questions of salvation

I'm reading Adventures in Missing the Point which is a conversation between Brian Mclaren and Tony Campolo on various issues. The first of these is salvation about which the questions are many. What does it mean? How do you get it? Do you know when you have it? What is important about it? plus many more.

McLaren's main points are that most people understand salvation or being saved as one or all of these things. 1) Accepting Jesus as your personal saviour. 2) Believing Jesus died for your sins and it is this not our own works that save us. 3) That they have prayed the "sinners prayer" or responded to an alter call. 4) That they have assurance that when they die they will be going to heaven.

McLaren points out there are good reasons for these understandings but that some are modern trends that have become prominent and that there are images in the bible that have been lost that are important to recapture. Campolo agrees with the majority of what McLaren says but does want to affirm the need for an individual decision to whether someone follows or does not follow Jesus.

So, some thinking from me. What does the bible say about salvation? The Hebrew word in the OT is yeshuah which means rescue or deliverance and is used mainly in the context of God's rescue of his people. In the NT the Greek word is soteria and is the only one that is used for salvation. It is used in conjunction with God's salvation for his people, salvation being found in Jesus, and the vehicle of salvation as the gospel. From this I would say that the meaning of the word seems to be pointing to something about the rescuing act of God for his people.

This rescuing act is played out in the OT in the exodus story. Here the Hebrews enslaved by the Egyptians cry out to God who hears them and through Moses brings them out from under oppression. On the banks of the Red sea the song of the people states the Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. Here God is rescuing his people from oppression and injustice.

When David had been rescued from Saul he sings, my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation.
Here David is rescued from his enemies that were seeking to kill him.

In Isaiah the prophet speaks to a people in exile saying; I am bringing my righteousness near, it is not far away; and my salvation will not be delayed. Here again we have a message of rescue and liberation from those in captivity.

Skipping forward to the NT we see in Luke the father of John the Baptist sing; He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. Here we have a man living under Roman rule speaking of the rescue of his people from his enemies.

So we have a number of references that tell us about salvation from people who seek to oppress others. There is though a shift in the NT to a rescue from something else, not political powers but from sin. Matthew reads; She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.

So Jesus came to rescue people from their sin. But Why? many people would respond so you don't go to hell or so you can go to heaven or maybe even so you can have eternal life. These answers all seem to miss something though, what does it do for me right now?

To concentrate on what happens when I die seems to miss the point of the here and now. What does the salvation from sin do for me as I live my life today? Jesus tells a tax collector who he meets that salvation has come to his house that day
So what does salvation do for me today?

I think that salvation or God's rescue plan for humanity has to do with liberating us from oppression. The picture we have in the bible is of God's salvation rescuing those that cry out to him from powers that oppress others. This liberating act in the exodus story also brought about a time of God building a relationship with his people, though sometimes it did not go to plan. So, if God allows us to be rescued from sin and the oppression it brings I would want to say it also allows us to build a relationship here and now and that means salvation means I can live a different life here and now. God rescues us from sin to participate with him in the building of the kingdom of God and to live in relationship with the creator.

Finally, salvation is not a one time trick, it isn't about saying a prayer once or making a response to a call once. It is something that we need to choose each day to do. We either decide to build the relationship or to move back under the oppression we have come from.

That puts an end to my thoughts, if you have anything to add, question, disagree with then comment below. This isn't about me being right, but about and exploration and a search for the stranger I would like to know much better.