Saved from What?

When I was growing up in the 90s, Billy Graham was a very big deal. He was doing his evangelistic crusades across the country, trying to bring people to faith in Christ. He had written books and been on TV. My dad used to volunteer for the crusades when they came to town, praying with people who came forward to the altar call.

I remember my first Billy Graham crusade. I think I was about fourteen. An entire football stadium was completely filled with people of all ages and backgrounds. A band played worship music and we sang together. Then Graham came up to speak in his deep, Southern voice with his slow, steady tempo. He talked about heaven. He talked about hell. He asked people where they were going. He invited those who were unsure or who wanted to be sure they'd be going to heaven to "come down and get saved".

I respect Billy Graham because of his devotion to God and to what he believed was God's mission for him. I also respect him for the generally positive impact he had on the Christian Church, and even on our country as a whole. Billy Graham was, little known fact, a registered democrat, but he advised at least 13 different presidents of both Republican and Democrat leaning. He often said he believed in voting for the person, rather than for a party, and also believed that the church should steer clear of politics.

There's a famous quote of Billy Graham's I'll mention here. He was invited by Jerry Falwell to be a part of the emerging Moral Majority group, a far-right Christian nationalist group. But Graham declined, noting: "I told him to preach the Gospel. That's our calling. I want to preserve the purity of the Gospel and the freedom of religion in America. I don't want to see religious bigotry in any form... it would disturb me if there was a wedding between the religious fundamentalists and the political right. The hard right has no interest in religion except to manipulate it."

I think Billy Graham would have been highly disturbed in today's culture and climate...

There was one thing that I always wondered about Billy Graham's Crusades, though. He was big on the sinner's prayer and preached that to be saved was to be saved from hell. All those people who went forward to repeat a prayer... did they actually mean it? Later, did that moment of belief at an event of high emotionality cause any long-term change in their life? I believe the crusades did offer those who came forward follow-up care and encouragement to connect to a local church, but how often did that actually happen? If someone said that prayer, but then went back to their regular life and nothing changed, were they in fact "saved"?

The Great Commission after all, the last command Jesus gave us before going back to Heaven, was to "make disciples of all nations". Not converts. Disciples. People who follow His commands and His ways. People who show a marked difference in their life. People who bear fruit. Could it be we've misunderstood what it really means to be "saved"?

In my class last night, my professor made this outlandish claim: "Jesus didn't come to save us from hell. He came to save us from sin, and to restore our relationship with God, with others, and with the world around us."

I say "outlandish" (even though I fully agree) because this seems like something we actually don't hear often in church. Many churches have watered down the gospel to such an extent that it's mostly about that conversion moment and less about what happens between that moment and when you die. Is that what the Bible teaches?

Consider the words of the angel Gabriel to Joseph regarding the birth of Jesus, "Do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21) From their sins. Not from hell.

Peter writes, "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit" (1 Peter 3:18) Note: saved from sin in order to be in right relationship with God. Peter also wrote, "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. " (1 Peter 2:24)

Why do we need saving from sin? Because we are in bondage. Left to our own devices, we continuously choose our own selfish wants and desires and this poisons our relationships and our world. It separates us from a relationship with our Creator. Only by God's grace through Jesus can those chains be cut off so we are free to fully love Him and be loved by Him, and to fully love others and care for the world as God has called us to.

Why is it important to understand it's not just about hell, but about sin? Because if we are merely saved from hell, our focus is on what happens after death. If we are saved from sin in order to be restored to relationship with God, our focus is on what happens before death.  

There is a point where we are turning towards Jesus. A point of repentance and dependence upon God. Yet that moment is just the beginning. Or, at least, it should be just the beginning. Interestingly, even though none of the main theological branches of Christianity support the idea that following this "moment," one can live however they want, many times in the church, we tend to think that way. 

Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:20 that we were created to do good works. Paul also says our faith makes us "slaves to righteousness" (Romans 6:15-23). Our purpose, as restored beings, forgiven by God, is to be the salt and the light (Matthew 5). Our purpose is to bring God's kingdom to earth and to make Christ known. 

Are we living out that purpose? Are you?

When we come to faith in Christ, our lives should change. Over time, we should become more and more like Jesus. Our relationship with God, our relationships with others, our relationship to the world, should all improve. People should see God's love and compassion and mercy in us.

But, that doesn't happen magically or by accident. It happens on purpose. It happens by seeking Jesus, spending time in prayer and worship and Bible reading, and being part of a community. 

Otherwise, what even are we doing? 

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