Perfectly Imperfect Paradox - 8.12.09 1345

The Christian life became so much easier when the nature of salvation became real to me. And it was simple. I was trying to be perfect. I would stress when I failed and would rejoice when I felt I was on track. Instead of letting God take control, I would try to do what's right or figure out the right path without God, to show him I was trying to be the best Christian ever! But being a follower of Christ means not stressing about every action. Just live! God grows the seed. God causes maturity. All you've got to do it respond to his guidance and let him work! Mistakes come and go, but you're still loved and accepted so learn and move on. Pray and read your bible because it keeps your focus right and lets God talk to your heart. That is living by the Spirit. Not going through life with your version of the 10 Commandments to help every decision. God (speaker of the 10 commandments) already lives in you, so let him conform you like he promised and stop trying to do his job.

Salvation - 4.29.09 1045 (Part 4)

Can you lose it? Can you toss the gift aside? I think you can. Not by merely messing up or making mistakes, but by simple apostasy. Abandonment. Saying you no longer want to be a part of God's people. Some ask that if you were able to cast aside such a wonderful gift, did you really accept it in the first place? Only God knows. The results are the same whether you had it and gave it up or whether you never had it in the first place. But it would be a weird thing if God respected free-will and allows us to choose to be part of the covenant and then, once accepted, to take away your free-will to reject or throw away your gift. I think the status of being forgiven of all sins is dependent on having a relationship with God. No relationship? No forgiveness.

Salvation - 4.29.09 1045 (part 3)

But what is salvation anyway? This is what i can gather so far. It is a restored relationship with God. What was broken before is now fixed. There is a big emphasis on the fact that something that was once dead has been revived, resurrected, brought back to life. Because it has been restored, God also dwells in you. We have a fuller and a more untainted access to his guidance and influence and discernment. You have eternal life that is sustained by God, not inherent in yourself. God is the life-giver. Salvation also means freedom from bondage/slavery to sin. We are no longer obligated to follow those desires. When we do, it's because we let it, where as before, without God's restored indwelling, we were obligated to follow it. With salvation comes God's righteousness. But salvation and righteousness are distinct from each other. There were righteous people before Christ's coming, but there weren't saved people.

One of the most interesting parts about salvation is how it's talked about in the New Testament; it's timeless. It is a past, completed action. "I was saved three years ago." But it's also a continuous action in the present. "I am being saved" or "I'm in the process of being renewed." There's this whole idea surrounding salvation that we are to "work it out" and that we are being "conformed to his image." These are actions happening right now that are in motion towards a goal; Christlikeness. And then there is the future hope of salvation, this idea that it hasn't happened yet - at least not in all it's fullness - but that it will. In fact, it is a "sure hope," in the sense that we can have absolute confidence in it's completion. Salvation has a much more, well, Hebraic sense to it where it's not spoken of completely in a "past/present/future" tense, but a timeless understanding of whether it's a completed or "perfect" tense (in grammar-like terms). That's why Paul, who is fundamentally Hebrew in his thinking, can talk about it as a finished action, whether he's referring to it in past, present or future. It has happened, is happening, and most assuredly will completely happen without fail.

Salvation - 4.29.09 1045 (Part 2)

Salvation is a gift, 100% from God and of God. Nothing about us or from us causes, earns, draws out of God, obligates it. You can live a wonderful life, love God, give to the poor, etc. but you don't get salvation because of it. If you did, it would, again, be about works. Salvation is not given to just those types because then it would not be available to all. Prostitutes. Druggies. Alcoholics. They wouldn't have access to it. That is the beautiful thing about it. It is Free. Free in the sense that you don't get it by exchanging something for it. "I'll give you good deeds, my first born, my tithes, my time, in exchange for eternal life." But it is not free in the sense of unconditional.

This may seem like semantics, but it's an important distinction that some get confused. IT IS CONDITIONAL. You get it by faith. That is why everyone has access to it! Anyone can put their faith in God. Not everyone can live a drug free life (on their own) or get rid of habits to live a perfect life (on their own). In fact, no one can. That's one of the points of Christ's ministry and Paul's Roman epistle! But everyone has been given a chance to trust/believe/be loyal to God. You have your whole life to do it. And when you have faith in God, God is still not obligated to give you salvation. But He chooses to! That is why it remains 100% from God, 100% gift. He has made the gift available by faith. We didn't make the conditions, but God has made conditions. You have to accept the gift through faith. "Free" and "unconditional" are two very different things. If salvation were unconditional, everyone would have it. But since it's free and conditional, everyone can have it, because everyone can meet the God ordained conditions. Question is, do you want to?

Salvation - 4.29.09 1045 (Part 1)

Salvation is such a hard thing to wrap my head around, and I think it is for a lot of people. I think if it was really understood what kind of salvation Christ brought & God gave, we would all act a little more like we were intended to. We accept the concept that we are saved by grace not by works, but we live like we are still held accountable to our sins. "There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus." Saints are not judged, we are rewarded! From the moment of accepting Christ we begin building treasures in heaven, but there's nothing I've come across yet that says God also takes away treasures in heaven as you do bad things. What it talks about instead is wasting the moments given to you. You've been entrusted with talents and he expects you to be good stewards. I might be mixing metaphors though, because the guy who did nothing with his talents was definitely condemned. But when you compare the rest of the New Testament with that image, it almost makes sense, because salvation and being saved is supposed to prompt a certain action and way of living. If it hasn't, then are you saved? And if you're not saved, then it wasn't your actions that denied your salvation (because then salvation would be about works), but it was that you probably never accepted it in your heart in the first place. John's epistles and Hebrews, at least, talk about something to that effect.

That's what I mean about if you really understood what the salvation that is offered was all about, you'd live differently! Not one who is afraid of losing it with every mistake, stray thought, of victory of the "flesh," and not one who is being held back by burdens of "not being good enough" or guilt baggage. You are accepted! You're in heaven! You're in a relationship with God! Get over yourself and just keep moving forward, keep looking for the next positive impact you can make and don't lose momentum on the mess-ups you're making along the way. Because if you do that, your mess-ups will get fewer, your barriers smaller, and your perspective more Godly.