My Hope
I don’t want to make anyone mad…
But next to the eternal, loving, treasured relationship I desire to have with God—made possible through Christ—I long to have an eternal, loving, treasured relationship with all those I come in contact with in Christ.
As such, I feel compelled to share my understanding of salvation and eternal life. And I share it understanding that it may unsettle some who believe themselves to be “good to go” or “in the know” when it comes to the relationship they believe they have with God.
Why I Share and What I Believe about what I Am Sharing
I do not share my beliefs because I see myself as the verifier of truth. Nor do I believe that my job is to get others must agree with me. And while I believe I have good reasons for believing as I do, my sharing of my beliefs is not becomes I see others as lost sinner or misguided believers, who I need to straighten out.
Rather:
I share those things which I have found to be beneficial to me in the living of my life, because I see you, and those around us, as having great value.
I share because I see you, and those around us, as treasures to be gained.
As see you as an individuals created in the image of God and with whom I hope to have an eternal relationship in Christ.
A relationship I believe made possible when Christ freed us from our captivity to sin and which is made manifest when we allow God, through the Holy Spirit, to work within the only person we can truly allow God to work: ourselves.
So What Do I Want to Share?
1. There is a great difference between having Faith in one’s Beliefs and having Faith in God
For too many years, my faith was in what I believed about God—my theology, my convictions, my understanding—rather than in God Himself. Which is to say, I trusted my beliefs to give me comfort and to guide my life, more than I trusted the living God.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” – Proverbs 3:5
2. I Discovered that having a misplaced understanding of love, can result in our loving what we want to accomplish for God, over that of actually loving God and loving others as ourselves
For too many years I misunderstood the love God has for us, and the love we are called to have for Him and for one another. Instead of loving, treasuring God completely, I loved my beliefs and my desire to accomplish things “for God” more.
Why God Sent His Son (if Not for Our Highest Good?)
I used to believe that God’s love which resulted in His sending His Word to become flesh was a sacrificial—God seeking our highest good kind of love. But then I came to see His love is something deeper. I came to see that His love is based upon one simple fact:
God always acts true to Himself.
He does all things according to His name and glory—including His love for us.
Therein I came to see that God sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sin because He treasures us.
He treasures the relationship He desires to have with us—He as our God, we as His children.
So much so that God did what was needed to make that relationship possible.
“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” – 1 John 4:10
God’s love is not based on His seeking our highest good.
God’s love is based on being true to Himself—true to what He treasures. And I thank God that He treasures us, and wants to have an eternal relationship with us.
What Does This Mean in Terms of Our Having Eternal Life?
Eternal life is not simply about our believing that Christ died for our sins to save us from our captivity to sin. It’s about believing in—and fully desiring—the purpose for which He saved us.
Therefore, if our ongoing focus is not on taking hold of and remaining within the love/treasured relationship with God that Christ made available to us, we have no reason to believe we are “good to go.”
“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” – John 17:3
So, Do We Truly Want Eternal Life?
Is the top priority of our life the relationship God has made available to us. In which our desire for God to be our God and for us to be His children? And as such, is the ongoing focus of our life to allow the Holy Spirit to continue to transform me into the image of Christ? In short, are we truly allowing God to be our God? Or, are we more transfixed upon the idea that we have been saved? Or perhaps, instead of loving God completely, we love the idea that we are called to help save and straighten out others? While I would not have admitted to it, I was in love with the latter for far too many years of my life.
Yet if our focus is on the relation God has made available for us to have with Him through Christ, and with one another within Christ, continually allow the Holy Spirit to examine us and work within us, I believe we have every reason to take comfort in the eternal relationship God desires to have with us.
Let us ask ourselves, “Are we truly experiencing the Fruit of the Spirit growing within us?”
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” – Galatians 5:22–23
And while this is easy to believe when we surround ourselves with those who believe as we do, what about when we are dealing with those who do not. What about our dealing with those who interfere with our plans, or are hostile toward us? At these times does that Fruit still remain? Or do we experience or involve ourselves in act of “enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions”
If we are not focused on remaining in Christ’s love—treasuring God and others as ourselves—we have no reason to believe we are “good to go.”
But if that love, taking hold of and remaining within the treasured relationship with God Christ has made available to us is our ultimate desire, the evidence of which will be seen in our treasuring of others, then I believe we have every hope that on the final day we will hear:
“Well done, good and faithful servant.” – Matthew 25:23
What I Believe About Salvation and Eternal Life
- I believe we have been saved.
Jesus Christ freed us from captivity to sin—whether we believe it or not.
The question is: How will we use that freedom? - I believe I am being saved.
Because I desire a treasured relationship with God through Christ, I allow the Holy Spirit to work within me. The evidence of which is my seeing the Fruit of the Spirit manifesting within me when it comes to my interactions with others. - I believe I will be saved.
As I trust in God, based on His love and upon my love for Him as I allow the Holy Spirit to continue to work within me, I have hope of being saved from final judgment.
However, if God’s treasuring of us is not evident in our treasuring of Him and of others, then my confidence in eternal life, based upon some theological argument I have come to believe as to who is or is not saved, is misplaced.
A Final Invitation
Salvation is not about what we’ve done to make ourselves “good to go.”
It’s about whom we love, whom we treasure, and whom we trust.
So let us encourage one another to keep seeking the Lord.
To keep growing in His love.
To keep allowing the Holy Spirit to work within us.
You are a treasure—created in the image of God.
And with all my heart, I hope to have an eternal relationship with you in Christ.
For those who believe in Christ, I hope you will use your belief to allow God to keep working within the only life you can allow God to change. That you will love, treasure God completely wanting to be completely connected to God with all your heart, soul, and mind. And in this you will come to see others as treasures with whom you, in treasuring them as yourself, want to gain an eternal relationship with in Christ.
For those who do not believe, I invite you simply to call out to God and ask God to make Himself known to you.