Salvation by Faith.
Romans 3: 21-26; Ephesians 2: 1-10; Matthew 9: 20-22
There is no ticket to heaven and no heaven bound train.
Romans 3: 21-26; Ephesians 2: 1-10; Matthew 9: 20-22
There is no ticket to heaven and no heaven bound train.
I guess most of us are going to a medical practitioner on a regular basis, even if it is only to get an annual check up. Our health is important. We know it is. Certainly we hear about it a lot. The good thing today is that our health is looked at from many perspectives – diet, attitude and exercise matter. I see that the MindBodySpirit Festival is claimed to be Australia’s largest health and wellbeing event. Our health is important and we do take a holistic approach to it. Though today the term ‘spirit’ tends to exclude the notion of religion.
The woman who touched the hem of Jesus’s outer garment was healed of the issue of blood. She had said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” [Mt 9:21] Jesus turned to her and said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And she was saved. Oops, I mean made well. Well, no, she was saved. If we were reading this passage in Greek we would have come across the Greek word sōzō, which means to save, to keep safe and sound and to rescue. Throughout this passage about this woman the verb, ‘to save’ sōzō, is used. The word, ‘save’ has at its root meaning safety and healthiness. This may help our understanding of the noun salvation.
You may recall decades back salvation was spoken about more often than today. We were even asked question like, “Are you saved?” Or, “When were you saved?” This question wanted to know whether one was a Christian and when one accepted Jesus as their saviour? I think I would have been more comfortable with these questions if they had said, “Are you in good health with God, and living a godly life?”
The Bible talks a lot about God saving us. In Ephesians 2:8 we are told that by grace we (you) have been saved through faith, and this is not (y)our own doing; it is the gift of God.
Another word used to describe our good health with God is justification. God has justified us and made us right with him. In Romans 3: 22 we read that the righteousness of God through faith of Jesus Christ is for all who believe.
Another word used to describe our good health with God is justification. God has justified us and made us right with him. In Romans 3: 22 we read that the righteousness of God through faith of Jesus Christ is for all who believe.
Salvation is important because it concerns your total wellbeing – our health. Salvation is not a passport to heaven, but a passcode to enter life. We need a lot of passcodes today. We use them to unlock, enter and benefit from our bank accounts, credit cards, buildings, and our devices. Passcodes keep us safe and protected. Passcodes are for everyday and anytime. Passports are for occasional use. We treat our salvation like a passport. It is not surprising because preachers of the Gospel told us we wouldn’t go to heaven unless we accepted Jesus as our Saviour. Salvation was presented as made ready to go to heaven one day. The concept of going on a train to heaven produced a number of Negro spiritual songs about the heaven bound train. Larry Norman’s arrangement of an old Negro spiritual goes like this.
Lord, if I got my ticket, can I ride?
Lord, if I got my ticket, can I ride?
Lord, if I got my ticket, can I ride?
Up to Heaven on that morning.
I hear a lot of talk about a Gospel train
Better be ready ’cause He’s on His way
Be down at the station, right on time
If you not ready, you’ll be left behind.
Lord, if I got my ticket, can I ride?
Lord, if I got my ticket, can I ride?
Up to Heaven on that morning.
I hear a lot of talk about a Gospel train
Better be ready ’cause He’s on His way
Be down at the station, right on time
If you not ready, you’ll be left behind.
The bad news is that you don’t need a ticket because there isn’t a heaven bound train. This thinking coincided with a widespread notion that we need to escape this sinful world. I guess the advent of the train seemed miraculous, and that would have fed the notion. This notion that we go to heaven when we die to escape this world is so un-Biblical. From the Old Testament to the New Testament the prevailing view is that God will restore this earth. So we are called by Christ Jesus to live out the heavenly life on earth in the power of his name and the help of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus gave us this understanding in that wonderful prayer he gave to his disciples. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven … . Amen. Heaven directs our heavenly life on earth. The Lord’s Prayer, as we call it, has nothing to do with us escaping this world and heading for heaven, but rather we do God’s will on earth so that the Kingdom may come. The book of Revelation is not the only Biblical writing that speaks of heaven coming to earth.
