Salvation Summaries

OVERVIEW OF BOOK

Several thoughts jumped out at me when I read this short book written by Paul to believers at the church in Thessalonica. They are: Voice of the Martyrs, judgment, end times movies, welfare, and the goal of every Christian.

• Voice of the Martyrs – this publication highlights the persecutions Christians are experiencing overseas, such as in the middle east, North Korea, India and now in Iraq. Many of the images are graphic and upsetting; however, it’s important for believers, and the world, to see and know the degree to which Christian persecution exists.  In II Thessalonians, the believers are being persecuted for their faith, and undergoing hardships. Despite this, their faith and love for others have grown, and Paul thanks them for this.

• Judgment – when you see pictures and paintings of Jesus, what is he doing?  He’s either smiling, or on the cross, right? The image Paul provides us is totally different – it’s of Jesus as judge. According to Paul, Jesus will judge those who do not know God, and who do not obey the gospel. In other words, He will judge unbelievers, or non-Christians, and with a penalty that is tough to stomach – eternal destruction, or hell. These verses are a wake-up call for anyone who may not be a Christian.

• End times movies – some end times movies have a seen called “the rapture,” whereby all believers on the earth suddenly disappear and are taken up to be with Christ.  When this happens, chaos ensues (car wrecks, plane wrecks, lost family members, etc.). The Bible contains verses that seem to describe a rapture, with believers “caught up in the air” with Jesus, though not all Christians agree on this. However, there is also a point in time when Christ returns (second coming), and all Christians should believe this. The believers in Thessalonica had either heard, or read – and possibly in a letter they thought was from Paul – that Christ had returned.  This made them confused, and caused some to stop working. Paul corrects their misunderstanding of this event.

• Welfare – Based upon Paul’s warning of the Thessalonian believers to stay away from “idle” Christians (those who don’t work), and his view that “if you don’t work, you don’t eat,” he would not be an advocate of our country’s welfare system.

• Christian’s goal – time and time again, we read in the Bible that believers are to live or walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.  Paul changes this a little by saying that Christians are to live in such a way that God will count them worthy of their calling.  In short, Christians have a new identity – one of being righteous – and they are to live in a way that is consistent with this identify. It’s certainly not easy, but we are to make every effort to do so.

SALVATION VERSES

There are two salvation-related questions I’d like to address in this blog entry and my next one.

How is a person saved?

This is the $6 million question, is it not?  It is one I have addressed in other blogs, and will address here too, based upon the salvation-related verses in this particular book. My response is a little lengthy though, so you may want to get a refill on that coffee, or pop, before reading this.

We know from reading other verses in the Bible that a person is saved by faith in the Lord. This would be the most commonly understood means by which a person is saved.

But when you read a number of verses about salvation, you begin to see that there are different pieces to the salvation puzzle.  Faith is certainly an important one, but so is repentance, dying to self, surrendering oneself to the Lord, being born again, God’s grace, etc.  All of these pieces are components of how one is saved, and when you piece them together (which is what I am doing from reviewing salvation-related verses in various books of the Bible), the salvation image starts to be become clear.

In 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10, we learn about three pieces of the puzzle.

The first piece is loving the truth – the gospel – in order to be saved.

2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

Paul mentioned this in a slightly different way in his first letter to the Thessalonians, in chapter 2 and verse 16: “…They are not pleasing to God, but hostile to all men, hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved…”  Paul is one who went from town to town preaching God’s word in order that others may be saved (“I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some”).  Billy Graham, and Franklin Graham, have done something similar.  In addition, many pastors throughout the world have also preached the gospel in order to help others be saved.  And while it’s true that not everyone who hears becomes saved (for God is the one who saves), hearing, understanding and accepting the gospel is nonetheless a critical part of salvation.

The second piece is knowing God and obeying the gospel.

2 Thessalonians 1:6 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well.This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Knowing God is accomplished by knowing his Son, or having a personal relationship with Christ, and this does not take place without faith in Him.  In terms of salvation puzzle pieces, knowing God via Christ is not well known, but key to truly being saved. You can ask a person whether they believe in the Lord, and they may say “yes.”  You can ask them whether they have faith, and based upon their understanding of faith (which may not be correct), they may also say “yes,” and thus believe that they are saved.  But if you were to ask them whether they have a relationship with Christ and thus know God, their answer could well be “what are you talking about?” (or in other words, “no”). If they responded in that way, chances are they have not been saved.

