Resurrection of Peace

Community Church

07/26/09

More Than Saviour

Chapter One

"Saviour and Redeemed"

   There are three steps in this process of faith in following Jesus Christ. However, without the first, salvation, the two following two steps are not possible. In the first step, He becomes, through faith, Saviour. While there is no penance that we can pay, there is something that we must do. Psalm 51 verses 10-17, in a beautiful way, guides us toward Jesus becoming Saviour. Read the verses carefully and perhaps more than once. When finished, continue reading or listening to the rest of this chapter.

Psalm 51:10-17 (New International Version)

 10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
       and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

 11 Do not cast me from your presence
       or take your Holy Spirit from me.

 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
       and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
       and sinners will turn back to you.

 14 Save me from bloodguilt, O God,
       the God who saves me,
       and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

 15 O Lord, open my lips,
       and my mouth will declare your praise.

 16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
       you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
       a broken and contrite heart,
       O God, you will not despise.

   Create in me a pure heart. Jesus said in the Beatitudes…”Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (Matthew 5:8 NIV) Pay attention to the word “create”. This is a new creation. This is the same sense of creation that is found in Genesis 1:1.  It is something that didn’t exist before and a process that only God can do. Through this process of creation, we come in to a state of grace through Jesus Christ. In the language of today’s church, we have been saved. He has become Saviour and we the Redeemed. This is the first step of Him becoming Lord and then Master. This first step is not the completion of the journey but merely the beginning. Let’s look back to Psalm 51 to see the process unfold.

   The Psalmist calls for God to continue the work in his life by renewing his spirit. He asks for a steadfast spirit of faithfulness and willingness of service (1). He does this while asking that God not reject him as He has others nor to take His Holy Spirit away. There are only two mentions of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. This is one, with the other being Isaiah 63:10. Were God to do as the writer asks, the joy of His salvation would be continuously restored. We see that much of what is being done is from the actions of God. The Psalmist is asking but it is God that must be the source of it all.  This has not changed from the Psalmist time to today. We are only in a position of asking, it is God that must do the granting. We are not capable of anything else. The Psalmist finishes his asking with the request of a willing spirit to sustain him.  From here the writer begins to return to God what he can and will do should God grant his desires.

   Upon receiving salvation from God, the Psalmist says that he will teach others, specifically transgressors, of God and His ways. And in the teaching, sinners will turn back to God. I believe that the Psalmist is, in a subtle way, telling us that this is the path that he traveled. He was a sinner that returned to God and in doing so, received salvation. Again, in the language of today’s church, he is a “sinner saved by grace”. This path is no different than the one that we must take for Jesus to become Saviour and we the Redeemed. We must realize that we are in a state of hopelessness in our ability to help ourselves. We must also self-confess our sins against God and ask for his forgiveness and then be willing to receive His salvation.

   For us, in the New Testament age, that salvation comes from and through Jesus Christ. He was able and willing to pay the price for our sins due to the sinlessness of His life. Little matters after this first step and nothing matters if this first step is not taken. However, should this first step be taken, the entirety of God is made available to the believer. The soul has been redeemed. Bought back from judgment with a price (I Corinthians 6:20) which is the blood of Jesus. Never has such a price been paid for anything or anyone. What the Church does not teach, or at least emphasis, is that the new believer’s allegiance is not to the Church, another organization, or any person such as a priest or pastor, but to Jesus alone. He is the One that paid the price for the believer and is the only one worthy of allegiance. If the Church were to cease to exist, all the pastors, priests, teachers, and evangelists to suddenly be silenced or disappear, the message of redemption through Jesus would be unchanged. But in the reverse, were the message of Jesus Christ be withdrawn, the Church would be of no more value than any other social organization. The believer’s redemption is totally dependent on Jesus and the faith of the believer in Him and His message. The Church is merely the vehicle, in many cases, for the delivery of the message. Yet too often the Church portrays itself in a much more important role in the salvation process. The Church presents itself as Jesus’ representative on earth. Remember, the Church would not exist were it not for Jesus and He is the head of the Church. Often, this fact is lost or just ignored in the discipling of the new believer.

