What does it mean to be "Saved"?
I have heard this debated, explained, argued over and fought about more times than I can remember.
Some people will argue that if at any point in your life you have called out to the Lord and said "I Believe in Jesus Christ" that they are "Saved" and will go to heaven when they die or when the Lord returns, whichever comes first. They have certain scriptures that they point to and strive to assure people that this is all that matters.
I have run into other people who will tell you that it really matters how you lived your life. That if you are a really good person, or if you strive to improve yourself and do things for others, this is what really matters. They will argue that people are only responsible for what God has shown or revealed to them and that if you have never really heard about Christ but are doing the best you can with what you know, that this is enough to be saved.
On the other side of the coin there are people who will tell you that it is not enough to make a one time confession. That you must strive to improve yourself and to bring yourself closer to godliness. This can take several forms from being very busy in your church or group always finding something to do for God, to following all of the rules or Laws that God has set before us in various ways. There is one church just down the road from me that defines some of these rules as, don't drink, don't smoke, don't dance ect, ect. Other groups insist that you must follow the Torah or 613 "Laws" set down in the Old Testament. And I have run into people who will go farther and define even more "Laws" that are stipulated in the New Testament.
Hey people, God did not say you have to have fifteen degrees from some prestigious university in order to be saved. He said to suffer the little ones to come unto Him. He said that we needed to believe with the faith of a child. He said that He would use the poor and the weak and that this would confound the world.
So this brings us back to the question, how do we know what to do, how do we follow Him, what do we do to be Saved?
I recently attended a meeting in a community church where the pastor pointed out a whole list of things that help us to see this issue more clearly. First of all he mentioned that some 95% of the population of the United States would say that they believe in Jesus and that over 80% would state that they are "Christians". He then went on to point out that the word "believer" is only used 6 times in the New Testament and that the word "Christian" is only used twice.
If these are the key words that we associate with being "Saved" then why are they so seldom referred to in the very book that is our guide to Salvation?
The pastor then went on to point out that the words Follower, Follow, Desciple, and Disciples are used three hundred and sixty times in the New Testament. Jesus did not ask us to lead, or to do, or to go out and make the path. Jesus asked us to Follow Him. He asked us to become His disciples. We become "Saved" when we believe in Jesus to the point that we daily go to Him and follow Him. No matter what else is going on in our lives, no matter what else we want or desire, all other things could pass away, but we know to our very core that Jesus is real, that He died to save us and forgive us for all the times we have gone our own way. We quit trying to lead, to gain, to posture or position ourselves and we just follow Him.
So how do we go about following Him?
Here is where you get into the some groups who tell you that you need to serve the Lord, or other groups who will claim that you need to follow this set of rules or that set of Laws. But why should we get out the rule book when we are supposed to be following the Lord and having a personal relationship with Him.
When a couple are married and the husband decides to take his wife out to dinner and really wants to please her, does he go to a book of notes to remind him what restaurants his wife likes and then try to decide which one to go to or does he communicate with his wife and find out where she would like to go? Does a husband rely on the fact that he told his wife that he loved her the day they were married or does he daily go to her and express his love for her?
We have been offered a personal way to communicate with and experience the God of the whole universe. We as individuals can talk with and walk with and follow the very God that created us and desires us to be happy and complete.
Why do we constantly try to find new ways to complicate and restrict our enjoyment of this personal communing with our Lord and Savior?
Why do we go to a book of rules and Laws that were designed for a different time and place and different circumstances to decide how we should respond when we can go right to the source and ask for Him to lead us?
When Jesus sent the disciples out into the communities he told them not to take things with them and not to prepare beforehand as to what they should say. Is His Spirit somehow less powerful in this day and age so that we have to rely on written histories of what He did Two Thousand years ago instead of asking Him right now, today, what He wants us to do or how we should act, or what we should say?
I am not for a minute suggesting that we should not study Gods Word to help us better understand His nature and the way that He desires us to live. But when in comes right down to it, what we do this minute, how we are to act and react with those around us, is our standing with God based on how much we have been able to study and understand the written Word or is our standing with God based on our willingness to Follow Him right now this minute wherever He decides to lead us?
The day may soon come when we do not understand what is going on around us. We may not be able to discern from our studies what is the best coarse of action. But we can always rely on the fact that if we are willing to follow where He leads us we can not fall. We may not understand what is going on around us any more than Job did when he was in the middle of his tribulations, but we know that when we follow Him He will work all things together for good
As I write this I am going through one of the most painful experiences of my life. I do not know what tomorrow holds and to try and look forward to next week is not even possible. There is not a rule or a method that I can follow that will get me through one minute of the day. But I can moment by moment go to my Lord and Savior and follow Him.
There is no assurance that by doing this tomorrow will be better or that the cause of my pain will go away. There is however assurance that each moment of each day I can turn to Him and follow Him and he will be there and carry me through until the day that I am transformed.
Yes there are many promises both in His Word and given through His Spirit that we can rely on today and on through eternity. Our hope of these promises, our hope of Salvation are all based on our turning to Him and Following wherever He may lead us.
David P. LaSelle
