Whose Salvation
I once heard that there once was a conference between many religious and scholarly people in England. For hours they conferred and debated about one thing. What, if anything, makes Christianity any different than any other religion? At the end of the conference they had yet to find anything. They decided to take their debate to the evening pub. At the pub, C.S. Lewis ascertained the meaning of their meeting and said one simple word that put all those present in unanimous agreement. “Grace.”
When man is most honest with himself, he will admit that man is not innately good. Good is something we have to work to get. Discipline is something instilled in children. It does not come inbred. If anything, selfishness is the key to our hearts. I might imagine if this were not the case, such fields as psychology, philosophy, ethics, theology, politics, and criminal justice among others would not be needed. Among the many things that religion is and means to people, one thing it has meant throughout many ages is an answer. An answer to what salvation looks like.
When C.S. Lewis said “Grace,” his main point was among all the religions of the world, Christianity was the sole religion in which salvation did not come from the action of the religious devotee. Salvation is a gift in Christianity, not bought or earned, but given.
Unfortunately for many christians, this treasure goes unnoticed. They have to convince themselves they will be assured a place into the illusive heaven by means of their deeds. “I go to church, I’ve never done anything really bad, I’m a good person.” Are quoted often. What’s the big deal? What really is this difference?
I love analogies, and I think these two will portray this difference quite sufficiently
Salvation through works (or good deeds) is akin to a moral weight balance. Every deed ever done in your life is measured and put into weights. Then after all of your deeds are properly categorized, the good deeds are placed on one side of the balance, while all of the bad deeds are placed on the other side of the balance. Now how salvation through works ...works is simple. If your good deeds outweigh your bad, you get to go to heaven. If not, too bad. Now the problems with this system is plentiful. How do you measure a deed no less whether it is if it is a good deed or a bad deed or how good or bad it is. How can you measure giving to charities or going to church and how do you measure that in comparison with stealing or lying (not to speak of worse actions). Lastly, how in the world do you know if you have done enough good to offset the bad? Is there any hope to such a system?
Salvation through faith is quite different. Here we get the picture of a family come to celebrate the wedding of a great man. As the preparations are going on, the parents send the children out to play in their pristine white dress shirts with a firm command not to play in the mud. But to tell a kid not to play in the mud is like telling an engineer not to press the red button. What will happen? We press the red button. Inevitably a child’s nice clean shirt gets muddy and grimy and tears well up in his eyes. He won’t be able to attend the wedding, for it is the wedding of the King’s son. They would never allow a boy so muddy to attend such an event. Then the unthinkable happens. The King’s son himself comes out and sees the child’s predicament. He walks up and says, here, give me those dirty rags, you can wear one of my shirts. Come enjoy the festivities with me in my Father’s house.
This is what salvation looks like. It is nothing we have done. In fact it is in spite of what we have done that salvation has been offered to us. That is the wonder and miracle of Christianity. Jesus came as God’s son and died in the place of anyone who would believe in Him. For those who have gotten their shirts muddy by sin (disobedience), which we all have, Jesus is offering a shirt whiter than any fabric you can buy. And when the King’s own son escorts you in, you can be certain of your place at the banquet.
Jared Williams
When man is most honest with himself, he will admit that man is not innately good. Good is something we have to work to get. Discipline is something instilled in children. It does not come inbred. If anything, selfishness is the key to our hearts. I might imagine if this were not the case, such fields as psychology, philosophy, ethics, theology, politics, and criminal justice among others would not be needed. Among the many things that religion is and means to people, one thing it has meant throughout many ages is an answer. An answer to what salvation looks like.
When C.S. Lewis said “Grace,” his main point was among all the religions of the world, Christianity was the sole religion in which salvation did not come from the action of the religious devotee. Salvation is a gift in Christianity, not bought or earned, but given.
Unfortunately for many christians, this treasure goes unnoticed. They have to convince themselves they will be assured a place into the illusive heaven by means of their deeds. “I go to church, I’ve never done anything really bad, I’m a good person.” Are quoted often. What’s the big deal? What really is this difference?
I love analogies, and I think these two will portray this difference quite sufficiently
Salvation through works (or good deeds) is akin to a moral weight balance. Every deed ever done in your life is measured and put into weights. Then after all of your deeds are properly categorized, the good deeds are placed on one side of the balance, while all of the bad deeds are placed on the other side of the balance. Now how salvation through works ...works is simple. If your good deeds outweigh your bad, you get to go to heaven. If not, too bad. Now the problems with this system is plentiful. How do you measure a deed no less whether it is if it is a good deed or a bad deed or how good or bad it is. How can you measure giving to charities or going to church and how do you measure that in comparison with stealing or lying (not to speak of worse actions). Lastly, how in the world do you know if you have done enough good to offset the bad? Is there any hope to such a system?
Salvation through faith is quite different. Here we get the picture of a family come to celebrate the wedding of a great man. As the preparations are going on, the parents send the children out to play in their pristine white dress shirts with a firm command not to play in the mud. But to tell a kid not to play in the mud is like telling an engineer not to press the red button. What will happen? We press the red button. Inevitably a child’s nice clean shirt gets muddy and grimy and tears well up in his eyes. He won’t be able to attend the wedding, for it is the wedding of the King’s son. They would never allow a boy so muddy to attend such an event. Then the unthinkable happens. The King’s son himself comes out and sees the child’s predicament. He walks up and says, here, give me those dirty rags, you can wear one of my shirts. Come enjoy the festivities with me in my Father’s house.
This is what salvation looks like. It is nothing we have done. In fact it is in spite of what we have done that salvation has been offered to us. That is the wonder and miracle of Christianity. Jesus came as God’s son and died in the place of anyone who would believe in Him. For those who have gotten their shirts muddy by sin (disobedience), which we all have, Jesus is offering a shirt whiter than any fabric you can buy. And when the King’s own son escorts you in, you can be certain of your place at the banquet.
Jared Williams
