Category Archives: salvation

Saved by faith alone?

1 Reply

I want to get back to a minor controversy that happened on the blog a couple of months ago. Ryan Lassiter made the statement that “you are saved by faith alone.” One commenter took great exception to this phrase. Even though Ryan had previously rejected the idea of biblical being merely intellectual, this commenter said:

My point is that when the majority of people, see the words “saved by faith alone”, it is understood to mean without repentance, confession, baptism, or anything else.

So I’d like to hear your thoughts. Do you think that most people think “faith alone” excludes the thing the commenter mentions? Or do most people think that saving faith includes a certain response? (We’ll talk more about what that response might look like. For now, I’d like to know if you see most people as viewing “faith alone” as mere intellectual assent to certain religious propositions.)

How much room is there for bad news in the good news?

Leave a reply

Question markI’ve been thinking about the gospel. The good news of Jesus. I’m wondering how much bad news is an inherent part of the good news.

There has to be some. For Jesus to be the answer, there has to be a problem that needs a solution. But what is the problem?

Is it sin? Is it personal sin or universal sin?

Is it the powers of evil? Is that the problem? Satan and his minions that have rebelled against God, deceived mankind, and sown seeds of death and destruction; is that what Jesus came to fix?

Why did Jesus have to die? Is his death part of the good news or the bad news? Some would argue that his death is the bad news and his resurrection the good. Is that it?

Why do people need to be Christians? To be saved from eternal damnation? To be part of God’s Kingdom? To find purpose and community? What’s the point?

I guess here’s what I’d like to hear your thoughts on:

  • What did Jesus accomplish with his death that couldn’t be accomplished any other way?
  • If Jesus is our Savior, what is he saving us from?
  • What do we gain by becoming a Christian that we couldn’t have otherwise?

How would you answer?

Must God save everyone?

2 Replies

crossFollowing up on yesterday’s questions, I want to think about God’s obligation in terms of salvation. To what extent would it be a “character flaw” if God didn’t save the vast majority of people? Is it enough that God has given mankind life or must he also extend that life beyond the grave in order to be seen as just and loving?

Is Jesus’ act of atonement a failure if only a minority of people are saved? Does God have to save most if not all? Is the condemnation of some a sign that God’s design was imperfect?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on these ideas or yesterday’s questions.

Lost or found

1 Reply

heavenly skyIs salvation a right or a privilege? Is it something that people should receive unless they do something to disqualify themselves? Or is it something that God gives to some and not to all?

Do we gain eternal life or is it something we have and possibly lose? Are humans born to live forever? Or does God grant unending life to some? Does God take away eternal life from the lost or does he bless the saved with eternal life?

Some questions for a Tuesday morning. How do you see it?

Image by exis on Pixabay.

Please God or suffer the consequences

8 Replies

My wife is coming back today from a mission trip to Costa Rica. Knowing that she’s coming back, I tried to do a bit of straightening up around the house. I’m laundering not only my clothes but the sheets and towels as well. And I’ve got a brisket in the crock pot, so she won’t have to worry about cooking for a couple of days.

I do all of that, of course, because I’m afraid she’ll divorce me if I don’t. That’s the only reason people in a loving relationship think about pleasing the other, right? When she gets home, she’ll take care of many of the chores around the house, knowing that I’ll toss her out on the street if she doesn’t.

Hopefully by now you realize that I write in jest. Yet this reflects the way many talk about our relationship with God. Those who believe in salvation by works often say that if you take out that element of fear of condemnation, people won’t want to do good things. Some who are assured of their salvation will mock any attempts to discuss what is pleasing to God, saying that the only thing that matters is that we have eternal life.

For many, that’s the bottom line: am I going to an eternal reward or eternal punishment?

Just as the relationship I described in the first two paragraphs is far from healthy, so such an attitude toward God is sick. Back in January, I wrote:

Neither do I believe in a mere transactional relationship with God. That is, I think that my relationship with God isn’t just about getting what I want from Him (in this case, salvation). In a relationship of love, you seek to please the other, not because of what you might get by doing so, but because you love the other.

And I fully agree with myself. :-)

I seek to know God’s will, to know what pleases Him, not because I’m afraid He’ll toss me in the lake of fire when this life is over. I do it because I love Him and want to do what He wants. I want to be like Him, more so every day.

Am I misguided in this view?