   The Church goes to great length to bring people in to sit under the teaching of the message of salvation. This has been proved over the centuries to be, perhaps, the greatest way to bring the message to the greatest number of people. Discounting the individual doctrines and dogmas of the denominations and other groups, the message of salvation seems to be understood by many. This is done through the power of the Holy Spirit working in spite of the denominational interference. Once salvation has been professed by the believer; the methods vary from Church to Church but usually include a public proclamation of belief and acceptance of Jesus as Saviour, a baptism in one form or another, and a formal joining of the congregation and denomination if such affiliation exists. Information is gathered, a card is filled out, the Church increases its roll and is considered a growing Church. Too often, once all this has taken place, the Church then “pushes aside” the new believer with a defacto statement of…”Next.” The search begins anew for a person to come to a relationship of redemption with Jesus. After the public proclamation, the process of “membership” is completed and again the silent, but real…”Next”.

   Churches (and denominations) grow in this manner and many people are brought into a relationship of redemption through and with Jesus Christ. But so much is left to the resources of the new believer to continue the process of growth in the faith. Here, the Church, for the most part, is found lacking. It is not that the Church is without knowledge and resources. Nor is it ignorant that the process of growth in the faith is a lifetime process. The problem is the priorities of the Church…numbers.

   The full measurement of many churches is the number of members as well as the numbers added during the church year. These numbers are then translated to the denomination, if there is one, and all are happy. The real shame of this is that the numbers are often far more important than the people the numbers represent. Sadly, many churches with 350 in membership often will have no more than 150 in attendance. Where are the remaining 200 members? Are they still living in the same area? Are they still attending church somewhere? Are they still alive? These questions are never answered or more sadly, ever asked. Is a church with 500 members and 50 baptisms last year twice as spiritual and effective as one with 250 members and 25 baptisms? For the sake of raw numbers, most would say…”Yes”. This is so unfortunate. There are many churches with, by measure, small congregations yet do so much for their own membership, the community, and perhaps more than that, they do so much for those that are not members or related to members. They reach out to all in need without concern of membership, denominational affiliation, or even salvation. Jesus said “Feed my lambs.” (John 21:15 NIV) Some churches, small and large, take this literally. Many do not. A part of the discipling process is to share the gospel with all that will listen. Sometimes the first sharing of the gospel message is a meal, or shelter, or even gasoline. If a man is starving, fill his stomach and you may have the opportunity to allow Jesus to fill his soul. Congregations that focus on numbers and additions often will lose that there is something beyond the profession, baptism, and the filling out of a membership card. With the lack of emphasis from the churches and specifically the pulpit of growing in the faith and sharing the gospel, many new believers see what they have done as the culmination of the spiritual journey instead of the beginning.

   As stated earlier, overall, the churches have done a good job of sharing the message of Jesus Christ to a large number of people. Many have come into a saving relationship with Jesus and thereby securing their place in eternity. But sometime over the many centuries, the focus of the Church wavered. Now many are concerned with massive buildings, large congregations, and programs tailored for every individual and age group. At some point the mega-church was born with that worship and ministry pattern filtering down to even the smallest congregation. Psalm 51 speaks of the believer doing something after salvation in verse 13 and then verse 17 tells how we are to be. I see little of verse 17 in churches of any size.

   Jesus is now Saviour and the believer the Redeemed. As a praise and worship song states…”Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!”

    The believer is about to set out on a wonderful journey that will last a lifetime. It will require study, prayer, and guidance. Can the believer do it alone, yes, but with a guide and the Holy Spirit, the believer’s growth in the faith can be much enabled. When Philip met the Ethiopian eunuch reading the book of Isaiah he asked…”Do you understand what you are reading?” The eunuch’s reply was…”How can I unless someone explains it to me?” (Acts 8:26-38 NIV) With someone established in the faith, as Phillip was, the new believer can, perhaps, understand what he is reading and apply it to his life in a manner that is smoother than attempting it alone. Of course, the Holy Spirit is the ultimate teacher and is in no need of assistance but we see from Jesus’ calling of 12 disciples that He saw the need of believers being together to help one another and to enable and aid each other’s growth.

   From here we move to seeing how we can grow in the faith from Jesus being Saviour and we the Redeemed to Him being Lord and we the Enlightened. It is a step that does not occur quickly but we find in the Scriptures the path and the help laid out for us.