The Top 10 Things Every Christian Should Know #4

NUMBER 4 – "SALVATION IS A PROCESS, NOT A POINT IN TIME"

One thing I find fascinating as I study the New Testament and the practice of the early church is that their concept of salvation was much different than mine. When I think of salvation, I usually think of that one day when, as a nine year old boy, I walked forward and prayed with my pastor to ask Jesus into my heart. However, Peter and Paul seemed to have a different view of salvation. In their minds, salvation was an ongoing experience, not a one-time deal.

"..And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." (Acts 2:42-47)

"For you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls." (1 Peter 1:9)

When we begin to think of Salvation as a process, and not an event, it changes the way we think of Evangelism.

The early church fathers also had a great saying that has come to inspire my own faith. The statement was "Conversatio Morem!" which can mean either "Death To The Status Quo!" or "Constant Conversion!", depending on the context.

This phrase was indicative of the mindset held by the early church fathers that salvation, or conversion, was something every disciple needed to experience constantly, not just a one-time event.

We could learn a lot from those early Christians, I believe. Our Church today could benefit from a new perspective on salvation as a process rather than as a single point in time. If we kept our focus on leading people to faith in Christ, with the understanding that we would continue, day-by-day, to encourage their ongoing submission to Jesus, the quality of our Churches would improve, our reputation in the community would improve, and the lives of those people would improve.

We need to follow Jesus, not just believe in Him. As it stands today, most Churches are more focused on winning converts, focusing on a one-time profession of faith, rather than aiming for long-term, daily surrender to Christ.

As I've said many times before, our question needs to be, "If you'd be alive tomorrow, who would you follow and how would you live your life?" and not, "If you died tonight, do you know you'd be in heaven tomorrow?” One question is about how you will die, the other is about how you intend to live. Salvation is about life, not death, and following Christ is about the life you're living right now, not the life you hope to live after you die and go to Heaven.

Following Christ, by definition, suggests a daily pattern of life modeled after Jesus and seeking His wisdom and guidance for daily decisions. It does not suggest a single event that took place years ago on a Sunday morning.

THE FINISH LINE OR THE STARTING LINE?
In your own experience, what happens when someone you've been praying for and witnessing to finally accepts Christ as Lord and Savior? Don't you cheer and weep and give high-fives to all your Christian friends? Sure you do. That's an appropriate response. Even the Scriptures tell us that the angels in heaven celebrate when someone is saved. (Luke 15:7-10)

However, our response and attention usually diminishes soon after this event. I believe it's because, for us, our work is done. Our friend has "made it". They are "in". They've crossed the finish line and we can all move on with our lives now.

But, if Salvation is a process, and not an event or a point in time, then our work is not done. Our friend has not come to the end of the journey. Instead, they have only just begun.

In other words, salvation is not the finish line, it is the starting line. If we begin to think of salvation in this way, as an ongoing, daily commitment to following the marvelous person of Jesus, it will have a radical effect on our methods of evangelism and the way we treat those we hope to lead into this way of life.

We will realize that our part of this process of evangelism involves a committment to people that extends long after they've made that first, tentative step towards following Christ, and we'll begin to see our own salvation as something we have to daily work on, in cooperation with the Holy Spirit, as we surrender our lives to Christ every morning and confess our need for Jesus with every breath.

"..Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." - Philipians 2:12-13

-kg

The Top 10 Things Every Christian Should Know #5

Number 5- "Humility Is Essential"

"Humility is a virtue so beyond my understanding that should I achieve it, I would be proud of myself" - Benjamin Franklin

Someone once defined a prideful person as "..someone who spends too much time thinking about themselves and not enough time thinking about me." Andrew Murray put it another way, "Humility is not thinking less of myself, it is not thinking of myself at all."

God has a lot to say about pride, and as I go through my life I have seen the wisdom of these words played out numerous times.

"God opposes the proud, but gives Grace to the humble."
- (Proverbs 3:34)

This verse speaks volumes, doesn't it? We are handed a simple choice; To humble ourselves and receive Grace, or to continue in our pride and have the creator of the Universe oppose us. Sadly, my own pride has often been the catalyst in my life for failure, bad judgement and hurt feelings. I have learned to hate my pride and to keep a close eye on it, just in case it tries to rise up and do something stupid.

When Jesus went out and spoke to the people of his day, he centered his teaching on something called "The Kingdom of God". He told stories to illustrate what life was like in this Kingdom. He used everyday moments to point out Kingdom values. Jesus was almost always teaching his disciples, and anyone else in earshot, what the Kingdom of God was all about.

One interesting thing about the Kingdom of God is that to enter it you must first humble yourself, (see Mark 10:14-15). That's because the Kingdom of God is quite simply that place where the absolute will of God is done. This means that God is King, and that you and I are not. So, if we will not humble ourselves and submit to God's will in every way, we cannot enter the Kingdom. Better said, when we refuse to humble ourselves, we have left the Kingdom of God and entered our own Kingdom, where our will is done.

This is why Jesus says, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."(Luke 9:23) Jesus isn't being mean here. He's not saying, "If you don't jump through this hoop I will not allow you to join my club." What he's saying here is more like, "If you can't swim, you will not be allowed to work as a lifeguard at the pool." Jesus is simply pointing out that someone who is unwilling to let go of their agenda, their will for their life, cannot follow him. It can't be done without humility and submission.

Even Jesus began his ministry by humbling himself to become flesh, to be born to a simple, poor family, and even to lay down his life for us all. (see Phil 2:5-8) See, God went first. He humbled Himself before us. He submitted Himself to us first, and even when we were putting nails through His hands and feet, He continued to surrender to us in order to rescue us from our sins.

Now, Jesus asks us who are called by His name to humble ourselves. We are expected to look at Jesus as our blueprint for life in the Kingdom of God and become obedient to God, even to the point of death as we carry our own crosses daily.

I believe that is why Jesus set the example of washing his disciples feet. He humbled himself before them, served them as a slave would serve his master, and then said, "I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you...Now that you know these things, you will blessed if you do them." (John 13:15;17)

That's the key ladies and gentlemen. We are blessed when we do these things. Not when we "know" these things, but when we "do" these things. That is when the blessing comes. Humility isn't just a good idea, it's a pattern of life for those who desire to place their feet into those prints left in the sand just ahead of us by a carpenter from Nazareth.

"He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8)

-kg