Salvation

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Are You Saved?

John 3:16-21

Salvation is participation in the eternal life of God. It is God’s gift out of his bountiful love to those who love him and is what every Christian hopes to attain. Indeed, this is the central purpose of life: to accept God’s love for us, to share that love with others, and to be bound up to God in that love after our sojourn in the world is over. No creature has a right to live intimately with God. God reserves this gift for those who believe that he will keep his salvific promise and who choose to live in the light of his truth.

It can be argued that a fundamental misunderstanding of God’s will for our salvation presupposes every objection to Catholic teaching. This Scripture study has been designed to correct this misunderstanding and to illustrate how the message it contains relates to the teachings of the Church. To best understand God’s plan for us, let us begin by examining man’s relationship with God and the human condition, man’s fallen nature.

In The Beginning

Genesis 1-2

The Bible begins by recounting the creation of the world. God created everything out of nothing, and in his wisdom he chose to create over time. The world became progressively complex with each new creation, and that which was created one day became an essential element to things created on the next. The sky was created to separate the waters, the waters were separated to create the land, and from these things sprang vegetation, sea creatures, birds, animals, and so forth. At the apex of creation, God created man and gave him dominion over the whole world. Satisfied with the world, and reckoning all things as good, God rested.

Man was very different from the other creatures. Mere dust animated by the life breathed into him by God, the whole man was both flesh and spirit, a body and a soul united as one. He was created in God’s own image and likeness, with self-awareness, dignity, and freedom of will. Man could freely requite God’s love; indeed, this was his purpose: to make manifest the love of God. Nowhere is it written that man was perfect, but he was good and pleasing in God’s eyes, and God’s favor and graces rested upon him as was evident in God’s gift of the garden in Eden, a place that provided all that was required to sustain him. God gave the world to man to cultivate, a participation in God’s act of creation. God also provided a fitting companion with whom man could share in another, much more intimate creative act. Thus, man lived in harmony with himself, with woman and nature, and with God.

The Fall

Genesis 3-4

Out of love, God had given man the ability to act according to his own free will. There was one simple law: do not eat the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden. When man was presented with the option of being like a god — though he was being deceived — he chose not to trust his creator and sustainer by obeying the one law. Instead, he seized the opportunity to elevate himself and claim independence from God. He willed not to love through his disobedience. He thereby contradicted his purpose, the reason for his being: to love.

The consequences of his rebellion can be described as God’s perfect justice. God had created everything from nothing and had given all to man, but through this disobedient act, man’s harmony with God was broken instantly. Harmony with nature ended, and the ground would no longer supply man with food by God’s gracious will, but only by man’s hard labor. Harmony with woman ended, their relationship to be marked by jealousy and conflict. Man’s mastery of himself was also destroyed, increasing in him a desire to obtain the things of the world and to satisfy the needs of his flesh, even if it meant acting in opposition to the will of God. Finally, man’s connection to the spiritual world — his soul — would be lost when the body failed. So complete was man’s rebellion that he was justly cut off from God’s graces.

As God is just, he is also merciful. He did not destroy creation out of vengeance, nor did he abandon man to death and decay. Instead, he shed a glimmer of hope, of good news, when he told the one who had tempted the man and woman to disobey that the woman’s descendants would smash his head while he and his descendants strike vainly at their heels. God would eventually take back — redeem — that which had been taken from him.

Nonetheless, man’s tendency to rebel against God — that is, to sin — became manifest again in the very next generation. Two sons of man offered sacrifices to God, but only one of these pleased him. The other son was angry, and though God told him that he could master sin by right action, the son chose instead to kill his brother. Lacking self-mastery, he succumbed to his anger and took away the life that God had created. Though justice demanded the son’s life, God once again exercised mercy, taking away the fruits of his labor instead, the very thing that he and his brother had sacrificed to God from the start.

God’s Chosen People

Genesis 12:1-4 † Genesis 15 † Genesis 17 † Exodus 3 † Exodus 17
Numbers 20:6-13 † Deuteronomy 31 † 1 Samuel 15
Isaiah 1 † Isaiah 59 † Hosea 6 † Psalm 40 † Psalm 51

In time, God set a people apart for himself, and it would be from this people that he would send a redeemer. He began with a promise to a faithful and proven man named Abraham that his descendents would become a great nation. This came to pass, and after about four centuries God delivered his chosen people into a land where they could flourish. He established a Law, an instruction that would prepare the people for redemption, for the chosen people often forgot about him and forsook him. As God himself foretold, man continued to rebel and became so wicked though sinful deeds — so far removed from God — that God no longer listened to man’s prayers or accepted his sacrifices. Over the centuries that followed, God slowly revealed himself to his people, making his mind and will known through leaders and prophets. When man returns to God with a broken spirit and contrite heart, only then will God accept his sacrifices.

