On sound advice, I have decided to write down a few thoughts concerning a subject which has, of late, weighed heavy on my heart. The notion of salvation has always been very real to me, both in its necessity and in its divine origin, but its nature has been a subject the mystery of which I have only recently turned my attention towards. I found myself rereading several passages in the Gospels; focusing on only a few now will maintain brevity and provide clarity. We see the man in sin often being described as a "slave to sin" and that the salvation of Christ sets us free (John 8:31-36). This notion of slavery and freedom are powerful indeed; so is the notion of sin as a death and salvation as life. In the same chapter of John, we see Christ make one of his most powerful statements, yet one of his most enigmatic: "Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death." (John 8:51)
This creates serious implications for the notion of salvation, for we all see an ending of our days on this earth, our own deaths. There comes an understanding from this imagery a different understanding of the notion of salvation in Christ -- it is not about our lives at all, but the nature of our lives on earth. Though some deny Christ, all live earthly lives; though some accept Christ, all die earthly deaths. We cannot either attribute these verses to a Heaven and Hell, for those in Hell still live and by no means die. What Christ must therefore speak to is the nature of our lives, that without him there is slavery and death, but within him there is freedom and life. But what are we freed from? and what is this life?
These questions form a wall which a direct assault could not hope to overcome. But there are other verses pertaining to salvation to which we must now turn in hopes of reaching an understanding of the nature of the salvation in Christ. We know it stands in opposition to God's judgment, but how so?
6But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
11"No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."(John 8: 6-11)
We see here a powerful understanding of the salvation of Christ -- that though it comes from his sacrifice on the cross, it is not linked to our forgiveness. We see clearly that the notion of life in forgiveness comes from our belief and that this is what spares us from the death of sin. Christ does not condemn though we deserve. This woman in no way accepted him, in no way made a profession of any believe of faith. Without any notion of belief, he spare her his judgment and the wrath of God. This is not an anomaly but rather the nature of the mercy of God as seen through the Christ. John further echos this message, that we might understand:
"For God so loved the world that he sent his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him." (John 3:16-17)Again we see that salvation comes in terms of life and death, of the sin and faith that rest in this world. But when it comes to condemnation, for that Christ died for the world, bar none. "And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world." (John 4:14) Not of those who believe, not of those who have found and accepted him. He is the Savior of all, of the world. "Upon him is laid the inequity of us all." (Isaiah 53:6)
Salvation, then, is of earthly things and speaks to our earthly life, and in that we see a truth to the notion of life and death that originally eluded us. For who among us, knowing Christ, could leave him? He is our life, the living water who takes away our thirst. Without him we were dead, to the world, to ourselves, to life in its fullest. The salvation of Christ is the life fulfilled in the Will of God.
This invites a discussion of heaven and hell, for how could they remain unchanged when we have a full understanding of our salvation? The necessity for change, however, existed well before hand. I interject a strain of opinion, but it is necessary to contemplate before searching the scriptures. If we view hell as a lake of fire prepared for our endless torment, hell is not so great and terrible. No man believes disingenuously, for how could he chose to believe something which he did not think to be true? We may deny them and turn from them, but we always know what we believe and be persuaded of its truth. So to be sent to hell for the lack of a particular belief is a cheapening of the justice of God as it does not fully break a man. For he suffers in iniquity, resenting and hating God. It also asks for man to be separated from God, but how could this be the case when God is God? No this cannot be hell. But then what could be?
We know that hell is the antithesis of heaven, so in finding that perhaps we find a reprieve from our agnosticism. Given our understanding of salvation, heaven is the product of the life fulfilled in Christ, so that we may look at God one day and that He might say to us, "Well done my good and faithful servant!" (Matthew 25:21) It is the acknowledgment on the part of our creator, who yearned for our very being and designed us that we might be with Him for eternity, knowing that we have reflected his love and found Him through faith and not through sight. It is the reward of the life fulfilled as the entry to our eternal communion with the Lord, where we know no pride in that accomplishment, but simply fulfillment.
Hell, then is the opposite, and in that we see the true dichotomy of the justice and mercy of God. Hell is standing before God as he looks and says, "Depart from me, for I never knew you." We see ourselves for the first time fully, know our transgressions, our lack of faith, our unwillingness to believe. We see our lives as a failure, dead and empty -- the most precious gift given to us left unacknowledged and unopened. The stench of wasted time and regret bores through our very being and rends out heart asunder. A man is made nothing. We see the justice in God, and as a in a perfect symphony, are overwhelmed by the sudden onset of the next movement -- the movement of God's undying grace. The man knows his utter failure and unworthiness, and yet God cradles Him and brings him into his fold. He cleans him and bathes him and that completes the perfect hell of suffering and despair -- the fullest, most complete realization of receiving that which we never deserved and lived a life devoted to nothing but its scorn. God breaks the spirit and the man is dead but brought anew and fully formed into the communion set aside for him from the beginning of days, from time immemorial. The first man finds the life eternal in the unified salvation and forgiveness of Christ, the second finds his death, but all are brought to God by his grace and mercy, that prophecy might be fulfilled when it was said "that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:10-11).
In this we find an understandable salvation and a real hell which inspires the fear which drives the many to the Lord. For it is the greatest fear of man that life might be wasted, that our existence might go unfulfilled, that our purpose would be left by the wayside. We find ourselves before the Cross, basking fully in its power and majesty.
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