What are we saved from?

The upshot of that child’s life, the child who was born so long ago, will not be found in that which is born of the flesh. Rather, it is found, it can be found only in that which is born of the Spirit. The question has always been: From what do we need salvation? 

What do we need to be saved from? It is in answering that question that we will know what we need.

Image by Gerd Altmann

Reflection - Salvation

By Steve Hall


https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011522.cfm
1 Samuel 9:1-4, 17-19; 10:1
Mark 2:13-17


There is a scene in the first season of The Chosen which portrays one of the late evening meetings between Jesus and the Pharisee, Nicodemus. In the course of the conversation the purpose of the Incarnation is made clear. Jesus says: “I did not come to deliver the people from Rome.” To this Nicodemus replies: “Then, from what?” And Jesus answers: “From sin! From spiritual death!” It was probably predetermined that the scene should come to mind when the final verse of today’s gospel was read. Here too Jesus addresses the divine motivation for the Incarnation: 

“Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.
I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

The statement is commonly interpreted as having reference to the self-satisfied Pharisees. Because they were so diligent in following the Law they considered themselves righteous. They were not like other men and had no need of a physician. Their need for salvation was being met by their own efforts, by their own strict observance of the Law. There is little doubt that that interpretation is appropriate. Even so, questions arise. 

The intent of that child’s life, the child who was born so long ago, was made known in the Scriptures long before his birth. The accompanying question has always been: From what do we need to be saved? It is in answering that question that we will know what we need and why the presence of God is a sine qua non — literally, without which nothing. I, like you, could make a list of things it would be nice to be saved from. It would be a long list. We could start with war and hatred and famine and go on and on until we reach the narrowness of such picayune, though hurtful, items as categorizing and backbiting and rudeness. 

None of these, however, were on Jesus’ list. So what are these things if they are not sin? They are the consequences of sin; they are the consequences of living life without God; and we may suffer those consequences either as a result of our own spiritual failures or the spiritual emptiness of others. 

Sin! Spiritual Death! Life Separated from God! All are describing the same thing.

For reasons unknown to us, angels chose at the instant of their creation to be in adoration of God or not. Not living in time made their choice both eternal and irrevocable. But we are not angels. We live and grow and become because that is the inherent design for all temporal beings. While the nature of created things — whether plant or animal or human — is a basic given, the formation of the conscious, decision-making person is, at the beginning, yet to be seen. And while we have inherited the flaws of our first parents, we have a path to become, in the words of Paul, a ‘new creation’. If obedience to the Law could bring salvation, then many, if not most of the Pharisees would be considered saints. That was not true for them; it’s not true for us. However, a genuine and true route has been given.

We talk about humanity’s brokenness both in the collective and the individual sense. We have been fragmented, we are no longer whole. Jesus came to restore that wholeness; and he did so in such a way as to ground that wholeness with permanence. Somewhere in my past wholeness was discussed as equivalent to holiness and likewise holiness was identified with wholeness. I still find the point meaningful, especially when reflecting on our fragmentation.

Choosing a life without God is a choice only for one who is willing to accept the flawed and fragmented condition of both themselves and the world they live in. If that was understood, most would consider it no choice at all. Why would you ever choose a car without wheels or a plane without wings? You might as well choose a song with no words or a world with no air. So why would we choose a life that is a mere fragment of the possible. Our salvation, our wholeness is found in, and only in, our union with God. Our separation is our sin; and our sin keeps us in this unfinished state. God has chosen to overcome the separation; it is up to us to choose the same.

All of this, of course, presumes the gift of faith.

There is a misguided notion that God is optional. That it is better to not worship any god rather than to worship the wrong god. That our lives can be satisfactory, even pleasant, without God. That we can choose the kind of God we want or at least the kind that we are willing to worship. Such notions are all built upon a false premise: the premise, very simply, is that we exist as independent beings and, therefore, that our personal choices are paramount. All these are manifestations of a modern form of Deism.

You may recall that Deism was an intellectual movement in the 17th and 18th centuries. It acknowledged a God that could be known through the natural order, but it rejected all types of revelation. For most Deists, interaction between God and man did not exist. God created everything and then sat back to watch it unfold. God was an intellectual construct, not a person in one’s relationships.

When I make my annual visit to have my eyes checked, there is a test to see the quality of my peripheral vision. They examine the range of what I can see, as we say, ‘out of the corner of my eye.’

Modern Deism would keep God on the periphery of our sight and our consciousness. We can acknowledge his existence. We may even credit him, from time to time, with some good thing that happens. We should not expect him to be active in the affairs of men, either collectively or individually. We should not expect that he cares about the manner in which we pursue our daily lives — so long as we don’t violate his law. He is to be kept far enough from the center place in our vision that we can be satisfied with junk from China or stupidity from our media. We may, on occasion, call upon him for help but our expectations are minimal.

This God of Deism is not the God who became incarnate to save us. Neither are we complete unto ourselves. Our Lord does not want to be on the periphery of our consciousness. Neither does he want to be the center. He became man to offer the opportunity for Himself to be the song singing within us. In that alone is the fullness of wholeness, holiness and salvation.

To what extent do I pursue having God in my life

You are the song ever singing in me.

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