The Christian Life: A Thought Experiment, No. 1

Lots of folks have the notion that salvation is a one point, once and for all, event. It is, at least in part. On Christ Jesus’ part, yes, that’s absolutely true:

For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God. (Rom. 6:9-10)

and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him (Heb 5:9)

Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself (Heb 7:27)

he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. (Heb 9:12)

But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the climax of the ages to put away sin by his sacrifice. (Heb 9:26)

Christ, after having been offered once to bear the sins of many (Heb 9:27)

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit (1 Peter 3:18)

And we who believe in the name of Jesus Christ do have a once-and-for-all experience:

By that will (i.e., I [Jesus] have come . . . to do your will) we have been made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Heb. 10:10)

But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us al ive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. (Eph 2:4-5)

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. (Eph 2:8)

But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. (Titus 3:5)

But it is also true that we are being saved:

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Cor. 1:18)

For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. (2 Cor. 2:15)

And finally true that we will be saved:

But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Therefore, since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from wrath through Him! For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life! (Rom 5:8-10)

So God makes clear in Scripture that we, who have the Christ as Lord and Savior, have been saved, are being saved, and will be saved. Wonderful really.

Our salvation occupies time: past, present, and future. But, our salvation in Christ Jesus, while presently enjoyed in time, is not bound by time:

He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not because of our own works, but by His own purpose and by the grace He granted us in Christ Jesus before time eternal. (2 Tim. 1:9)

And this is what he promised us--eternal life. (1 John 2:25)

Why do some of us then live only in the past, keying our life in Christ on a past event, as if we were limited to a past, once-and-for-all event, leaving out the present and future fullness and eternal glory? We have all heard for example: I was saved 20 years ago at such and such event, or, I’ve been going to such and such place for 10 years now. In the expansive context of salvation that God presents, what do those statement mean if not very little?

Let’s turn to 2 Kings 13. Elisha, Elijah’s successor is ill and his death is imminent.

Jehoash king of Israel came down to him and wept over him, saying, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!” Elisha told him, “Take a bow and some arrows.” So he himself took a bow and some arrows. Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow.” So the king put his hand on the bow, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. “Open the east window,” said Elisha. So he opened it and Elisha said, “Shoot!” So he shot. Then Elisha declared, “This is the LORD’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram, for you shall strike the Arameans in Aphek until you have put an end to them.” Then Elisha said, “Take the arrows!” So he took them, and Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground!” So he struck the ground three times and stopped. But the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck the ground five or six times. Then you would have struck down Aram until you had put an end to it. But now you will strike down Aram only three times.”

What spiritual principle do we see here? When God offers us abundant life, we must take hold of it and see it through to the end, as in:

Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (1 Tim. 6:12)

The one time confession must be followed by these other persistent virtues.

I say all of this by way of introduction so that you will understand what I am driving at by the thought experiment that follows.

I want you to imagine that you have been invited to Portugal, a far country, a beautiful place. Upon your arrival, you get your passport stamped—something you absolutely must have to officially enter the country. Without it you cannot enter the country, much less stay there.

I am thinking along this line:

The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

“But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come.  So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.

“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

“For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

Well, you have your stamp; you’re official. And you cannot contain your excitement in the hotel lobby, showing everyone your passport stamp. “Oh, look! I have my passport stamp. Isn’t it lovely?” “Oh, yes. How lovely.” “It’s a fine stamp,” you might say, as you swell with pride.

Now imagine you come down for dinner, and again you regale everyone with your stamp. "It’s grand. Isn’t it?” I can imagine the excitement that first night.

But what about tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that? If all you had to share about Portugal over the ensuing days was “Oh, look at my passport stamp,” you might find you actually have less and less to say. If all you had to share about your time there was, “I secured a fine passport stamp,” that would be a tragedy. Why? Because there’s an expectation that you will move out into that fine country upon the grant the stamp affords you.

Now, imagine a local guide had been waiting for you the entire time—to take you throughout that country so that you could seek the breadth and length of it.

I am thinking along this line from John 14:

If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

. . . .

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

What a real loss that would have been! You would have missed so much, lost so much, and never have known the full measure of what you missed. Not just the beautiful coastline, the hills, the fields, and streams, but the companionship, the conversation, and the sharing of something quite special with someone who really knew the place and spoke the language. An opportunity squandered—and a good bit of foolishness really.

We see this loss fully fleshed out here:

Jesus said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’ But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by doing business. The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten minas more.’ And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’ And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made five minas.’ And he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’

Then another came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief; for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ He said to him, ‘I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’ And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’ ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.’”

So in the face of this dilemma, our hearts should be as firmly fixed as Paul’s was who said in Philippians 3:12:

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

And we should be obedient to our heavenly calling:

Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you. (Gen. 13:17)

Amen.

Image courtesy of Unsplash and Adam Smigielski