Readings for today: Psalms 53-58, Acts 27:27-28:10
What is salvation? Is it just fire insurance? A “Get out of Hell” free card? Getting our ticket punched to heaven? Is it raising a hand in a worship service? Is it walking the sawdust trail to pray the sinner’s prayer? Is it being baptized? What does it mean to be saved? What are we saved from? What are we saved for?
The Bible defines salvation as a wholistic, transformative experience whereby we are delivered from death and delivered to new life. We are delivered from slavery and we are delivered into a life of freedom. We are delivered from the kingdom of darkness and delivered into a kingdom of light. It’s literally a new birth. We are literally given a new heart. Our feet are literally set on a new path. Listen to how the Psalmist describes it from our reading today…“For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.” (Psalm 56:13)
Salvation, according to Scripture, is far more than simply securing our eternal destiny. It is far more than raising our hand or praying a prayer. It is far more than any sacramental act we participate in. It is nothing short of God miraculously interceding in human history to claim yet another soul for His very own. It is nothing short of God graciously choosing to adopt a new son or daughter into His family. It is nothing short of God expanding His Kingdom, one subject at a time. There is no such thing as being “called” without become His child. There is no such thing as being “delivered” without becoming His disciple. There is no such thing as being “saved” without becoming His subject. Jesus is either BOTH Lord and Savior or He is neither of those things.
Sadly, too many people believe they can experience deliverance without obedience. They naively believe they can be saved from bondage into some kind of neutral territory where they don’t have to be subject to God or the devil. They believe God will set them free but make no further claim on their lives. They want all the privileges that come with being a child of the King without any of the responsibilities. It’s why so many self-identified Christians live lives that look no different from their unbelieving neighbors. And it’s why the unbelieving world finds the Christian faith unbelievable.
The Psalmist teaches us a different way. Yes, God delivers our souls from death. Just as He did for Adam and Eve. Just as He did for Noah and his family. Just as He did for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Just as He did for Israel in Egypt. God is a God of deliverance. God is a God of salvation. God specializes in setting His people free from bondage to sin and death. But that’s only half the salvation equation. God not only delivers us from death and keeps our feet from falling, He does these things so we might walk in newness of life. He saves us so that we might walk before Him in the light of new life. Not only that but God saves us so our lives might become a credible testimony to the transforming power of the gospel to those around us. God’s great desire is that all should be saved. All should be delivered from death. All should have their feet kept from falling. All should walk before Him in newness of life. You and I are therefore called to live out our faith in very public ways so that those around us who do not yet believe might see and experience the difference salvation makes in a person’s life.
Friends, God desires a relationship with us. A deep, intimate walk with us. Just like He had with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Just as He will one day again have when New Jerusalem descends to earth. One of the many reasons why the gospel is “good news” is we don’t have to wait! We can begin this walk with God today. All we have to do is open the door of our hearts and let Him in.
Readings for tomorrow: Psalms 59-61, Acts 28:11-31