Peace Starts with Salvation - But what does that mean?
Part of the Peaceful Summer Series
What does it mean to be saved?
Often in Christian circles we talk about salvation as a moment of conversion. We aren’t Christians, and then we are. We “accept Jesus into our hearts”, or we “choose to follow Jesus”, and then we are saved.
I recently listened to an interesting side-bar conversation about some of these phrases and different opinions on their usefulness and theological accuracy, but we aren’t going to get that far into the weeds today.
Rather I want to encourage us to think about how salvation and peace are connected.
When our daughter finished her cancer treatments you could say she was saved from cancer and death. But then, frustratingly, she entered a no-mans land of waiting and uncertainty. For years we lived with the underlying concern that her salvation wasn’t sure. The cancer could come back. Relapse was a real threat ever crouching in the corner. It wasn’t until she hit a certain time mark that the doctors assured us that her salvation was real. She hadn’t just been saved from cancer and death, but saved to health and life.
We often view our spiritual salvation with this same hesitation.
We might believe that Jesus has saved us… but from what? And where do we stand now while we wait to see him face to face? Are we in a no-mans land where our salvation isn’t truly secure? Or does God behave differently?
I would argue that peace in this life is unattainable apart from understanding salvation rightly. If we don’t understand salvation in and through Christ, then we will always be under the threat of what crouches in the corner.
So what does the Bible say about salvation?
In Romans 10:9 we are told that when we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead, we will be saved. It is not a promise of something that might happen if we behave well enough. It is a sure thing given to us by God’s extravagant mercy.
Then, 1 Corinthians 1:18 tells us that we are being saved.
And Ephesians 2:8 tells us that this salvation has occurred by grace through faith. It is not something we do ourselves - it is a gift of God.
Scripture uses past, present and future tenses to explain this gift of salvation. That’s because we have both been saved from something and to something. Our salvation has taken place, is happening, and will happen. It is a promise. It is sure.
In her Bible study on Jude, Jackie Hill Perry writes: “Those who have been saved have been saved from something. Salvation is the act of being rescued from danger and being delivered into a place of safety” (pg. 41).
She goes on to say, “Salvation was secured when Jesus died and rose for those whom God has called, but it didn’t stop at our being rescued from the power of sin and the guilt of sin. It is a complete work in that our salvation will culminate in our being saved from the wrath of God that is to come (pg. 43)”
You may have heard terms like justification, sanctification and glorification. These can loosely be connected to the ideas of past, present and future salvation. An amazing process that God takes us through. But the sureness of it is this:
Philippians 1:6 - “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
God will not leave us in the “no-mans” zone. We will never have to wonder if our salvation is sure.
And that means we can experience peace. Knowing we belong to God. Knowing God keeps his promises. Knowing that he has saved us to a glorious hope, a rich inheritance, adoption as sons, redemption of our broken bodies, and glorification with Christ (Romans 8).
Share with me: how does considering your salvation help you experience peace?
Love, Marissa