The Salvation Seat

Spirituality Column #168
January 26, 2010
Current in Carmel - Current in Westfield - Current in Noblesville
(Indianapolis north suburban home newspapers)

The Salvation Seat
By Bob Walters

The saving grace of Jesus Christ – salvation – is the central reality of the Christian faith.

We are sinners – either by nature or by practice depending on one’s theological point of view – and we live in a fallen world. Life can be great, good, bad or awful, but because of sin all Creation groans and we die. Salvation in Christ means we live.

Forever.

Without sin.

With God in Heaven.

And right up there with salvation, Christianity’s greatest blessings are love and forgiveness.

People often put health, money, power and maybe family in the top spots. But nothing eases the daily pains of life, or accentuates the daily joys, like love and forgiveness.

Health? Each of our bodies is going to die. Sure, get some exercise, drink some water, get some sleep and lay off the super-sized fries – you’ll feel better – but our earthly end is physical death. Be smart, but don’t worship health; it’s a good thing while it lasts but it’s not forever.

Money? A fickle commodity too often made into an idol. Getting it, holding it, worrying about it … money is more often a stumbling block to faith than a stairway to heaven. Pray about it and be wise, but don’t worship it. Money does not equal righteousness.

Power? Jesus Christ’s power was that he was a servant. Until we get that one right, until we realize life is not about “me” but about serving God and others, power is a dangerous, human, corrupting intoxicant. We are prone to worship ourselves.

Family? First, be happy to be in the family of God. Strive to be an example of God’s love and forgiveness in your family. Fight for your family and bear any burden for your family. Be responsible. But families can be crazy commodities because they are full of people, and we’re sinners all.

Health, money, power and family can be great blessings or horrendous curses. Our focus on salvation for eternity and on Christ in this life lifts us above these earthly, temporary things. Salvation is a blessing that won’t quit.

God loves us, as we must love others. God forgives us, as we must forgive others. And God saves us … because we are loved and forgiven. John 3:16.

Just be sure you know who or what is in the driver’s seat of your life. If Jesus is only your co-pilot … switch seats.

Walters (www.believerbob.blogspot.com, email rlwcom@aol.com) wonders if we are all rich, smart and good-looking in heaven, but figures most likely it won’t matter.

Christian Salesmanship: Oh Lord, won't you buy me ...

Column #9
January 9, 2007
Current in Carmel (IN) newspaper

Christian Salesmanship: Oh Lord, won’t you buy me …By Bob Walters

I get the creeps when I see Christian salesmanship (some call it evangelism) focused on either sin or prosperity.

Both miss the point terribly, but are understandable sales tactics because they are global concepts.

Sin – everybody has it. Prosperity - everybody wants it.

God, the Bible teaches us, isn’t all that interested in either.

Sin certainly has a theological basis. Christ came from God for our salvation, and preached fervently against the sins which separate us from our relationship with God the Father Almighty.

God’s not that interested in our sin because He doesn’t dwell on our past; guilt has no place in the Kingdom. Satan, on the other hand, has nothing except our past sins and our current guilt to fulfill his lowly aim of controlling us in order to spoil that Godly relationship Christ died for.

So when I hear a Christian selling Christ on the basis of our awful sins that He died for, the Christian is selling the disease (guilt), not the cure.

What’s the cure? That’s easy: Love, and faith in Christ.

God’s power is love and faith; Satan’s power is guilt and fear. Class dismissed.

The Prosperity Gospel, the health and wealth doctrine so tremendously popular today (especially on TV), has preachers selling salvation in a gold box. If your relationship is right with Jesus, they preach, if you pray right and live right, Jesus will reward you with the desirable spoils of this life. You’ll get your best life right now.

That is dangerous baloney. If you “believe” in order to get something material, then what you have isn’t faith. What you have is greed. And your faith is going to take a beating when you lose your job or your health. God isn’t in that stuff; He’s in your heart.

In the Old Testament, God made the Jews His Chosen People. They strove for righteousness with earthly works to win God’s favor. Popular “Capitalist Christianity” finds its scriptural basis in the Old Testament, before the coming of the Messiah.

In the New Testament, in Christ, God’s favor is already won … for eternity. Not only does the New Testament not teach the prosperity gospel (not without a good yank, tuck and a twist, anyway), it very clearly points out the specific perils of wealth (Matthew 19:16-30). Nowhere does it say wealth is bad, certainly; only dangerous. And nowhere does it say being rich, smart, good looking and healthy are a measure of virtue.

Virtue, it teaches, is in your heart, not in your hand. Salvation, it promises, is in your faith in Christ, not in things. Forgiveness of our sins is wonderful, but God’s promise is that we will eventually forget our sins, because He already has. (New Year’s note – Why not go ahead and forget your sins? Satan will have a harder time getting to you.)

Health and wealth? They are false gods. You may have noticed that everybody dies, and there are an awful lot of going-to-glory Christians who will leave little behind.

For God’s love, Christ erased our sin and laid up our real riches in heaven.

Sell that.

Walters, a Carmel resident, has lost faith in most TV preachers.