"What is Salvation and why do we need it?" (based on Matthew 7:13-23)

1. What is Salvation?

· Salvation is the act and result of being saved. One is saved because they are rescued from some danger or dark situation. In the spiritual sense, a person is saved or rescued from the guilt, shame and penalty of their misdeeds (commonly known as ‘sins’). Where such sins left unattended would grow both in number and in destructiveness, gaining mercy for such sins allows them to be left behind, and for a person to take new directions. Ultimately salvation means escape from eternal death, and a re-established relationship with God. There also lies within salvation the potential for the resolution of feelings of hopelessness, lack of purpose, inner turmoil and fear of death. Think of a lone swimmer who gets in trouble in the raging waters (who would no doubt drown if left to their own devices), but who gets rescued by the strong swimmer who swims out from the shore to bring them back into safety.

· While salvation is based on a one-off event, it is certainly not only a one-off event, but rather an ongoing experience. Salvation began in the heart of God; and then was ultimately activated through Jesus’ death on the cross and subsequent resurrection – a gift first of mercy, then of new life. This was a one-off event for all time and all humanity, yet is just the beginning point of salvation. Salvation begins by accepting Jesus into our life as our Saviour and Lord. We’ll talk more about the need for a saviour later, but we also need to go on from here and have Jesus as our ‘Lord’ – meaning the one to whom we defer in all the matters of life. Through the experience of salvation, Jesus is our leader, and we follow him all the way through life on earth.

· To access salvation, we enter through the “narrow gate” (Matthew 7:13); and this “gate” of course is not a physical gate but a relational gate; for in John’s gospel (10:9) we read Jesus saying, “I am the gate – whoever enters by me will be saved”. Salvation then is fully dependent on our acceptance of Jesus.

· Salvation, then, requires us to make a decision – a choice! Salvation is activated from the time (the moment if you like) when one decides to change ‘gods’ – from the ‘god’ of self (and self-interest) to the ‘Creator of the Universe’. Jesus has made this choice possible, as he breaks down the ‘sin’ barriers. At some point in a young person’s life, they begin to think and act in ways contrary to God and perhaps in rebellion to God. At this moment they need to experience salvation or they will slip deeper into a state of ‘lostness’ ... as indeed most people do! As one decides to make this change, the mindset changes from ... “I’ll do as I please” – to the much better alternative ... “God’s will be done”. This is in no way a negative move where one losses their identity or decision-making power, but rather a, “joyful, free, exuberant surrender to the fullness and the fulfilling of life” (F.B. Edge, 74).

· Salvation is then a process involving belief in God, repentance (i.e. seeking forgiveness and desiring a new direction), acceptance of Jesus as Saviour and Lord, and a growing and active faith.

· Now salvation is not something to trifle with or play around with! This is a serious life defining and eternity determining matter!! We have to place our lives in the position where God truly knows us and works through us. Just saying the right words will never be enough. It is living out the faith in accordance with God’s will that will count. And of course we can’t fool God who sees our secret heart. According to Matthew 7:22, there will be those who speak the words loudly, but do so from their own pride and position, rather than allowing God’s strength to be revealed through their weakness.

· You may shudder like me when someone is heard identifying themself as a Christian while reflecting views that are so far removed from those of Jesus that it would be deemed ridiculous if it wasn’t so horrifying and damaging. Often people identify with cultural or national christianity – the whole “we are a christian country” thing, which actually has nothing to do whatever with following Jesus counter-culturally throughout daily life (the real Christianity). More on this next week!

2. Salvation ... Why do we need it?

· We need salvation because we have been separated from God by sin. The problem with separation is that we were designed to live in relationship with God. The problem with sin is that it is destructive to others and ourselves – it takes us into areas far removed from God’s good ways. So, separation from God and sin, have to be urgently dealt with. We cannot make up for our sin ourselves though; and we can’t re-establish our relationship with God on our own. The good news is that, as we have already said, Jesus’ death on the cross (as an act of mercy to all humanity) offers us the gift of forgiveness. As we admit our need in humility, and accept this gift, Jesus takes our past and future sins upon himself and accepts the deathly penalty. This opens the way back to God, and in this way we can be free, and live without the weight of guilt and shame. We will still sin of course, but we have Jesus living in us through which to gain speedy forgiveness and not have our forward growth too badly disrupted.

· We need salvation because the world is full of danger; and that danger is most problematical if we don’t have the right boundaries and ethical frameworks in place. We read in Matthew 7:13 that the “gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction – and there are many who take it”. Following the crowd, simply because it is easier, or allows us to be more popular, or allows us to pursue selfish goals – is a dead-end path. But the “narrow” way (i.e. the Jesus way) leads to truly sharing in God’s life.

