What Does It Mean to Be Saved?

David Gushee teaches Christian Ethics at Mercer University. He has helped me to clarify my thinking about what it means to be saved.

He writes that in the Gospel of Luke twice (10:25, 18:18) Jesus is asked, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus turns the question back on the lawyer who asks it. The lawyer replies with the Old Testament commands to love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself (cf. Mt. 22:34-40). Jesus affirms his answer: "Do this, and you will live." The lawyer then tries to narrow the meaning of neighbor. So Jesus tells the unforgettable parable of the compassionate Samaritan, who proved to be a neighbor to a bleeding roadside victim.

In Luke 18, Jesus responds to the same question, this time from the man we know as “the rich young ruler,” by quoting the second part of the Ten Commandments forbidding adultery, murder, theft, and false witness, and mandating honor towards parents. His questioner says that he has kept these commandments, and Jesus calls on him to "sell all … and distribute to the poor." Jesus assures him, "You will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." The "extremely rich" ruler won't do this, and Jesus goes on to teach his disciples about how hard it is for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of God.

In our Baptist tradition, we direct people to "invite Jesus into your heart as your personal Savior," using a formula called the "sinner's prayer." Or we simply say, "Believe in Jesus, and you will be saved." But Jesus never taught easy believism. Whether he was telling the rich young ruler to sell all and follow him or telling a crowd near Capernaum that to do the work of God was, yes, to believe on him (John 6:28-29), he called people to abandon their own agenda and trust him radically, which calls for both belief and action. “Mediocrity and hypocrisy,” says Gushee, “characterize the lives of many avowed Christians. Anyone can, and most Americans do, ‘believe’ in Jesus rather than some alternative savior. Many Americans say a prayer asking Jesus to save them. But not many embark on a life fully devoted to the love of God, the love of neighbor, the moral practice of God's will, and radical, costly discipleship.”

“We tend to confuse the beginning of the faith journey with its entirety. Yes, believe in Jesus—that's the first step. Yes, invite Jesus into your heart as your personal Savior. Then, empowered by God's grace, embark on the journey of discipleship, in which you seek to love God with every fiber of your being, to love your neighbor as yourself, to live out God's moral will, and to follow Jesus where he leads you, whatever the cost.” That is the approach to being saved I want New Hope Baptist Church to preach and teach.

Look Back and Honor the LORD

We at New Hope have many reasons to thank God as we begin a new year. In 2008 we grew in several ways. We received 18 new members. We met our budget goal for the year. We exceeded our goal for our Global Missions Offering.

You did it. You warmly welcomed, you were witnesses, you grew spiritually, and you gave. New Hope depends on God’s goodness, your faithfulness, and your generosity.

What are some of your favorite moments as you think back on 2008? One of mine is baptizing Gabi Abdenabi, Samantha Senatro, and Annie Roberts. All of the baptisms we did are memorable, but only theirs was in 69-degree water. They were brave. God was present. And when I came up out of the water, I had found great temporary relief from my backache: getting into a cold swimming pool. Who knew?

Looking back over the year is an opportunity to see and celebrate God’s goodness. In what ways has God helped you this past year? God blessed me through the discipline of writing an article every week for the back of the bulletin and another one each month for Connections. Deadlines are a good discipline for me. Getting started is hard, but after doing the writing, I am grateful to have the opportunity to communicate with you this way.

Certain Bible verses come to mind as I think about how we can look back and see how God has been at work for good in our lives: “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

“You were in serious trouble, but you prayed to the LORD, and he rescued you. He made the storm stop and the sea be quiet. . . . You should praise the LORD for his love and for the wonderful things he does for all of us. Honor the LORD when you and your leaders meet to worship.” (Psalm 107:28-32 Contemporary English Version)

Our Trust Is in God's Faithfulness

We have been hearing about the dire straights of the automobile manufacturers, "The Big Three." We hear predictions of massive job losses. We Americans will buy a whole lot less on credit. We will spend less and get by on less. We will, I pray, depend more on God.

I think of a hymn about God’s trustworthiness: “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” number 54 in our hymnal. The words of the comforting chorus are inspired by the prophet Jeremiah found in the Bible in Lamentations 3.

Great is thy faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness.
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed thy hand hath provided.
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.

Will Christians allow their thoughts and feelings to be shaped by words from the Bible like these and by their deep awareness of God's mercy? Can you hear these words being sung and felt by each of us at New Hope Baptist Church?

How the Kingdom Comes Today and Tomorrow

Advent is our time to be reminded that Jesus has come, is coming, and will come. I grew up in a church that tended to think of the gospel message as getting yourself right with God and claiming Christ as your savior so that you could go to heaven when you die. It was all about “Do you know where you will spend eternity?” I have come to see that salvation is about more than making sure you can go to heaven when you die. I believe in the resurrection, the final judgment, heaven and hell. But the good news of Jesus not only has to do with life after death, but also with life as God wants us to live it before death. The Gospel has to do with following Jesus every day, saying to God, “Not my will but Your will be done. Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.”

Daniel Vestal, the Coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship writes in his Christmas letter, “The goal of the Gospel is not only that one day when Christ appears we shall be like Him, but also that we be conformed to the image of Christ today.” He continues, “The good news is that this Kingdom that has come in Jesus is now available to all . . .. As people are born of the Spirit, as people become like a child, as people care for the suffering, as people become humble, as people live as servants to one another, the Kingdom comes. As people confess ‘Jesus is Lord’ and live in radical obedience to His ethic, the Kingdom comes.”

We look forward to the day when the kingdom of God will come on earth as it is in heaven. There will come a day when “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them” (Isaiah 11:6). There will come a day when "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 11:15), when perfect justice will be done in this world. This is the Good News: The Kingdom has come. The Kingdom is coming. The Kingdom will come.
Thank you for your gifts to the Global Missions Offering of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. We have already given $449. Our goal is $500. We will exceed our goal and we will be serving “the kingdom of our Lord and his Messiah,” helping missionaries in many places on the globe to live as servants, preach the Good News, and care for the suffering.

Ideas Welcome in the CBF Not Welcome in the SBC

I am often asked, “What is the difference between the Southern Baptist Convention and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.” The Way We Were by Fisher Humphreys, Professor of Theology at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama, has helped me understand what has happened to the Southern Baptist Convention. Dr. Humphries writes, “There are four progressive beliefs that are no longer welcome in the Convention.” These beliefs are welcome in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

1. The ordination of women to serve as pastors is the first belief that has no future in the Southern Baptist Convention. Perhaps the words of 1 Timothy 2: 11, "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man," were expressing God's will for the first century, when a woman's exercise of public leadership of any kind would have been considered a scandal. But women today exercise leadership in government, business, education, and many other realms. Today it is a scandal to exclude women from leadership roles and will hurt the cause of the gospel to do so in the church.

2. The critical study of the Bible is the second progressive belief. The word "critical" does not mean that anyone is to criticize the Bible. It means putting critical faculties into play when we read the Bible and asking what it meant when it was written. We want to study the Bible in our church using the best scholarship and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

3. That the best higher education is exploration not indoctrination is the third progressive belief that Dr. Humphreys says is now not welcome in the Southern Baptist Convention. The danger of indoctrination is that it will prevent students from studying alternative views so that they can freely decide for themselves which view is truthful.

4. That Baptists should participate in ecumenism is the fourth rejected progressive belief. Leaders of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship have shown that they are willing to have constructive conversations with leaders of other denominations in order to serve Christ alongside them. They engage in constructive conversations with leaders of other religions for the sake of mutual understanding.