All my life I have been involved in a debate about the nature and scope of salvation. Early on in my days at Bible Study I was fiercely warned against gospels messages which were works orientated. I was also warned rather profusely that Roman Catholics were the main culprits of a works-based mentality. My sources sited the Protestant reformation (ie: Martin Luther rebelling because of the selling of indulgences), the Roman Catholic view of the Eucharist which insures salvation to those who partake(Roman Catholics, please be patient with me as I broad brushed over a much more intricate and complex doctrine), and the Roman Catholic sacraments as a means of grace(ie baptism, eucharist, marriage, ect). I was taught that the Roman Catholics believed that they could earn there salvation and that Protestants believed you you saved ONLY by grace(Eph. 2:8-9).
It all made sense too. Of course no one could earn their salvation right? The problem with the Roman Catholic view which I was taught was that it created a fickle God. A God whose mood changed about me based on my actions. Right? If I can lose my salvation because I did not partake in a certain work which insures my salvation then what hope is there in this world? The Protestant view obviously seemed much more favorable because its God was ALWAYS full of grace and love even if I happened to sin. Now both schools of thought obviously have underlying inherrant flaws. The question that was always posed to me as a Protestant by some Catholics was “If God is full of grace and love then why not sin, he’ll obviously always forgive you?” To which I usually had a shallow response such as “if you really loved God then you wouldn’t sin.” Which if I am being honest has a works based mentality built into it, the very thing I was taught to disregard. To make matters worse I was taught that I did not earn my salvation yet it was MANDATORY that I ACCEPT Christ. Somehow my Protestant mentors didn’t believe there was any sort of work involved in ACCEPTING. Is it me or does this all sound like a complex web to which most of us want simple answers?
Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on which way you look at it, there is no easy answer. And I am glad that there is no easy answer in untangling this complex web. However, there are very good and solid answers that spring forth life and hope. I hope to bring some of those resolutions out in the rest of this blog post.
One of the main stumbling blocks for both groups is the nature and scope of Salvation. Let’s be honest, for most Protestants………. Salvation = Heaven. Right? How can I get into heaven when I die is the basis of most gospel presentations of our day. But is heaven what salvation is all about? This I believe is a deathly lie which has robbed most young adults who pursued hard after Christ at a young age of our ability to enjoy the world God has created. If the gospel presentation you heard was all about where you go AFTER you die then of course why be happy about LIVING? If the end goal is where you go then who cares about what happens here. Protestants have run circles around how it is our duty to treat the world good and glorify God but the methodology is flawed if there isn’t a direct connection between the gospel that is preached and the actions produced. In other words, how can the gospel of going to heaven be good news for this earth if it is all about exiting this earth and floating on clouds in the afterlife? Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps, perhaps, there is more to salvation then going to heaven? One of my favorite Protestant thinkers likes to say “heaven is important but it isn’t the end of the world.”
A question to help guide the discussion. In the New Testament what does it mean to be saved? What I have done is surveyed the passages of Scripture which talk about salvation and I have created a chart which shows the percentages for the benefits of salvation as mentioned in the New Testament. I must admit to you that this chart isn’t perfect but it certainly isn’t fatally flawed.
Entries (RSS)