The word of the day is "shall," as in "shall be saved." "It ain't over 'till it's over." We can apply that saying to our salvation. Some would declare that they were saved at some moment in the past. And now they can rest in the assurance of their deliverance. But that is like a biker who has climbs to the top of a mountain. He tells himself he can coast down the mountain without worry or effort. But the biker still needs to finish the course. Soon, another mountain appears, and the cyclist who thinks he has finished the ride is unprepared to face its challenge.
Instead, in today's daily study of scripture. We read Romans 5:1-10. In this passage, Paul speaks of salvation as a future happening. He writes, "For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life" (OSB vs. 10). Some may say that salvation is a one-time event. However, today, we suggest that salvation is a process that will be completed in the future. The trials we are enduring are bringing us closer to the rescue of salvation from sin and death and the healing of the soul.
WE SHALL BE SAVED
For those who run the race of faith, the finish line has not yet come into view. Paul emphasizes that we "shall be saved." What is in the past is the death of Christ, and our reconciliation with God by His death (OSB vs. 10). Our love of God enacted by the Cross has overcome our animosity and turned us from enemies of our Creator into friends. However, now we must live our justification as a reconciled child of God. This insight prompts us to view salvation as something more than a verdict that has been pronounced once, and then there is nothing else to be done.
"His life saves us!" This thought involves a change of metaphors. The Greek word for "saved" takes us down two metaphorical tracks. The first word picture is the deliverance or rescue from some sort of danger (Strong's #4982, 245). A second is the deliverance or healing from some disease (Strong's #4982, 245).
In the first view, we may say that we were rescued from the dangers of sin, death, and the devil. And we were justified and reconciled with God, and therefore rescued from divine condemnation and alienation from our Creator.
We firmly believe that by our baptism, we have died with Christ to these forces of death and corruption. And by the "washing of regeneration" (OSB Titus 3:5), we have now risen with Christ to newness of life" (OSB Romans 6:4).
With that verse, the mental image changes. St. Paul’s words teach us that our baptism puts us on the path of healing. Yet that necessarily means that as we walk that path following Christ, we will be saved.
SALVATION AS HEALING
What kind of salvation?
The healing of our souls? What life? The life of Christ's resurrection. The Lord has risen to share His eternal life with us. And so He calls us to "abide in Him as He abides in us: (John 15:4). As we remain in Him, we "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:19)
What, then, Is Growth By Healing?
The healing metaphor presents a goal to achieve. The deuterocanonical book of the Wisdom of Solomon states the purpose that the Orthodox emphasize, the metaphor of the image of God. The wise scribe teaches, "for God created us for incorruption, and made us in the image of his own eternity, but through the devil's envy, death entered the world…" (Wisdom 2:23-24 Brenton). In this healing process, the image of God in which we were made is restored in us. That is, we "become" saved" by developing into "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4), which means growing to be "like God by grace."
However, this restoration of the image of God in us takes time for the Holy Spirit to work in us. Our nature is permeated with death, and its corruption must be transformed. If we think about salvation in this third way, then the metaphor of healing gives way to the thought of cleansing. According to this comparison, we must continually confess our sins to open the wounds of our souls so that the Lord may wipe away their infection and apply the healing ointment of his grace to the injury. But the deeper the laceration is in the body, the more time it takes. The same is true of the woundedness of our souls.
FOR REFLECTION.
We "were saved." We "are being saved." "We "will be saved." This insight can only mean that salvation is not a moment in time but a process that is going on throughout our lives.
How do we know this? How do we know it isn't over yet? Well, the tribulations' of the world are proof enough that we haven't reached our final deliverance, and the state of our souls also convinces us that the Lord isn't through with us yet. Yet we can be assured that our sufferings are leading us through the virtues of perseverance, character, and hope to the completion of the Lord's work in us, our deification of becoming like God and sharing His eternal life. Deification, in this context, refers to the process of becoming more like God in our existential character, which is the ultimate goal of our salvation journey.
WORKS CITED
Sir Lancelot Brenton (trans). The Wisdom of Solomon. Samuel Bagster & Sons Ltd. 1851. (The English Septuagint was made available in 2010.( <chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://dustoffthebible.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Septuagint>
No comments:
Post a Comment