Salvation is about our wellbeing and our living well with each other through Jesus Christ and because of Jesus Christ and for God and God’s world.
Salvation is about our wellbeing. When we turn to Christ Jesus and accept him as our Lord and Saviour we commence a journey of wellness. The woman who touched the hem of his garment became well and so will we. The woman went away with her faith affirmed and joyful. The first Christians were known for their joy. Joy is something deep inside. Joy is that sense of deep wellness within us. The healing begins in our inner being. Wellness is expressed and stimulated by a thankful spirit. We are saved to a life of thankfulness and joy, because we are connected to our Maker through Christ Jesus. I would encourage you to say thank you to God as often as you can. The first thing I say when I wake up each day, regardless of how I feel, is ‘thank you God’. There is so much to be thankful for.
Salvation is living well with others. We are saved to live a life of service. In loving and serving this world we express our salvation and nurture it. The first petition of the Lord’s Prayer is to ask that the will of God be done on earth. The second petition is about our daily bread. The petition is about practising forgiveness. Forgiveness towards ourselves and each other is vital to our wellbeing. Being connected to God means being connected to this world and living in a connected way with it. I see the tree planting at GS’s property is part of that wellness and salvation I am talking about. Those who went yesterday were attending to God’s world.
Our world is crying out for salvation [Romans 8: 19-23]. Our world is troubled, broken, fractured, and in pain. People and nature are in pain. Local and global homelessness needs the salvation of God. Our selfish structures and institutions need to be saved. We need to be rescued from the lies and greed that drive our lives. We need salvation in the face of the ugliness we express to each other. No one – nothing escapes the need of salvation.
Salvation is through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the well one. Jesus was never in better health than when he was on the Cross. On the Cross we see the ultimate act of love that unites and restores rather than the act of living that divides, rules and destroys. Without Jesus our lives by their action or inaction live the lie of false wellbeing. Jesus on the cross turns to the criminal who asks him to consider him before God. Jesus affirms and assures him of God’s inclusive love. On the Cross in the midst of his pain Jesus has time to consider the wellbeing of his mother so he asks John to care for her [John 19:26f].
Salvation is of Jesus. Jesus the truly saved one – the well one – saves us with his complete love. It is his faithfulness that redeems and rescues us. Paul writes to the Romans and says; the righteousness of God through faith of Jesus Christ is for all who believe [Rom 3:22]. Traditionally translators have written ‘through faith in Jesus’ which sounds correct. But the Greek uses the genitive, which translates ‘the faith of Jesus’. This makes more sense. We are saved because Jesus is faithful to his Godly purpose and because he has faith in us. Jesus is the truly faithful one. Jesus cares for us and has faith in us. It is his faith that inspires our faith through which we are made whole. That’s why faith is a gift [Eph 2:8]. We could not be saved without the faithfulness of Jesus.
Salvation is about God’s purpose. Salvation is about the whole of human life not about our souls going to heaven. The Bible never speaks of us having a soul that lives forever. Salvation is about the present not the future. Salvation is about bringing the future into the present. Salvation is living in the present letting God’s plan, God’s purposes and God’s future, direct our living so that God’s will may come today. It is like us planning a big event in the future. That event directs our thinking and action. So just as such things allow the future to come into the present, we can let God’s future begin now by doing and living God’s way.
Salvation is living out God’s plan for us now.
Next time you see someone, think about whether they are saved. And ask them are they well with themselves, others and God. ‘Are you in good health with God and God’s world?’ They may turn to you and ask what on earth you mean, and then you can tell them. Or invite them to this clinic here to drink from the wells of eternal wellness.
*******
Peter C Whitaker, Leighmoor UC: 25/06/2017
pgwhitaker@tpg.com.au
/ www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au
pgwhitaker@tpg.com.au
/ www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au