Salvation

As a teenage girl stepping out of home for the first time in her life and exploring the world from a wider perspective, the first time I was intrigued by a conversation from my friends regarding salvation. The memory faded as time went by, but the statement I overheard from my friends still leads me to deep thought. “Before I got my salvation…” was the sentence in a discussion that was on. The question still triggers me sometimes; what is salvation? Am I not saved already as a fact that I am a Christian? Have I got my salvation, or how long do I have to wait to get my salvation? What are the criteria to acquire salvation? I believe there are several other young people out there who are under the same dilemma to have asked if is it even valid to be a Christian to be saved. Keeping such questions in mind, I would like to bring out some personal understandings and experiences regarding salvation on this auspicious event of lent.

Etymologically, the word salvation comes from the Latin word Salvatio meaning the state of being saved or protected from harm or dire situation. According to Christianity, salvation is the saving act of Christ from sin or evil. The sin here refers to the act that is against the will of God, which is morally believed to be wrong. In Christianity, there are five important aspects for salvation; Faith, Repentance, Water Baptism, Spirit and Infilling. While in the church, when someone preaches or asks to repent from our sin, have you wondered what Sin actually is? The Old Testament talks almost entirely about sin and repentance. In sum, Bible teaches us to repent from sin and live by the will of God. However, one should ask a question ‘what are we supposed to repent from?’ ‘If we are bounded to live only by the will of God, where is our freedom of choice?’ Such questions will perhaps lead us to a clear understanding of ourselves and will eventually lead us to salvation.

Today, we live in a world where the nature of religion is taking its leave over the new sets of understanding in this postmodern world. Spirituality is chosen as mere as an act of peace. The idea of ‘follow Your heart’ has become a choice to follow the temporary or external wants of a person. On the other hand, we are also to understand that the youngsters today are going two times swifter than the people who were born in the 1980s and 1990s. With much of the advancement in technology and modernization, we are taught to be competitive from a very primitive age. Hence, there are several reasons to be in dilemma about in life. Many therefore choose salvation as a result of spirituality later in life and others choose this path from the beginning; there are some who are not able to go anyway, perhaps many are included in this group.

Scripture clearly tells us in Ephesians 2:8-9 “For it is by Grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works so that no one can boast.” As we grow, we come through different stages of life from infancy to old age, and each stage has a certain role to play in our lives. As a religious or spiritual child grows up she/he would perhaps have several questions than the others. Questions regarding one’s existence, about the freedom of choice in life, about fitting in society in life and also about the wrongs and the rights, and they're The consequences afterlife would trigger more. Salvation in this sense is to be understood that it comes from God out of Grace. Salvation can be experienced while living on this earth. Salvation is nothing new to experiencing the afterlife. Gospels tell us about the life and ministry of Jesus. Jesus in his ministry has been proclaiming the message of justice, peace and love. We are saved today because Jesus Christ died for us. Today, we must understand that salvation is not a future aspect to expect after we are dead, but is a continuous act of Christ that has been done to us. Therefore, we are to follow in the footsteps of God, our redeemer. This is where the aspects of salvation come; Faith, Repentance, water Baptism, infilling, and Spirit. Christian faith is action oriented. James 2:14 says it clearly. Every year passes, every lent we observe and after it is gone and we wait for the other year to celebrate again. Why do we celebrate or observe lent at all? Is it only a norm to observe because the tradition told us so? What about we think of something today?

We are not saved in the moment we become Christian. Neither are we saved when we do all the good works and have super reputation behind us. We are saved because we were liberated. We are saved because justice has been prevailed to us. We are saved because we were healed from different kind of sicknesses. And yet, we were not able to recognize this salvific act of God done to us. The love so pure that even charge himself for saving us on the cross till death. This is salvation. To liberate someone, to love unconditionally, to do justice, to spread kindness, this is salvation. Through this salvation we are saved and hence, we are to do the same for our fellow members. There are thousands of young people who once had the questions like that teenager girl who over-heard a conversation and had fallen into deep thought. If you are one of them reading this, this message is for you that from the very inception of our lives, we are already chosen by God, and in our lives, we are being saved by God. In this way, we already have salvation within us. It is now our obligation to take this salvation forward to do what Christ has done for us in His faith that is what Salvation is, and that is what we observe Lent every year to remind ourselves of the love, justice, liberation and life that has been given to us to take this forward wherever we are.

Article by:  Debia Yania