What does it really mean to “get saved?”

This coming Sunday morning our church will work through a section of an ancient letter written by the apostle Paul to the church in the Roman colony of Philippi.  Part of the section we will look at records Paul instructing the church to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:12-13)

So, an obvious question (before we get to the part where he tells them to “shine like stars” – be here Sunday for that part) is, “What is salvation?”  The way people from my faith tradition might say it is, “What does it mean to ‘get saved?’”

Caution! At this point you may be tempted to stop reading and click on something else for one of two reasons.  One, you come from the same faith tradition as mine and you think you already know the answer to the question.  Two, you have been bombarded by people from my faith tradition that have tried to “help” you “get saved” and, frankly, you’re tired of it. You feel like you’ve been talked down to, you’re insulted by the tracts people leave in restrooms with cartoon figures of people burning in hell.

If you fall into either of these categories I hope you will keep reading… at least a little farther.

Although it has been used – and sometimes abused – a lot, the concept of “salvation” is central in the sacred scriptures.  One of the earliest uses of it in the Bible is found in Exodus 14:13.  The scene is the shore of the Red Sea.  The slave nation of Israel has recently been led into freedom by a man named Moses.  Now their former owners, the Egyptians, have pursued them to the edge of the sea and there is nowhere for them to go.  Moses stands, rod in hand, overlooking the watery obstacle that stands between them and freedom.  (If reading this brings back memories of a bearded Charlton Heston wearing a long robe, holding a big stick, you may be as old as I am.)

At this point Moses says to the fearful slaves, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today.” (NKJV – emphasis mine)

The word “salvation” literally means “liberation, deliverance, being set free.”  In the spiritual realm it has, I think, a broad application.  Unfortunately, it often gets reduced to something less than it actually means.  Let me see if I can explain – at least in part.

Sometimes “salvation” gets reduced to a type of transaction between God and a human being by which that human being is allowed entrance into heaven when he or she dies.  Typically, the type of transaction varies from one faith tradition to another.  For some the transaction is baptism (adult or infant).  For others it is doing good deeds (if my good deeds outweigh my bad deeds I get in).  In the church I grew up in the transaction was saying a prayer (called “the sinner’s prayer) and “really meaning it.”  (And I’m not sure what that means.)  The point is, whatever you give in exchange for heaven, the focus is the transaction. 

But what if “salvation” is something bigger, something richer, something deeper?  What if salvation is more about transformation?  To go back to the original use of the word it would be the transformation from being a slave to being a free person.  I think an important question for everyone to ask is, “What am I enslaved to?”  Some, I think, are enslaved to church/religion.  Some are enslaved to the search for peace, prosperity or the meaning of life.  Some are enslaved to their greed.  The slave master can be anyone or anything; sex, beauty, money, piety.  You name it, you can be enslaved to it.

Salvation, at its core, is being set free from what enslaves us.  The central message of the Christian movement is that freedom, real freedom, is found in Jesus Christ.  

Here’s another one. We sometimes reduce salvation to something that happens exclusively to an individual.  I guess we can thank Western individualism for that.  But in the Bible salvation is almost always described communally, whether it’s the Israelite nation or the church. 

What does that mean?  Well, take the biblical revelation as a whole.  The world starts out in beauty and perfection.  But very early in the story it is plunged into a broken state as the result of human rebellion.  But the creator sets out to redeem and restore the world.  At the heart of the Christian faith is the belief that in and through Jesus Christ the world is redeemed, recreated.  By the end of the story we read about a new heaven and a new earth.  The tree of life is there.  In fact, it’s on both sides of the river.  My point is that the Bible is the story about a God who doesn’t give up on his creation.  The most quoted verse in the Bible says that, “God so loved the world [the cosmos] that he gave his one and only Son, that everyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 NIV – emphasis mine) 

Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t reducing salvation to something that is about me, something that happens to me and for me, not just another exercise in narcissism (self-worship)?

Note:  At this point I should probably address a question before I get emails asking it.  Is Rob a Universalist?  Do I believe that somehow God is going to “save” everybody?  Honestly, I wish I could say yes.  I would love to believe that, in the end, everybody gets set free.  But I don’t think that is biblical or practical.  I think the Bible tells the story honestly.  Sadly, humans enslaved by sin have the capacity to reject freedom.

One more thought.  I think we sometimes reduce salvation to an event.  But what if biblical salvation is more about a process?  I’m not saying that people can’t experience dramatic and instant transformation.  The Bible records some of these experiences.  But I also think our salvation is a life-long process.  I used to hear preachers say, “we have been saved from the penalty of sin, we are being saved from the power of sin, we will be saved from the presence of sin.”  That’ll preach! 

So we’re back to our passage for this Sunday.  This passage is about salvation as process.  Working it out.  I hope it is not too intrusive to ask where you are in the process.  Let’s talk.