Now, I don’t want to scare anyone, especially a new believer, by implying that if you don’t have a clear, intimate relationship with Christ, you’re not saved.  Relationships take time to build.  They start out with an awareness, and then a desire to know more about the other person.  This is followed by a love for that person, and a willingness to make sacrifices to please that person.

I’ve been a Christian for more than 20 years, and must confess that my relationship with Christ is still weak.  I do strive to know Him better, and to obey Him.  I pray to Him each day.  But I often do not see, in a tangible way, His daily involvement in my life.  I have periodic answers to prayers, and periodic thoughts that make me wonder whether the thought came from Him or the Holy Spirit, but I rarely can say with complete confidence that “the Lord ‘spoke’ to me.”

Still, I’m not giving up, for this may well be part of the process one has to go through to grow closer to Him – by having a yearning that continues, day after day.  And so I’ve endeavored to pray to Him more, throughout each day, and to study His word more, as I believe these are needed for a believer to grow in his or her knowledge of, and relationship with, the Lord.

In terms of obeying the gospel, I don’t think this means perfect obedience, but rather having a desire to obey Christ, for the gospel message is all about Him. I think it could also mean that we are simply to believe in Christ.  Now, some of you clever readers, or skeptics, may rightly ask…”if obeying the gospel is required for salvation, then salvation is not something done solely by God; a person has a part in it, and if they fail in this area, they will not earn, or they can lose, their salvation.”  Here is my response to that.  A believer who knows the Lord will want to obey Christ and the gospel, right?  Obedience is a byproduct of a belief, and in this case a byproduct of knowing the Lord.

The third piece is that, at least according to the believers in Thessalonica, God chooses who is saved.

2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit and through belief in the truth.

I must admit, I don’t fully understand this. It seems black and white on the surface, for if God is the one who saves – and He is – then He can certainly chose who is saved.  But that would seem to imply that a person has no part or role in his or her salvation, and how can that be?  We know that faith in the Lord is part of salvation; don’t we have a role in faith?  Is not faith something that involves the intellect, and the will, and thus…us?  And finally, what if God does not choose you, or me? Does that mean that no matter how hard we try on our own, we can’t be saved?  That doesn’t seem fair, does it?

If you’re struggling with some of these questions, as I have, let me tell you how I have reconciled them in my mind.

First, salvation is clearly a spiritual transaction, whereby a person’s sins are forgiven, and they receive the Holy Spirit.  This is something we, as humans, simply cannot do, so it must be done by God.

And second, even if God is the One who saves, that does not mean that we are not involved in the salvation “process.” Our involvement is hearing, understanding and accepting the gospel message; it is repenting of our sinfulness; and it is applying our faith in the Lord to live our lives for Him. To what extent God causes us to do all of these things (to want to hear, to be able to understand, to have a willingness to accept, to be willing to repent) is not clear to me, though it could well be that He is the only reason we do these things, and without Him putting these desires in us, we would not do any of them on our own.  With regard to faith, it does appear to involve the intellect, and the will; it’s personal, and private too. But if faith is a gift given to us by God, and there are some verses that seem to indicate this, then we cannot take credit for our faith.  We can only use it, or apply it, once we receive it.  Finally, and ultimately, we know that God is loving, for He created us.  He is just – He will do what is right.  And He is perfect; He doesn’t make mistakes.  Based upon this, we can be assured that everyone who “should” be saved, will be saved, and those who should not be saved, won’t be saved.

Let me make one final comment on God’s role in salvation and our apparent lack of any part in it (though we are involved as shown above). I believe that those who desire to be saved and want to be saved, will be saved. Why? God is the one who will give these people such desires. Those who have no desire to be saved, who don’t care about God or salvation will not be saved…unless…God chooses, later in their life, to give them this desire and longing for salvation…and we know He has done this many times, for many older people have become saved.

So, in summary, how is a person saved according to Paul, at least in these verses?  God is the One who saves; He chooses those who will be saved. But that does not mean that we have no involvement in salvation.  A saved person is one who loves the good news about Christ, knows God (via having a relationship with Christ), and desires to obey the gospel. Does this describe you?  I hope it does.