Plan of Salvation

I hear the question asked a lot. Are you SAVED? Saved from what should be the real question but unfortunately one can't answer that question because the answer is "from an eternal hell". But if God is LOVE, why should I worry about an eternal hell? Correction, punishment, and restoration? Sure! It's been a long time since I traveled the "Roman road" (4 steps to salvation) or studied the plan of salvation.

I was always presented that salvation was a one time event!

A lot of my friends took that road because it sure seemed easy. To guarantee yourself a palce in heaven, my denomination taught me to just come forward before the "body of Christ", confess my sins, and accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. And the really neat perk, as it were, was that ONCE SAVED- ALWAYS SAVED! It was a cosmic covenant that God made with everyone. Do the deed one time and your were IN!

I later learned that not all denominations had that plan of salvation. Once I was blind!

For others it wasn't enough to "say a prayer", you also had to act drunk, fall down, and speak incoherently at will. In other words you needed to get the HOLY GHOST!

The more I studied other religions the more confusing this plan of salvation became. Everybody had an ideas about it. And everyone's idea was the right one. Resurrection realities vary from church to church more than you'd imagine. After a lot of wandering around in that so-called desert of religious dry bones, I somehow stumbled into the fresh living waters of the Spirit. I have since come to the conclusion that this whole "salvation concept" is really a lifetime journey towads TRANSFORMATION!

I change! I look and act more like Jesus and my God is restoring me!

I no longer have to jump through all those man-made hoops for you see when salvation requires a sacrifice, then grace has become a commodity. Even worse as James Mulholland wrote, "More troublesome, Jesus ends up saving us from God rather than evil. Salvation is Jesus picking up the check for the whole room. The problem with such analogies is that they portray God as a stingy accountant unsatisfied until every penny is paid. Jesus is glorified at God's expense. Jesus is gracious and God is a coldhearted scrooge."

I'm being SAVED day by day and my God is nothing but pure love!