Category: Theology

“She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matt. 1:21).

Are You Saved?

How do you answer this question? First you have to understand what the person is asking. They are asking if you have received Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

The Altar Call

But secondly, let’s be honest, this is a shallow understanding of salvation. A lot of Evangelicals mistakenly think that responding to an altar call and saying the sinner’s prayer makes them a Christian. It does not.

You will look in the Bible in vain for an altar call and a sinner’s prayer. That’s not how people were saved in the Bible or in the early church. People are saved by repentance, belief and baptism.

Repentance

Repentance is about changing your mind. That means you change it from a self-centered mindset to a God-centered mindset. Another word for this is conversion, which literal means to turn. It means a turn from self and turn to God.

The simple fact is that a faith that makes no difference in your life makes no difference to God. God does not save people in their sins, he saves them “from their sins.”

More than Words

We need to really take to heart Jesus’ warning about just saying “I accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior.” Listen closely to Jesus:

“On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you who behave lawlessly’” (Matt. 7:22-23).

Knowing Jesus

That knowing Jesus is talking about a transformative ongoing experience of Christ in your life. It is a day by day relationship in which you “work on your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12). When you stop growing, you start dying.

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news” (Mark 1:15).

Conviction

Salvation is both an event and a process. First step in salvation is conviction. In order to accept a savior, you need to know that you need a savior. Conviction is the process of knowing that you need a savior.

Repentance

The second step is to repent. That means to change your mind, to turn from a self-centered life to a God-centered life.

Faith

The third step is to believe. That means to put your trust in Jesus Christ as Lord of your life and Savior of your soul.

Justification

The fourth step is justification. That means that God pardons you of your sins. He forgives you and puts you in right standing with him.

Sanctification

The fifth step is sanctification. That means that you set yourself apart from sin and consecrate yourself to God. This means to unlearn the old habits of selfishness, and learn the new habits of loving God and neighbor.

Glorification

And the sixth step is glorification. This is the process of resurrection and one’s entrance into heaven.

Rewards

And the seventh step is rewards. This is where you will reap what you have sown, and gain eternal rewards in the Kingdom of heaven. Here you are judged by your works.

Event and Process

I will admit that this is sim byplified. Salvation is the event where you surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ. But salvation is also the process of bringing you into the Kingdom of heaven. That’s why I said salvation is an event, and also a process.

Deconstruction is the process of taking apart the building blocks of a literalist interpretation of Christianity. That is, it is the process of unlearning and relearning.

Not Literal

The simple fact is that Christianity is not literally true. That is, the many of the stories in the Bible cannot be taken as literal history, science, and fact. That is not how religion works.

When you begin to look at Christianity as a network of myths interwoven over many ages, cultures, and peoples, you begin to see Christianity for what it truly is. It is a spiritual story of a spiritual and psychological journey.

Metaphor is Not a Lie

And so Christianity is transmitted by myth, metaphor, and parables. A metaphor is not a lie, it is a symbol that is taken figuratively. It expresses in figurative language what cannot be properly expressed in literal language.

For example, Jesus is called the door. That doesn’t mean that Jesus is a piece of wood that hangs on hinges. It means that he is the gateway to the spiritual world. Most of the Bible operates on this level.

Childish Thinking

Christians usually begin their spiritual journey taking the Bible literally, because they don’t know better. But there comes a time when we need to put away childish thinking. Taking the Bible literally is childish thinking.

Once we begin to see the Bible as myth, metaphor, and parables, then we begin to understand the deeper meaning of its symbols. We move from denotation to connotation.

Science and History

>We turn to science and history to learn facts, we turn to religion to discover spiritual and psychological truths. Confusing those two will cause a spiritual crisis. Many have left Christianity because of this confusion.

The ultimate authority for the Christian community is God, who is indwelling the Church the body of Christ.

So the universal collective consensus of the Christian community is the arbiter of authoritative doctrine and practice on earth for the Church.

In order to discern the voice of God in the world today the Church uses four witnesses. They are Scripture, Tradition, Reason, and Personal Experience.

When these agree, we can be fairly certain that we are hearing the voice of God. But we still need to stay humble and open, for we only know in part as we see through a glass dimly.

“So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter” (2 Thess. 2:15).

It is common to separate Scripture from Tradition. But here Paul says that Apostolic Tradition is divided by written and oral.

Now clearly, “by our letter” is referring to 1 Thessalonians, which is later was accepted as Scripture. And “by word of mouth” is taking about oral teaching.

Conduct, Prayer, and Liturgy

“For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not irresponsible when we were with you” (2 Thess. 3:7).

Tradition, which refers to that which is passed down, should include the way of life pf yhe Apostles. This would include their ethical conduct, prayer life, and liturgy.

Reason and Experience

Add to those, reason and personal experience, and you have a firm foundation for reforming Christianity into a vital religion of transformation and spiritual power that can help people return to God through Christ.

The Fourfold Foundation

Even though the threefold model has some value, a fourfold may speak more clearly to our current understanding. Scripture and Tradition has been separated in the minds of most.

The fourfold foundation for Progressive Christianity is the truth discerned by universal collective consensus through a careful use of Scripture, Tradition, Reason, and Personal Experience.