It's A Learning Process

I hear people say that salvation comes through our deeds. I hear others say that our salvation comes through belief and belief only. Both of these ideas make me sad. Our salvation is something that could never be earned, and yet will not come without commitment. Salvation will always be followed by the process of sanctification. (Or perhaps it should be said that salvation is completed through sanctification).
I think that in order to dissolve the myth of salvation through deeds one must only examine their own life and heart. I know that my life and my heart are far from perfection and therefore I cannot believe myself to be able to earn anything good. Since this is so naturally evident I will choose to focus on the fallacy of salvation based strictly on belief.

It is true that the Bible teaches us salvation comes through belief, but this cannot be thought of as a mere intellectual agreement. The Bible shows that following the teachings of Jesus and pursuing a likeness to Him is truth. This belief would not be held without action, it could not be held without action. Thus, we cannot fully believe it at first. Our initial belief comes in the form of a commitment to pursue lives that are Christ-like. This is when God takes hold of our hearts and our lives and begins the process of sanctification.

The rest of a believer’s life after this commitment is spent learning to believe what he already knows and becoming who he already is. He is already a follower of Christ, though he is still learning the way. He is already a Son of God, though he is still a slave to his flesh at times. In this way, a faith that does not have deeds cannot be real. This is not because the deeds earn salvation, but rather it is because the salvation creates the deeds. The life and heart are learning to believe what they know and they are showing this more and more through action.

Postmodernisn'tm

Yesterday I read a church’s billboard that read the following: “The Bible is not a weapon.” I agree with the idea that the Bible is not something to be used simply for our own advantage or to the disadvantage of others, but this statement is fundamentally false. The Bible’s very definition is as a weapon. We have been told that the Bible is not only a weapon; it is a double-edged sword. In the battle that we are called to fight, the Bible is our offensive tool.

This sort of fallacy seems to be all too prevalent in the church of our time. As a response to the mindless rejection of past generations, we exhibit mindless acceptance. Truth is final, Truth is eternal, Truth does not change. Truth was before creation and will be after creation. Truth is not relative to our time or situation because its home is outside of both. Postmodernism has no more of a place in the church than does persecution. And yet, we accept, we bow to the idolatry of acceptance in the world and therefore fall into accepting the world itself. We are so concerned with the way the world sees us that we look at its criticism before we look at the Lord’s. We are so concerned with presenting God to the world in a way that is not offensive that we forget the fact that God is offensive to those who reject Him because He must in turn reject them. Do we trust God so little that we can’t even show Him for who he has revealed Himself to be? Do I actually imagine that I am capable of softening a human heart? I am not God; therefore all I can do is show God to people as He actually is.