Redemption

John 1:1-18 † Colossians 1:15-20 † Ephesians 1:3-14 † John 17-19 † Hebrews 2
Romans 4-6 † Galatians 3:15-4:7 † Matthew 22:34-40

The “Word” of God was both with God and was God. He was present at the time of the creation, and was the one for whom all things had been created. At the time of his choosing, God embraced humanity by becoming a man, not to reveal the knowledge of sin as was accomplished through the Law, but to proclaim the truth of redemption. With God and as God, the Son glorified the Father through perfect obedience beyond what was required by the Law by submitting himself completely to the Father’s will. Though he had no sin — for God cannot sin against himself — he handed himself over to the punishment for sin, that is death. The perfect sacrifice of Jesus which was made out of pure love for us has reconciled man with God, and by serving the sentence given to man for his disobedience, the Son made all men subject to himself. God has thus taken back what was lost: man made for love.

Abraham was considered righteous because he trusted God completely, and the promise that he and his family would inherit the world was made well before the Law was given. Likewise, peace with God — the harmony that the first man knew — is restored through our trust in the redeeming power of Jesus’ sacrifice. By his free gift, man is made right with God, and with his superabundant grace, man is able to stay right with God so long as he turns away from sin. Indeed, just as impurity leads to separation from God, righteousness sanctifies man and draws him closer to God. Found pleasing to God once again, the soul of man is saved from loss at the end of earthly life to live in eternal friendship with God.

Since redemption and the hope of salvation come from the promise made to the faithful, the Law yields to faith. Given as a means of preparation for his people, the Law does not make man right with God, but instead condemns him in his sin. And though man is no longer under the Law (except those who are born into it), the Law continues to reveal the mind of God. Rightfully, it is subject as a rule of life to another far greater: love God and one another.

Sanctification

Ephesians 2:1-10 † Matthew 5:1-16 † 1 Peter 1:13-2:3 † 2 Peter 1:3-11
1 Corinthians 3 † Philippians 2:12-13, 3:10-14 † 1 John 2:3-11, 4:7-12, 5:1-5
Revelation 3:1-6, 19:6-9,11-16

Having returned to a right relationship with God and receiving once again his favor, man must return to his original purpose, the reason for his creation, to manifest God’s love in the world, thereby perfecting creation. This is the good work that God has prepared for man to do. Happy are they who labor in love. Obedience to God does not mean avoiding sin and evil alone, but to love sincerely and to be holy in all actions, maturing in spirit. By co-operating with God in every available effort, man both affirms his calling as a child of God and avoids sin, working out his salvation by giving his will to God.

So that all the world may hear the Good News and be sanctified, God the Son sent out certain men to preach. As communities of believers started to form, they wrote letters. In his first letter to the believers in Corinth, Paul addresses the process of spiritual maturation directly: the Corinthian Christians had faith, but were still worldly, thinking as humans do and not with the mind of God. And in his letter to the believers in the town of Philippi, he refuses to claim that he has secured salvation, for he strives to become like the Christ. John reveals more: that the love of God is perfected in a person through loving obedience to God and love for one another without partiality. By our love we are made holy, set aside for God, our souls saved for his pleasure.

In the revelation of Heaven to John, Jesus tells the Church in Sardis to wake up, for though they appear to others to be alive through their faith, they are in fact dead with deeds unfinished. He urges them to strive for victory and thus be dressed in white, for both the bride of Christ and the armies of Heaven are thus arrayed.

Are You Sure You Are Saved?

God’s message to the Church in Sardis begs the question: once redeemed, can man once again fall from grace and lose the promise of salvation? Sadly, this question has divided Christians for centuries, and unnecessarily, for Scriptures clearly indicate that salvation can indeed be lost.

The Gospels

Matthew 5:17-48 † Matthew 10:16-42 † Matthew 24:1-3,36-51
John 6:53-71 † John 8:31-47 † John 15:1-8 † Acts 8:9-24

We begin with the teachings of The Redeemer himself in Matthew’s account of the Good News. As man, Jesus knew first hand our limitations, and yet he stated that for man to attain eternal salvation he must live more righteously than the Law requires — indeed, to strive for perfection. He then warns his listeners about the devastating consequences of anger, adultery, divorce, taking false oaths, vengeance, hatred, and unrighteousness in general. Any of these offenses will separate a man from God, and separation is predicated on the condition that the man was already justified before God. In other words, they each constitute a fall of a redeemed man from God’s grace.

Later, when Jesus commissioned his disciples to go out and preach, he warned them about persecution. He told them that they would be hated for his name’s sake, but that he who endures to the end will be saved. He also told them not to fear earthly powers, but only the one who can kill the soul. These warnings about the consequences of losing faith would be unnecessary if the disciples enjoyed an absolute guarantee of salvation.

When asked by his followers for a sign of his coming at the end of the age, Jesus told them that no one but God the Father knows the day and the hour. Instead, he emphasized that the one who perseveres will be saved and then illustrated how the end of the age will come unexpectedly, urging them to stay awake and be prepared. What more can be said about how a man must be prepared when his end comes?

Turning now to the Gospel of John, we find Jesus delivering the hard teaching that only those who eat his flesh and drink his blood will be saved. This evoked repulsive images of cannibalism, which was strictly forbidden by the Law, and many of his followers ceased to believe in him and returned to their former ways of life. When asked why his closest disciples did not choose to leave, Peter professes that doing so would cost them eternal life.

