How to Be Saved
Stephen Terry
Commentary for the August 2, 2014
Sabbath School Lesson
“Therefore go and make disciples of
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19, NIV
Our lesson contains
many assumptions this week. Perhaps the greatest is that it assumes that the
reader knows what it means by being “saved.” It also assumes that the student
knows what they are being saved from. As Christians we use terminology that is
often not well-defined for those not initiated into the jargon of the faith.
This can leave us with more questions than answers leading to confusion and
misunderstandings. In the worst case, it can lead to Christians leaving the
faith due to a conflict between what they understood and the pragmatic
realities of institutional religious practice.
So what does
it mean to be saved? Perhaps the simplest explanation can be found in Acts
2:38, where Peter proclaims to his perplexed audience, “Repent and be baptized,
every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.
And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (NIV) Repentance in the
Koine Greek simply means a change in direction, switching paths. This implies
that the path previously traveled was incorrect. But does changing paths save
us? And how do we know we are on the wrong path?
Apparently
it is only a part of the process, if it were the whole process then it would
mean we could save ourselves simply by changing direction. However, the Old Testament
prophet Jeremiah said this is as possible as a leopard changing his spots.[i]
Paul, in the New Testament also seems to make the same case when he asserts the
universality of waywardness.[ii]
He also says why it is necessary to change paths, as the path we are on leads
only to death.[iii]
The Bible tells us that repentance is not something we can do on our own. God
has to lead us there, and He does so with kindness.[iv]
This kindness of God leads to a healthy sorrow on our part as we come to
recognize how little we deserve such kindness.[v]
There is a false sorrow we often call “crocodile tears,” which is nothing more
than being sorry that we got caught in our sins. We are not truly sorry for the
sins themselves. If we had not gotten caught, we would have continued with no
apparent contrition. That kind of sorrow is not from God. Godly sorrow means we
are truly sorry for the pain we have caused to God and to others. That sorrow
leads to repentance.
Once we
decide to change paths, we must then determine the correct path. Some feel that
any apparently righteous path is good enough. They may feel that all paths, all
religions, lead to heaven in their own way. However, this is a self-oriented
solution that leaves us little better off than we were on the original path.
Some might feel that Paul’s statement in Romans 2:14-15[vi]
is an endorsement of the idea that we can be saved without Christ and therefore
any religion, or even no religion, can be a pathway to salvation. They feel
Paul seems to be saying here that it is possible for non-believers to do
righteous acts as their conscience leads them. But is that correct?
Such an idea
represents righteousness by works, a Christian bit of jargon that simply means
we are able to save ourselves by being good. However, as we have already seen
from Jeremiah and Paul, it is impossible for us to do good works. Thankfully,
salvation is not dependent on any work of ours. Our works lead only to death,
but the gift of God, which we call grace, is the only way to salvation we
cannot earn and do not deserve.[vii]
It is
because we cannot earn salvation that we take Jesus to the world in the great
Gospel Commission of Matthew 28 quoted above. There is no alternative religious
pathway that we can follow to obtain salvation. It is only available as a gift
from Jesus. Jesus pointed this out to His disciples, telling them that He is
the Way, the Truth, and the Life.[viii]
Grace is the only way.
When we
assert that there are other pathways to righteousness, we are denying this
fundamental aspect of our theology. We are saying it is possible to be saved by
a path of righteousness we carve out ourselves, paved with our own deeds,
guided by our conscience. But if this is true, why would we need Jesus at all?
His sacrificial gift would be unnecessary, and we as well as all those others
around the world could be saved simply by our works. This would be a denial of
the universal nature of selfish unrighteousness.
Perhaps we
have emphasized the Law so much that we have come to believe that it is
possible for us to obediently fulfil the Law and thereby find salvation. But
that is works and not the gift which the Bible tells us salvation surely is. The
hope of salvation is a gift for everyone, not just those who happen to live in
“Christian” cultures. We have an obligation to help deliver that gift far and
wide. Just as it means life for us, it means life for everyone, regardless of
culture. Perhaps we have been laid back for far too long, thinking that somehow
those other cultures will save themselves through Hinduism, Buddhism or Islam. However,
all are oriented to human works of righteousness as a path to salvation.
Sadly many
Christians have the idea that they, also, can work their way to heaven by
perfect obedience. They see grace as only something to make up the difference
between their own righteousness and God’s. But how does one build salvation on
a worthless foundation? Isaiah tells us our righteousness is no better than
filthy rags,[ix]
fit only for the garbage bin. All saving righteousness is Christ’s, and it is
God’s gift to us. It does not originate with us or through our works.
Perhaps some
get the idea that salvation is somehow grace plus our works because the works
done when the Holy Spirit works righteousness through us. But this is still a
gift of God, or grace, as it is not us doing it, but God in us.[x]
Since Paul says that God both wills and does in us, perhaps it is even beyond
us to even decide to do righteousness without it being tainted to some degree
by self-interest.
When we
consider all of this, maybe it becomes apparent why Jesus told Nicodemus it was
like being born again.[xi]
Repentance is not simply changing the direction one is traveling. It represents
a radical change in what one thinks about the world. Some have attempted to sum
up this change as a checklist, perhaps the Ten Commandments or some doctrinal
belief statement, but it goes far beyond that because those can also encourage
faith in one’s own efforts instead of God’s grace.
The Apostle
John tells us that “God is love.”[xii]
In as much as we are fully surrendered to God’s will and purposes in our lives,
and filled with the Holy Spirit, as Peter preached would happen, after
repentance and the rebirth of baptism, love will be our expression and being.
To be sure, both our own sinful flesh and Satan will work hard to prevent that.
That sinful flesh remains until the Parousia,[xiii]
and it will give rise to all sorts of selfish lusts and desires that will work
counter to the Spirit of self-sacrificing love.
The Devil
will also encourage us to depart from the way of love by pointing out to us the
sins of others and urging us to condemn them, for he is the Accuser of the
Brethren.[xiv]
His name in Greek, diabolos, refers
to his willingness to thrust others through with the spear of accusation in his
effort to destroy their relationship with God. This, too, comes from a spirit
of selfish aggrandizement at the expense of others. When we engage in this
work, our sinful, self-centered fleshly desires have the pre-eminence, and we
are no longer standing surrendered on holy ground. It does not matter whether
we are indulging this evil spirit against a humble brother or sister in the
church or a national political figure or a celebrity, the motive is still the
same desire to exalt our own opinion over others, as though we had any good in
our selves.
Self asserts
its personal rights and demands to have those rights honored. Love, instead,
worries less about what is owed to it and focuses more on opportunities to
serve others, even enemies[xv]
that would take everything away. If we surrender to the way of love, we are
assured that every needful thing will be taken care of.[xvi]
This is the essence of the way of salvation. Grace is a gift of love. It is
love in the form of Jesus,[xvii]
and if we acknowledge that gift as a solution to our selfishness, we can find
salvation.[xviii]
There is no other pathway equal to this. That is why we take the good news of
salvation to the world, and sacrifice all, in love, to do so.
