Intersections – Salvation (1)

Reviewing intersections in my life I have written about, I realized salvation was missing. Perhaps it should have been one of the first and I’m not quite sure why it wasn’t. Hopefully this writing will provide an answer.

If you stop to think about it, salvation is a big deal. It’s not unusual for someone to celebrate their heavenly birthday, marking the occasion of their salvation. “Have you been saved?” “Are you saved?” are go to conversation starters for evangelists. Pretty much everyone would say they want to be saved. In our western Christian context, generally, that would mean being saved from eternal punishment in hell.

That’s where my salvation story begins. I do not remember the exact date, but I was twelve years old and my family was living in Paducah, Kentucky. It was a Sunday morning worship service at the Broadway Church of Christ. The preacher was Brother H. A. Dixon. For reasons you might imagine for a twelve year old boy, I had been thinking a lot about my sinfulness and the prospects of hell should I die. As usual, the sermon concluded with an invitation to come forward and be baptized by immersion for the forgiveness of your sins and salvation from eternal punishment in hell and eternal life in heaven with God and Jesus. It was an uncomplicated and elegant solution to my angst. As the invitation song, probably “Just as I Am”, was being sung a cappella by the congregation, I made my way from the balcony to the front of the auditorium. I was greeted by Bro. Dixon and, to my great surprise, my mother joined me to be baptized (that’s another story for another time). I was properly baptized “I now baptize you In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of your sins” and completely immersed. I recall the elation and relief I felt being saved. At least I thought I was.

Salvation, as I soon came to understand and, for most of my life believed, was “YES, BUT “. I could confidently say “Yes, I am saved” because I was baptized. However,that confidence was quickly mitigated by, “BUT”.

The list of “BUTS” was long: Consider a few of the “You are saved as long as …”

• …you are not living a sinful life.
• …you have asked and received forgiveness for sins of both commission and omission since you last asked forgiveness
• …you are a member of Christ’s true church.
• …you are faithfully attending church.
• …partake of the Lord’s Supper every Sunday.

Those are just a few of a much longer list. Any thought that salvation meant eternal security, better known as “once saved, always saved” , would be rejected immediately. I was never quite sure if that rejection came because of biblical/doctrinal understandings or because it was what the Baptists believed. I lean to the latter. The bottom line is, salvation was tenuous at best, always depending upon my continued measuring up. Rather than something received, salvation was a carrot on the end of a stick God continually dangled in front of me to assure my faithful obedience. Maybe that explains why I don’t celebrate a ” heavenly birthday”.

As I stated at the onset, salvation is a big deal, a really big deal. How one understand their salvation or lack of it, shapes the whole landscape of their life, as it did for me.

This post is not the end of the story. The occasion of my baptism was a memorable event that is the Ebenezer of my salvation. It began a spiritual journey that continues as I write. The path from that day to today has been long, seldom straight and often difficult. My journey has brought from “YES, BUT” to “YES”.

The next post, Intersections – Salvation (2), will focus on my story of salvation between “Yes,But” and “YES”