| Are You Saved?? |
| Are You Saved?? |
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But, are you REALLY SAVED?? We're all Christians, but are you saved?? Being 'saved' is shorthand for 'going to heaven', especially if you grew up in the church. But if you (literally) search the scriptures (New Testament) for 'saved', you'll see a pattern. You either see 'saved' as being healed (typical of the synoptic gospels), or being 'religiously' saved. The question here, is saved from 'what'? Just to illustrate, I like 1st Cor 5:5 YLT: "To deliver up such a one to the Adversary for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." Apparently the Corinth assembly had a member who was sleeping around with his father's wife (his step-mother?). Paul was spiritually livid, saying that he was effectively there 'in the spirit' and the guy's sentence was already at hand (Paul being the judge; see note at bottom). But Paul was just getting started. In verse 4, he makes SURE they understand who's in charge. Okay! So, by the name of Jesus, Paul's spirit, and Jesus' power, dump the guy. And thus, our verse delivers the guy's body (technically in greek, the whole guy) to Satan, in order to 'save' his spirit. Now, most commentaries explain the judicial verdict, saying the guy will come to his senses, 'saving' his spirit. I'm just amazed assemblies can hand people over to Satan. Neat-o! I can't wait till next Sunday. I assume though in this case, the guy doesn't get his body back in the Pauline resurrection. Poor puppy! 'Saved', though. Try another one? Go to Mark 10:26 (also Mat 19:25, Luke 18:26). Here, we have a trotting rich man, who having successfully followed at least six of the ten commandments (a 'D' in most universities), is almost ready for 'eternal life' (eg not dieing). Jesus says he's not 'quite' done ... he needs to dump his riches. The rich man is a little depressed, but the disciples are having a heart attack ... "saying unto themselves, `And who is able to be saved?'" (YLT). Well, 'obviously' not rich men! (They being most similar to camels inserting themselves through needles.) What did the disciples mean by 'being saved'. Didn't they 'know' believing was all that mattered? Didn't they listen to Paul and 'faith'? I could continue the examples, and they're not hard to find. My point is that the New Testament writers seem less clear about 'being saved' than today's denominations (and translators). Let's illustrate this with some questions. (1) In the NT, when you're saved, what is actually 'saved'? a. Your life (you won't die) b. Your body (you might die, but you'll get your body back) c. Your soul and/or spirit (you will die, but you get to keep one or the other) d. All of the above Correct answer: 'd', all of the above. (2) In the NT, what are you being saved 'from'? a. Death! You want to live forever. b. The imminent destruction of 'Babylon' and/or the gentiles. c. The imminent destruction of Israel d. Satan's current ownership (of you!) e. Judgment by God and/or Jesus, depending on your preferred writer f. A fiery death (presumably not a normal death) g. All of the above Correct answer: 'g', all of the above. (3) In the NT, what do you need to do to 'be saved'? a. Believe in Jesus b. If you're rich, unload your booty and complete 6 of the 10 commandments c. Go underwater (immersion, though dripping seems a possible option) d. Receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit (... and that would be ... what?) e. Live by 'the spirit' (... and that would be ... what?) f. All of the above Correct answer: 'f', all of the above. (4) If you selected 'a' above, what should you actually 'believe'? a. Mumble, mumble, mumble b. In Jesus' 'name' c. The NT canon, as generally guessed at by the inspired bishops three hundred years later d. Selection from part of the NT canon, depending on which denomination you belong to e. All of the above Correct answer: 'e', all of the above. (5) If you selected 'b' above, what exactly is 'in his name'? a. When you're persecuted, it's the name you admit to, before certain punishment. b. 'Name' regarding 1st century AD prophets (yep!) c. 'Name' was a greek word describing a local bank account d. Whatever your local pastor thinks it is. e. All of the above Correct answer: 'e', all of the above. Mad at me? I'm just pointing out the obvious. It's your New Testament, for goodness sakes. It's from God, remember? Thus you have all your denominations, right? I best like the passages saving people even BEFORE Jesus' death. I know, I know. If you accept several theologies, when Jesus died on the cross, he took a big eraser to what he said before that (he was just 'marking time' and the followers were his little guinea pigs). Alternatively, I've sat in Bible classes where 'mumble, mumble, mumble' was the eventual conclusion. Sure thing. And so, my question ... are you saved?? That depends. You'll probably want to read your church's 'creed'. God presumably will be using THAT as the primary 'saving' document, just for you. He keeps a 'Theological Dictionary' up there, just for that purpose you know. NOTE: The satanic-deliverance episode above is curious in two ways. Per my 'dating' of the greek syntax, and reading both Paul's letters and Acts, I think Paul had self-appointed himself as 'overseer' of his churches in Asia and Greece. Most call this period his 'third journey', but it looks like he's operating out of Ephesus similar to a bishop. Why he has to 'insert' himself in the 'spirit', I assume, is because overseers were new (James in Jerusalem preceeding him). The more familiar Jewish synogogues were each independent, and thus not being a Corinthian member, Paul's view was otherwise only 'interesting'. The other curiousity is why someone would have to be 'delivered' to satan. 'Where' did Paul get THAT little piece of theology, complete with what looks to be an 'incantation' (in the name of Jesus, Paul's spirit, and Jesus' power). In 1st Tim 1:20, you'll find another instance, with very similar language. 'Who' was Paul working for? Satan didn't already have enough humans stashed in 'hell'? |
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