This week we take our last look at salvation. We know that salvation is central to scripture, that it is a promise of new life now and eternal life in God's coming Kingdom, and that our Reformed (Presbyterian) tradition professes that salvation is an act of God to which we are to respond through faith by loving God and neighbor. The penultimate question that generations of people have asked, and with which we will deal in this article is, who does or does not get saved?
We will begin with a historic laundry list from a variety of Christian traditions as to who gets saved. The list includes those who profess Jesus as Lord and Savior; those who take the sacraments from a particular tradition; those who do good works; those who profess faith in Jesus and then regularly confess their sins; those who are baptized by immersion; those who are baptized by immersion in the right church; those who serve the poor; those who hold to appropriate doctrine; those who belong to the right church; those who are chosen by God; and finally everyone.
There is also a laundry list of those who will not get saved. This list includes non-Christians; people who commit particular sins (usually sexual in nature…though this can include murder); Roman Catholics; Protestants; Mormons; those not baptized by immersion; those who have not had a "personal" experience of Jesus; the wealthy; the poor; people of color; those who have not had the second baptism of the Holy Spirit; and those who do not belong to the right church or denomination.
While these two lists are cursory and not nuanced they remind us that scripture never refers to one, and only one, way in which people are saved since most of the ways on the lists have at least a minimal connection to at least one scripture verse. What these lists also show us however is the often exclusivist attitude toward salvation which declares that salvation is only intended for a small group rather than for a large group of people with the small group being composed of people "we" like.
There are several problems with both of these lists. First they attempt to boil down a relationship (God in relationship with humanity) to a simplistic formula (Jesus + something = salvation) or (Jesus – something = damnation). This does a great injustice to the scriptures which refuse to place salvation in a neatly wrapped package. Second they restrict the freedom of God to save whomever God desires to save. This issue is of particular concern to those of us in the Reformed (Presbyterian) tradition because we believe that God can and will do what God desires, regardless of our actions. Third Jesus and Paul are both very clear that as human beings we cannot know who will be saved. In fact we are warned not to even attempt such a judgment. Finally these lists fail to take into account the images of heaven and the Kingdom of God as being expansive in nature. In the Book of Revelation those who are saved are so great in number that they cannot be counted. Those condemned, on the other hand, can fit into a very small lake.
As we draw to a close in our discussion about salvation I want to offer three scriptures. First Paul reminds us that God desires that all persons be saved. "This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (I Timothy 2:3-4) Second, John 3:16 states, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life." Finally Peter writes, "By God's great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you…" (I Peter 1:3-4)
So who will be saved? In the end only God knows. The bottom line though is that we know and are known by a loving and faithful God; a loving God who is at work in our lives and in the world reshaping hearts and minds and a God who is faithful to God's promises that we will never be lost or abandoned. This is cause for great confidence and joy.
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