Believe: SALVATION

Salvation. Salvation is one of those key words in the Christian faith that carries a lot of weight to it. But if you and I are honest with ourselves, do we always let the power of that word impact us as it should? To illustrate this point, I want to share a quote from renown 20th-century American novelist William Faulkner. In his book, As I Lay Dying, Faulkner writes this: “People to whom sin is just a matter of words, to them salvation is just words too.” To put it another way, the proper way to understand and be impacted by salvation is to first understand and be impacted by our need for it because of our sin. The Good News of the Gospel is first and foremost only Good News when we realize and recognize, with conviction, our fallenness compared to God’s holy and perfect standard.
 
Salvation is a beautiful thing but, if you’re at all like me, there are times when I can take it for granted. I can hear a sermon preached on this topic, read a blog post about it, listen to a podcast about it, and even hear about someone else’s experience with it and I can almost have a “Yeah, I’ve heard that before” kind of attitude. Or I can take salvation for granted because I have in some way justified my sin in my heart. To me, it’s not all that bad or at least it’s not as bad as someone else’s. Have you ever done that or thought like that? Do you act and think like that? If we’re really honest with ourselves, we all do this. Not all the time, but often enough.
 
The Good News for us today is that salvation is more than just words. The depth and breadth of this word brings with it freedom, hope, purpose, belonging, compassion, mercy, and grace. God’s salvation that He longs to give and freely gives each and every person is found in Him alone. We can’t replicate it on our own, we can’t buy it or earn it, it is simply a gift; a gift that we treasure, enjoy, and live in. Take a moment this week to thank God for this ultimate gift that He gives to you that has truly saved you and made you His child.

Pastor Ben