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Concerned about your salvation?
Why is it that people, and self-confessed Christians, find it impossible to believe in unconditional grace? The prevailing view among Christians today is still that ultimately salvation depends on what one has done or not done. God is so high that one cannot tower over him; so far that it cannot be grasped. So deep that you can't get under it. Do you remember that traditional gospel song?
Small children like to sing along to this song because they can accompany the words with appropriate movements. "So high"... and hold their hands above their heads; "so far"... and spread their arms wide: "so low"... and crouch down as far as they can. This beautiful song is fun to sing and can teach children an important truth about God's nature. But as we get older, how many still believe that? A few years ago, Emerging Trends—a journal of the Princeton Religion Research Center—reported that 56 percent of Americans, most of whom identified as Christians, say that when they think about their death, they are very or fairly concerned about it, “without to be God's forgiveness.
The report, based on research by the Gallup Institute, adds: "Such findings raise questions as to whether US Christians even understand what the Christian meaning of 'grace' is, and recommends increasing biblical teachings in the Christian community to teach churches. Why is it that people, even professing Christians, find it impossible to believe in unconditional grace? The foundation of the Protestant Reformation was the biblical teaching that salvation—the complete forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God—is attained solely by God's grace.
However, the prevailing view among Christians is still that ultimately salvation depends on what one has or has not done. One imagines a great divine balance: in one bowl the good deeds and in the other the bad deeds. The bowl with the greatest weight is decisive for salvation. No wonder we fear! Will it be found in judgment that our sins have piled up "so high" that not even the Father can see, "so many" that Jesus' blood cannot cover them, and that we have sunk "so low" that the Holy Spirit could no longer reach us? The truth is, we don't have to worry if God will forgive us; he has already done so: "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us," the Bible tells us in Romans 5,8.
We are justified only because Jesus died and rose for us. It does not depend on the quality of our obedience. It doesn't even depend on the quality of our faith. What matters is Jesus' faith. All we have to do is trust him and accept his good gift. Jesus said, “Whatever my Father gives me comes to me; and whoever comes to me I will not cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. But this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall not lose anything that he gave me, but that I shall raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that whoever sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up on the last day" (Jn. 6,37-40,). That is God's will for you. You don't have to be afraid. You don't have to worry. You can accept God's gift.
Grace is undeserved by definition. It is not a charge. It is God's free love gift. Every person who wants to accept them receives them. We need to see God in a new perspective, as the Bible actually shows. God is our Redeemer, not our damn. He is our Savior, not our annihilator. He is our friend, not our enemy. God is on our side.
That is the message of the Bible. It is the message of God's grace. The judge has already done what is necessary to ensure our salvation. This is the good news that Jesus brought to us. Some versions of the old gospel song end with the chorus, "You must come in through the door." The door is not a hidden entrance that few can find. In Matthew 7,7-8 Jesus asks us: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. Because he who asks receives; and whoever seeks will find; and it will be opened to anyone who knocks.”
by Joseph Tkach
