Monday, June 23, 2008

Salvation Lite: Less Filling, But Tastes Great

There was an interesting blog post in John Alan Turner's blog. In the post he examined the role salvation plays in the world, in the church, and in God's ultimate plan for mankind and His kingdom. Then he asked the question, "Why in the world do you think we so often reduce (salvation) to being let off the hook for our sins?" I thought about it briefly and responded:
Maybe because we really don’t understand salvation.

In 2 Peter 1:3-11, Peter makes the case that the salvation we have is glorious, and worthy of our allegiance and effort. And if we are not growing in Christlike character, we have forgotten that we have been cleansed from our past sins. We just don’t get it.

It’s easier to talk about salvation as fire insurance, because most in pop-Christianity don’t want to bother with true discipleship.


I really believe that the salvation message is often reduced to "once saved, always saved." And what I mean is that people just want to know the minimum entrance requirements, then they go on to live their lives. Maybe they do "Christian" things, but they have little interest in true growth.

Seems that way to me. What do you think?

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous1:34 PM

    I think you're right.

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  2. sounds to me like someone's been reading Dallas Willard!

    Can't wait to see you and your family!

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  3. I've read only a brief excerpt from Dallas Willard in the past. So, I can't say that it was a direct influence, though to a small degree I suppose he has been.

    We can't wait to see you guys too.

    ReplyDelete