If you did not read Part I, click here to read it.  It is necessary to understand this one.

ANCIENT CHRISTIAN: There are several other examples of salvation being a process in the New Testament.  For example…

MODERN CHRISTIAN: Wait!  I have an objection to you saying salvation is a journey.  I still think salvation is a point in time based on the Bible, and once saved, you are always saved.

ANCIENT CHRISTIAN: What is your objection?

MODERN CHRISTIAN: In 1 John, it says, “They went out from us, but they were not of us” (1 John 2:19).  This shows that those who are Christians and leave the faith were never really saved.

ANCIENT CHRISTIAN: This verse is not talking about regular, everyday Christians.  It is talking about Gnostic heretic teachers.  Do you know the history behind 1 John?

MODERN CHRISTIAN: Yes, John was combating the Gnostic heresy which said all flesh is evil and only the spirit is good.  The Gnostics denied the humanity of Christ because they saw bodies as something evil.

ANCIENT CHRISTIAN: Yes, that is right.  Good.   You know your church history.  This epistle was directed against those who deny the humanity of Christ; that is why the epistle begins with “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life” because it is emphasizing the true humanity of Christ in addition to his divinity.  The verse that says, “They went out from us, but they were not of us” is not referring to ordinary Christians who have left the faith, but Gnostic Christians who have never truly followed our Lord Jesus Christ but their own heresy.  Do you agree?

MODERN CHRISTIAN: Actually, yes, I do now that I think of the historical context.

Image © Sebastien Marchand, Unsplash 2013

ANCIENT CHRISTIAN: So let me continue.  There are several other examples of salvation being a process in the New Testament for example, our Lord Jesus Christ said, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3).  Birth is not the goal of any birth but a life fully grown is the goal of a birth.  We are not born simply to be born, but we are born to live.  We learn how to eat, walk, talk, work, and move to our destination to become fully functioning humans.  Salvation then is implied to be a process much like birth, life, and growth are a process.

Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:2 and Hebrews 5:12, 14 expands on this analogy of birth, life, and growth to salvation when he speaks to the recipients of those epistles about eating solid food and not milk like babies.  In both, he tells them that they are still not able to eat solid food.  So, the idea is that there must be a progression, a growth in our spiritual lives.  If once saved, we are always saved, then why would there need to be a progression?  It is like saying once alive, then always alive.  That is not true; one must take care of his or her life in order to continue living.  There must be a good environment, good nutrition, and good thinking in order for one to continue living.  The same is true for the spiritual life; we must have a good spiritual environment, good spiritual nutrition, and godly thinking in order to live spiritually, to have salvation.  While earthly life will inevitably end in death, the spiritual life in Christ will end in everlasting life.  This also shows salvation is a process just like when our Lord Jesus said He is “the Way,” and the early Christians were called, “the Way.”

Going further, in the Epistle to the Romans, Paul used three words to describe salvation…

MODERN CHRISTIAN: Justification, Sanctification, and Glorification!

ANCIENT CHRISTIAN: That’s right.  You know the Bible.  All three describe salvation; it is a three step process.

Justification is the process from faith to Baptism.

Sanctification is the journey here on earth, the Way, the road where we are set apart to God from the world, where we must grow from simply receiving milk to eating solid food.

Glorification is when we get to our destination in the age to come.

Salvation then can be expressed in this way:

1. I was saved.
2. I am being saved, and
3. I will be saved.

It is a process, not a point in time.  It exists in the past, present, and future.  It continues with us our whole lives, and we move continually along the Way of Salvation.  Did you notice that each one of those words ends in –fication similar to salvation?  The suffix -fication similar to –ation, as I pointed out before, indicates a process.  In this case it is a process of making: making us just, making us holy, and making us glory to God.  Salvation is a process.

MODERN CHRISTIAN: But I was taught that it is a point in time.

ANCIENT CHRISTIAN: You were taught it is a point in time, but just because you were taught it does that mean it is right?  We need to think deeply about the Bible and see how the earliest Christians understood the Bible on salvation.  If salvation were a point in time, why did our Lord Jesus say, “He who endures to the end shall be saved?” (Mark 13:13) and why did Paul tell his congregation, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling”? (Philippians 2:12)  Our Lord Jesus’s statement and the Apostle Paul’s command would be totally unnecessary if salvation were simply in a moment.

MODERN CHRISTIAN: But if it is a process like you have shown, then this causes fear.

ANCIENT CHRISTIAN: There is nothing wrong with fear especially if it leads to godliness.  You just heard the Apostle Paul’s words that we should work out our salvation with fear and trembling.  In my days, this view of salvation did not always lead to fear in the way that you are thinking about.  It certainly did among many Christians like the Desert Fathers, but the goal was to live pleasing to God.  You see, in my days, Christians took their salvation very seriously.  When they walked in their fields or along the roads, they thought about their salvation and how they should live like our Lord taught; when they talked, they often contemplated about our Lord and His works and grace; when they sat alone, they thought and reflected about their journey with our Lord Jesus Christ.  That is a beautiful thing.  It is also how I was taught the faith.  We are called to be images and representatives of our Lord Jesus Christ on this earth being sanctified, and sanctifying the world as we ourselves are sanctified.  This journey helps us see the world in a very different way, one that is full of beauty and meaning.  You see, fear in the Scriptures here can mean that we should be afraid to grieve the one we love, who is God, just like we are afraid to grieve our loved ones and those who are close to us.

After spending time in the modern world and meeting Christians here, I am deeply saddened for them.  They have reduced their lives with Christ to Sunday mornings with some singing and a short sermon from a preacher, then they go on with their lives and there is no distinction between them and those who do not know our Lord.  If only they could taste the sweetness of the journey that our Lord has called us on, then the way they see the world would change tremendously.  Our Lord Jesus Christ said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10), and how true are his words!

We saw the world as a work of art.

We saw our friends as among the greatest gifts.

We saw our God as the most loving King.

We saw ourselves as growing in Him.

All of that seems to have disappeared in the modern world, but I have hope it will come back.  Even though you may not admit it, I believe you that you see salvation as a process too.

MODERN CHRISTIAN: I think this may be the case.

ANCIENT CHRISTIAN: To close this discussion on salvation as a journey, I will leave with a story.  I heard this story in my days: There was an old Christian abbot who once lived in a community of Christians in the desert of Egypt.  As he was dying, his disciple saw the demons telling him, “You have conquered us.”  The old Christian answered them, “Not yet.”  Even though he surely completed the journey of the Way of Christ, at that point he had still not reached the destination; he still had a little more to go, and that is why he replied in this way.  This further shows how we thought of salvation as a process.

If you liked this blog entry, then you can follow my Facebook page here OR sign up to my email list to receive my latest blog entries every week in your inboxes, and you will also receive my free eBook The Way of Christ.  Click here to sign up.