Salvation: What God Does, What We Do, part 1

More Than a Moment

What we mean when we say “Christian” makes a difference regarding how we actually live.  If “Christian” refers to a moment when we affirmed a basic belief or said a certain prayer, then how does participation in God’s mission in the world factor into the Christian life?  If Christianity is simply a way to avoid hell and punishment for sins, then what happens between the moment we say “yes” to the offer of Jesus Christ and the moment of death? 

Too often we have emphasize the “moment” when we are first awakened to our need for God’s direction and redemption without looking at the further implications of that moment.  In the Gospels, Jesus calls out to his first followers: “Come, follow me.”  He does not simply say “affirm me”, or even “believe all the right things about me.”  For Jesus, the Christian life – the life of being a Christ follower – is about a journey that begins with a commitment but extends through both the peaks and valleys of life. God does something in response to God's desire to extend the fullness of God's love to us.  We are graciously equipped to do something in response to that call.  It is less like jumping on a train than it is agreeing to participate in a treasure hunt.  It is not just about receiving a "thing."  It is more about entering into a relationship.

What God Says

According to the Bible, God speaks first in the redemptive process.  Even as early as Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve fail to follow God’s ways and seek to take matters into their own hands before lying, hiding, and blaming, God is on the move.  His words, “Adam, where are you?” are not a call to punishment, but a call to fellowship.  God speaks first instead of walking by and leaving them in their shame and disobedience.  While there are indeed consequences to their actions, there is also a redemptive opportunity to set things right between God and humanity.  God’s initiative is an act of grace: that means that it is a gift given to us out of God's sincere love.  John Wesley called this “prevenient grace,” or, grace that comes first.  It is the grace-filled initiative of God.  For Wesleyans, this initiative is always at work, always moving forward, and always seeking another opportunity to fully display the love, forgiveness, and fellowship of God.  Here, then, is a God who seeks out the fellowship of others and will not allow our weakness or even our sinfulness to stand in the way.  Just when we thought we were disqualified, God takes initiative to get us back into the plan!

What We Do

Part of this same prevenient grace involves a God-given ability to say “yes” or “no” to God.  Think of this: we, though “dead in trespasses and sin,” as the Bible puts it, are actually given the opportunity and ability to say “yes” to the call of God to an eternal relationship.  This is a great gift.  Furthermore, as strange as it may sound at first, the ability to say “no” – to resist an all-powerful God – is also a product of God’s grace-filled gift.  The God who seems to have the power to force a “yes”, lovingly grants the freedom to say “no.”  That choice is certainly not recommended, since the peace, love, and joy God can provides are unique in the universe and fill the deepest desires of our lives.  However, the option is there, inviting us into a genuine relationship of true cooperation with God.  Again, because this ability is a gift, an act of grace, we are not the ultimate source of our redemption.  God is.  We do not impress our way to God, or even work our way to God.  Instead, using the very gifts of freedom God himself has opted in love to provide, we can, when confronted by God’s redemptive love, say “yes” and enter into the fullness of a growing and eternal relationship with God our Creator.

How and For How Long?

The duration of salvation emphasized in the New Testament, especially John’s Gospel for example, is "eternal.” Eternal life, which is a life in peaceful fellowship with God, does not begin at death.  Rather, it begins when we say “yes” to follow Jesus Christ and His ways.  Both of these aspects - the person and the ways of Jesus - are crucial.  Jesus Christ provides the redemptive means, the evidence of God’s death-defying love for us; and, following Jesus actually means replacing His way of doing and being with the old ways that only lead to death and sorrow.  

Jesus provides the means, and he promises an eternal life that begins while we are still living here and now, only to continue far beyond even death and into all eternity.  Along the way, the same faith – the same believing that allowed us to first encounter the forgiveness and love of God – allows us to actually be transformed more and more into the likeness of Jesus.  We become part of a family of Christ followers – the Church – that seeks to carry out the works of God in the world. We then become greater evidence of God’s initiative in redemption for whoever will subsequently respond to this wonderful call to embrace the grace and love of the God. This is the same God who from the very beginning sought out fellowship with those whom He created.