Salvation, a one time event?

Eastern Orthodox priest Seraphim Cardoza recalled being approached by an evangelist at the airport.

“Are you saved? Do you know Jesus?” The evangelist asked.

Cardoza’s response was simple and insightful: 

“Yes. I was saved yesterday. I’m being saved today, and I hope to be saved tomorrow.”

The Moment of Salvation?

In many churches, our faith has become focused on making altar calls and convincing people that their main goal is getting into Heaven.

And while going to Heaven is certainly part of it (look at yesterday’s post) it’s not the main point.

Jesus said that the kingdom of God is in your midst (Luke 17v21), meaning here, right now, not just when we arrive in Heaven.

But all this talk about “getting saved” or “the moment you were saved” reduces salvation to a mere few minutes.

Yet, getting saved is so much more than a sinner’s prayer or “saying yes to Jesus.”

Getting saved is a lifelong process, from here to the other side of eternity.

The Salvific Path

Salvation requires transformation, and transformation takes time.

Churches need more than altar calls. Look, the moment I devoted myself to Jesus was amazing. It was the moment my life changed forever. 

But none of it would’ve meant anything if I wasn’t prepared to live it out.

You just can’t call yourself a Christian because you prayed or were baptized.

You gotta walk the walk.

Every single second one walks in the grace of God, they’re being saved. 

Every moment of relationship with Him is a moment of salvation. 

Each time we grow in the Spirit and become less prone to sin, we are experiencing salvation.

The altar call is only the beginning.

As the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek said, “Revolutions must be felt in everyday life, otherwise, they're just a loss of time.”

He wasn’t talking about following Jesus but the logic follows. A single moment doesn’t make the Christian, a life lived for and with Jesus does. That’s the revolution.

Faith without works is dead, and salvation is a daily work.

See you tomorrow. 

For now, be blessed.

Jon,

Theophilus Newsletter