When addressing Jews who had at one time believed in him, Jesus warns that only he who remains in his word will be his disciples. But the one who had deceived the first man and woman had also deceived them, and they were looking for a way to kill Jesus. He later uses this analogy: as the chosen people, the Jews are the natural branches of the vine, Christ, and the Gentiles are branches that have been grafted on. If any of these branches fail to produce fruit, they are removed and burned.

After Jesus had died and ascended to the Father, his disciples began to preach and many began to believe. One such man was named Simon, called “the Great” because he practiced magic. Scripture seems to imply that his belief was sincere, but when he witnessed the conferrence of the Holy Spirit in the laying of hands in confirmation of believers, he wrongfully offered to purchase this power, a sin that now bears his name: simony. Peter rebuked him, stating that Simon had removed himself from communion with Christ, and urged him to repent, asking God for forgiveness of his sin. Simon feared separation from God and asked Peter to pray for forgiveness on his behalf.

Paul’s Epistles

This teaching did not end with Jesus and the twelve disciples. Paul, too, made it clear in his letters that the faithful can risk the loss of eternal salvation by their conduct. In his first letter to the believers in Corinth, he makes the following points:

1 Corinthians 6:7-11 Paul chastises the believers in Corinth for making cases against each other in courts run by ungodly men. Though they had been sanctified, they turn to evil ways, cheating one another. He reminds them that those who commit evil against others will not inherit the kingdom.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 He likens sanctification to the preparation endured by runners, except that the prize is a crown of life everlasting. He prepares for this race through self-discipline of the flesh. What then does he mean by being disqualified? If one does not, with God’s grace, set himself aside for God then he does not qualify for the running and cannot win the crown.
1 Corinthians 10:1-12 He urges his readers to keep in mind how many of the chosen people had failed to avoid evil for the love of God. The stories of their immorality in Scripture provide an example for believers that illustrate the consequences of committing evil deeds. Even if the Corinthians are standing firm in their faith, he warns them to be careful not to fall.
1 Corinthians 15:1-11 Finally, Paul states explicitly that it is possible to believe in vain, to receive warmly the good news of redemption but lose salvation by losing faith.

And in his letter to the believers in Galatia:

Galatians 4:8-11 The Galatians came to believe in Christ, but some eventually reverted to worshipping their pagan gods again after Paul left them. He laments their actions, but if believing only once for a brief moment is sufficient to secure salvation then Paul would not be so concerned that his effort to evangelize them might have been wasted.
Galatians 5:1-12 In their zeal for Christ, other Galatians were misled and submitted to ritual circumcision. Paul warns them that obliging themselves to the Law for justification would constitute a rejection of Christ’s redemptive sacrifice and a fall from God’s grace. Only a combination of faith and love counts for anything. Paul observed that the Galatians had been maturing in spirit until someone caused them to deviate; thus, we see here a Christian community of believers jeopardizing the prize of life everlasting.
Galatians 5:13-26 Desires of the flesh are against the works of the Spirit, and Paul’s warning to avoid certain devious behaviors only makes sense if they carry with them some consequence. Again, Paul is addressing those who were already believers and yet were behaving in an unworthy manner.
Galatians 6:7-10 Paul explicitly warns the Galatians that “a man reaps what he sows”, and that doing good will reap a harvest if the man does not give up. What then, if the man does give up? There is a condition of potential failure in Paul’s message.

Other Scriptures

The letter to the Hebrews contains some hard teachings on this matter:

Hebrews 3:7-19 In this passage about losing faith, the author is warns the Hebrew believers not to turn away from the living God, for a man only shares in Christ if he holds his conviction to the end, clearly referring to earthly death.
Hebrews 5:11-6:12 The author is concerned that the Hebrews have failed to mature spiritually but are instead falling away, for one who first embraces the faith and then falls into apostasy cannot repent.
Hebrews 10:26-29 The Hebrews are reminded that there is no more sacrificial atonement for those who believe and yet persist in sinning, only judgment and punishment. In fact, the punishment of believers will be far worse than the punishment given to others, for by their unabated sins they hold God in contempt.

Here are some additional excerpts from Scripture:

Mark 13:13 Though faced with hate, he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Romans 11:22-23 God is kind to the faithful, so long as they continue in him.
Ephesians 5:5-7 Performing evil, even if you are deceived into doing so, will invoke God’s wrath.
Colossians 1:21-23 At death, Christ will present you as holy if you continue in faith and move not from hope.
James 1:12 Blessed is he who perseveres, for he will receive the promised crown of life.
2 Timothy 2:11-13 If we disown Christ, he will disown us.
2 Peter 1:3-11 Those who do not mature spiritually through love and goodness forget that they have been cleansed and stumble into sin, thereby forfeiting admittance into Christ’s kingdom.
2 Peter 2:20-21 The consequences are worse for those who escape the world by knowing Christ and then allow themselves to be overcome by it again than for those who never knew righteousness from the start.
Revelation 2:8-11 The Church in Smyrna will be tested by Satan but must remain faithful even unto death to pass the test.

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The Gospel Truth