someone that they're saved, when in reality, they aren't.
what must i do to be saved?
He has shown us the grace, He has ransomed us, now what is OUR part?
what do YOU think?
8 comments:
Romans 10:9-13 - "...if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For withy the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, 'Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.' For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For 'everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'"
I don't think this just means saying, 'yo Lord' and you're in. To call on the name of the Lord is to call on the revealed character of God, to accept and receive who He is, to put ourselves utterly at His mercy, and to follow him.
You can't get saved by good works, by visiting widows and orphans, but I think if you're not doing good works, you have good reason to wonder if you are saved. Because you're not following Christ, the revealed character of God. So you are, by your actions (not you, Olivia, just general here) rejecting the name of the Lord.
I agree, this is a huge issue. Evangelism seems to have become more about getting people into the Church / club than having people submit their hearts to Christ.
Then, of course, we need to get into full salvation and all that means...
Grace,
Aaron
Hi - I like to stick with Mark 1:15 and then 17.
1. repent and believe;
2. take Jesus up on His invitation, 'come follow Me'.
Much grace,
stephenC
I began reading Geoge Macdonald's Knowing the Heart of God. I think most of the world has an erroneous view of the Truth. And that may have more to do with world rejection of Christianity than the actual teachings of the Gospel.
I have many friends that only know the wrong version and reject Christianity out of hand. And I reject the same as they do. But getting them to the truth makes me need to get to the truth to accomplish that.
I like Epesians 4:20-23 and then onto Epesians 5 for a guide:
20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,...
Easier quoted here than to follow through with. Perhaps we do get saved by confessing and believing and then asking Jesus to show us how to continue. Or work through us more likely.
I like what Aaron said about 'good works'
this reminds me of a conversation I had with Annie over the telephone from a psych ward (her not me).
She phone panicked and asked me, 'am I or am I not a Christian'. Since you know annie you realize this is a difficult answer. So I said, 'if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved (the clasic Romans verse Aaron suggested!).
Annie listens and then says, 'oh Danielle - there is sooo much more to being a Christian than that!'
of course, then she checked with her belly button for the confirmation.... but I think she may be onto something - of course - the scandel of the gospel is that it might just be that simple! hmmm.
Danielle
Hello Olivia nice blog, I can see your really passionate about the work you do. I applaud your ambition to helping save people on the downtown east side.
drop by my blog: vancouvercoffee.wordpress.com
I think the Bible is confusing on this subject when we come at it from the paradigm of a basic minimum standard of Salvation. "What do I have to do in order to squeak in?"
I think the Salvation Life (or Abundant Life) that Jesus offers us doesn't ask that question, but is about full salvation; faith that manifests in deeds, like visiting the marginalized, confessing with your mouth, being obedient (doing what Jesus did/ does [aka following]), etc.
Even a cursory glance at your life (which is all I've had, not knowing you well)shows that you live the abundant Life, which I praise God for.
Blessings - and good blogging
Chris Wikle
a new favourite scripture kind of speaks on this topics - verse 6 being my favourite
1 John 2: 3,4,5,6 (i write it like that coz it makes it VERY easy to remember...)
3We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 4The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5But if anyone obeys his word, God's love[a] is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
I think because we must become like little children to enter the kingdom, I may agree with Danille, it may just be that simple. I hope so, because I really need Him right now. No matter how I try and follow, I keep making a mess of things... Is that the spiritual battle?
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