Here's a little something to roll around in your head. We know that the Bible teaches in John 14 that no one can come to the Father except through Jesus. Other passages in the Bible emphasize this as well. No debate here - the only path to God is Jesus Christ.
Here's the bit I want you to consider. How many paths are there to Jesus Christ? Does everyone get to Him by saying the sinner's prayer (or the 4 Spiritual Laws), or are there other options? Is salvation a moment or a process? Do you have to be able to point to a moment in time when you got saved, or is it possible to begin a process of discovering Jesus Christ, and then reach a point when you realize you are a totally committed disciple but can't point to a specific moment when the transformation took place? Obviously, we must be drawn by the Holy Spirit, but does that mean there's a formula that must be followed?
I'm not going to give my answers or ideas yet, but I am interested in yours. Let me know what you think.
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3 comments:
I'm not sure about the idea of multiple paths to Christ, but I do at least feel that among the many people across time who have been followers of Christ, many of those cannot point to a particular moment when they were "saved" or became a Christian/follower of Christ.
It would seem from what I can gather from my amateur knowledge of scripture that the goal of life is being rejoined with God in a love relationship, and Christ is who makes that a possibility. I would venture to make the vague estimate that many people throughout time have not said the "sinner's prayer" and may never have even said a prayer quietly or out loud, instead learning of Christ's salvific brand of love and following it with reckless abandon. And yet, I don't doubt the holy relationship that many have begun with God when near death and they said the sinner's prayer or went through a reasonably similar ritualistic act.
Josh - Wow! "SALVIFIC"! What a great word. Your parents will be glad to see that the money they spent on your master's degree is not going to waste.
I've thought about this some relating to those who believe that only baptism gets you salvation. To me the irony is that they have to make a decision to be baptized--so even though they think the water saves them, are they saved any way because they made that decision?
Dorthy
And, yes, I'm glad the master's money wasn't wasted!
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