Yesterday, our cell group met at our house for the last time before we move. We handled chapter 29 of the Screwtape letters, where Screwtape exhorts Wormwood to look after his patient’s physical well-being as far as possible, since his untimely death will result in a failure for the Lowerarchy. Lewis points out that time is the devil’s greatest ally in drawing people away from God. This led our discussion to consider the statement that people make that “I am saved”, as if it is a once-off thing. We considered if that is really how it works, and if so, what are the requirements to “be saved”. Does one just have to believe in Jesus? Do you have to change your life? Do you have to repent? Confess your sins? How about baptism? Is that necessary? Or just an optional extra? If you can “lose” your salvation, when do you lose it, and (how) can you get it back? Well, these are thorny issues, so of course we didn’t get down to an actual solution. But the discussion was interesting, especially seeing how different people in the group reacted/responded to the question and discussion.
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Had some time to read the Borg book yet? I should not tempt you with “The Last Week” yet, I guess. Hehe. I don’t have time for reading either. Anyway, this post was kinda inspired by just this one thought: the guy on the cross next to Jesus, the *only* thing he did was to say “think of me”. That was “enough”. (And of course, it isn’t about the words, but more about the “frame of mind”, the attitude.)
Well, enough randomness for today. Back to work!
Nope – it’s one of the 10 books on my bedside table, but hasn’t quite broken it into my list of books I’m reading yet.
An interesting consideration for the other guy on the cross is if that was enough because he *couldn’t* do anything else. And also, if he had somehow been taken down and lived another 6 years of looting, plundering, raping, hedonism and oppression of others, if he would *still* have been saved.
I think the short answer to salvation is to love the truth, pursue it and live by it.
As Pilate said to the man in chains: “what is truth?”
What does “living by the truth” mean? Or even “living by your perception of the truth”?
I’d have loved to hear your feedback on Theo’s “What is Truth” sermon. Hehe…
For good measure:
Within the emerging church and various branches of liberal or progressive Christianity, there are a number of different views on the meaning of salvation. This is largely related to post-modern views on Christianity as a dialogue rather than a set of doctrines. Salvation can mean a salvific personal and/or social deliverance from the effects of structural (social) or personal sins. In this context, salvation could mean anything from participation in a glorious afterlife–which is generally a less-commonly held belief in these circles–to a kind of liberation similar to that in Hinduism or Buddhism, to the repair of interpersonal relationships, to societal deliverance into a future perfect world (ie. the New Jerusalem or the Reign of God), and even to such concepts as gay liberation, women’s liberation, the raising up of the oppressed and marginalized, or the equal distribution of goods. Any or all of these views are likely to be held and debated within the emerging church.