What does salvation mean? ...

Wednesday, Nov 10, 2010. We are in the middle of Ephesians 2, reading the second chapter of the letter which the apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in the antique town of Ephesus. It is one of the important letters of the New Testament, a key document of Christian faith.

We have talked about Paul's far reaching statements about being “spiritually dead” yesterday. Today we come to the rescue. Paul claims that we are rescued from death “in Christ”. Let us first recall the original passage:

Rescued from evil …

4 But because God is so full of mercy and because he loved us so much, 5 even though we were spiritually dead because of our evil ways, he made us alive in the same way that he brought Christ back to life. It is by God’s great kindness that we have been rescued from evil. 6 He raised us up with Christ and, in a spiritual sense, he made us to sit in heaven with him. (Ephesians 2: 4-6)

One of the key statements here is that there is new life in Christ. God makes people alive with Christ, in Christ, through Christ, in the same way as Christ. There are various similar phrases in the New Testament, which all point to the same process.

Alive in Christ …

What does it mean to be alive in Christ? We might think about Christians we know and ask ourselves: are they alive? How would you observe being alive in Christ? We might think about ourselves: are we alive? Perhaps you are a Christian, but you still ask yourself: what do I know about God? You are still struggling with faith … believing, … doubting, … searching …

The process of salvation is a deep mystery. Christians of all times have made far reaching experiences with God, with his presence, with his support, with wonders and miracles, with his Holy Spirit. When we walk the path of faith, these experiences will come. But we might also experience times in our life, where all this seems to fade, where we feel lonely and poor. We are not machines, we are living beings, developing, changing and moving forward with our life, and with God in it or close to it.

Being alive in Christ means to live in his grace. It means to live with his love, with his presence. It is not so much a question of particular rules, though his presence will strongly influence our behavior as well. But it is a question of faith, of accepting his rescue. We are on the receiving side … salvation is about receiving. We cannot save ourselves. This is why those who do not have, who are poor or poor in spirit, are blessed (Luke or Matthew 5), since they know how to receive. ... more texts