· The “narrow” way is also described as: the “hard” way – because it requires the tough choices being made, as well as strong commitment and often sacrifice. It’s the more difficult way, but it’s also the purposeful way, because travelling along this road counts for something. Why is the “gate” to this road of blessing described as “narrow”? Because some things just won’t fit through ... large egos, hardheartedness, unforgiveness, and bitterness.

· So, yes, there’s a choice to be made! As Tim McGraw sings ... We’re all looking for love and meaning in our lives – we follow the roads that lead us – [either] to drugs or Jesus. This song refers to the active choice that needs to be made between addictive and destructive paths on the one hand and Jesus on the other. We read in Matthew 7:15ff that there are those who seem to be on our side, or worthy of following, but in reality will easily influence us in the wrong ways. Nothing good will come out of such attachments. We should never allow ourselves to be influenced by those who are on a different road ... rather we should always be the ones influencing them. We know who to look up to, and who to ignore, by the “fruit” of their lives. The “fruit” produced reveals the character of the tree. There is only one person ultimately worthy of following ... JESUS ... and then in turn those who truly follow Jesus (as evidenced in their behaviour and priorities). Is this person worthy of following, we may well ask? How much do they resemble Jesus, should be the measuring stick??

· We need salvation, because otherwise, we are destining ourselves for an eternity without God (Matthew 7:19). How sad that would be!!

3. A further question [this is like the bonus track on a CD] – Salvation ... What do we do with it?

· Our salvation should be so life-changing that it penetrates everywhere we are and everywhere we go. It should mean that our home is blessed by the presence of Jesus, and that there is a growing honour brought to God there. Our family is treated with great love. Our salvation should mean that our workplace has light added to it, and we are a reference point through which people can experience the possibility of hope and peace. We also fulfil our work responsibilities with great integrity. Our salvation should also mean that we improve our neighbourhoods through the quality of our social and recreational interactions.

· Our salvation should mean that we dynamically participate in fulfilling God’s mission in the world; and while we will be necessarily involved in alleviating a lot of need, ultimately that mission is drawing people toward relationship with God. Returning to Matthew 7:21, why is it that not everyone who calls to the Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven? It is because some fail to act on their belief and live out the will of God. So, according to this passage, to ask the age-old question as to whether a person once saved is always saved – is actually the wrong question. This is because it is clear that salvation is a process that we need to be continually involved in. Not that our salvation depends upon works, but rather that our ongoing grace-based relationship with God is proven by our active seeking of God’s will. Anything less than this cheapens what Jesus has done! This is what the whole biblical book of James is about. Belief and commitment go hand-in-hand to produce salvation. Victories and failures will go hand-in-hand to produce growth and maturity.

· As we shall see next week in the Matthew 28 “great commission” text, our objective is to make disciples, not just converts. Salvation is not about just ‘saving souls’ in a greek philosophy sense, but rather about comprehensively saving whole lives in a true biblical sense.

· There is no point in making the gospel sound much easier that it is – such comments as “accept Jesus as your Saviour and everything will be perfect” can only disappoint and eventually send people out the back door. But there is also no point in making the gospel sound too difficult – because initially it is about responding to a free gift of grace, and then being open to a process of transformation over time (that God’s Spirit can bring about in us). There are some texts that make salvation very simple, and others that make it sound quite precarious (e.g. Mark 2:14 versus Mark 8:34-5; John 3:16 versus John 15:2; Romans 10:13 versus Matthew 7:21). We need to balance such texts and understand both the simplicity and the complexity of salvation.

· Our salvation means that we will make our unique contribution (to our church and the community) through the gifts we have been given. God brings together all the gifts, talents and abilities in the church for the benefit of the community and the world around us.

· Salvation is worth sharing – if this is all so important for us, then it is also important for everyone else; and we would dishonour them if we don’t share what we have found to be true. They might seem happy enough, but we know that people can cover a multitude of problems and despair under a veneer of apparent health. Some will have never heard of the gospel of Jesus; others would have heard but never gained a positive view of this ‘Jesus thing’; and others would, for various reasons, have built up some animosity against the gospel message. For some, the hurt and problems they carry are all too overwhelming for them to see beyond ... to the answer (that is sometimes, we would have to say, so deeply disguised in our busyness).

· Surely we would want to share this experience of salvation with our friends and family. Yes we can live out the Jesus-following life and hope this will be noticed, but increasingly in a society with little understanding of the real Gospel message we will have to tell some stories of faith, make some explanations, and aid understanding.

4. Summary Statement

Salvation is what we experience as we respond to Jesus and what he has done for us on the cross, in providing forgiveness for our sins. This rescue was necessary because we had become separated from our Creator God who had designed us with relationship in mind. This experience of salvation changes our whole life as we follow ‘the Jesus way’ and thus grow day-by-day, offering us peace and purpose, and giving us much to offer to the community as a whole.