In Part I and Part II of this series, we examined the purpose of God’s people throughout history, both before and after the coming of Jesus. That purpose can be summed up as being a) to be light, in order to b) give light, so that c) the whole world will know that our God is the One True God.

Here in Part III, we will retread some ground previously covered to answer the questions “what is salvation?” and “what is eternal life?”

From Part II of this series:

Paul’s turn of phrase “in Christ” is a key in helping us understand our freedom and our mission. When we are ‘in Christ’, God does not condemn us for our sins, and we are not expected to pay a sacrificial atonement for them. In other words, when God judges us, he sees Jesus (because we are “in” him), and his blamelessness is imputed to us.

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…

This frees us from the need to pay God back – because we cannot – just like when God saved the children of Israel from Egypt. Paul again makes this clear:

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Because we are free, that allows us to complete our mission – to be a light to give light – to be blessed to be a blessing – for the purpose of demonstrating to the world that our God is the One and only God of the universe.

The Kingdom

What was the #1 topic spoken of most often by Jesus in the gospels (Hint: this was mentioned by Brant Hansen in a recent Podcast)? Answer: The Kingdom of God – which is mentioned 102 times in the gospels and 28 times in the remainder of the New Testament. Some examples:

At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. But he said, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea. (Luke 4:42-44)

Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is among you.” (Luke 17:20-21)

After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. (Acts 1:3)

Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. (Acts 19:8-9)

Per Jesus’ teaching and the letters from his apostles, we know that the Kingdom is not a physical place, but it exists now and it is already among us who believe in him and follow his words. The Kingdom of God exists wherever a community of believers exist and things are with them as God would intend them to be here.

This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Because of our imperfection, the manifestation of His kingdom here is also imperfect, but there will be a time in which we will be made perfect, and His kingdom, thusly so.

For more on the concept of Kingdom, you can read these two articles from earlier this year as a start.

Salvation

What is salvation? Too often, our neo-Classical view of salvation is limited to the eternal destination that will be locked-in upon our leaving this life. When we hear about “eternal life”, we see this as beginning the millisecond after we leave this world. But this is not what Jesus taught.

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

He answered: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

In the Hebrew mind of the first century, and in Jesus’ teaching, eternal life begins now, in the kingdom, and it continues on in the age to come.

So, when Jesus saves from our sins (now), we are set free to heal the world (now) without the need to atone for our sins. Is this a license to sin? By no means, according to Paul, but it is a freedom to live our lives in demonstration of gratitude to the One True God, so that the world may know that He is the One True God!

So What?

How does this apply to us, today? It is all about mindset. If we are just biding time, waiting to die so that we can be in the kingdom, we’ve completely missed the point. Rather, to live is Christ and to die is gain. While we are alive, we have the choice to bring about heaven on earth or hell on earth.

Jesus states:

Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of [God], but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Notice that Jesus’ emphasis is on “fruit” and the “kingdom”. Because this is a kingdom where leading is serving, where the first are last, where God’s people depend on him for their needs, and where the poor, the widow, the orphan and the stranger among us are the exhalted, we can see where this ‘fruit’ is manifest. Having all of the right orthodoxy on earth but bearing no fruit is just as bad as bearing bad fruit.

So if you’re a church that has a reputation for being a large country club for self-righteous jerks, you might want to consider that perhaps you’ve given up the kingdom to become a pharisee.

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.

Salvation is about here and now – salvation from the sins you struggle with day-to-day, where the only hope to escape from them comes from the Father. Salvation from the need to try to appease God. Salvation from the need to appear holy on the outside, while inside you’re just a dirty cup. Salvation begins now, and it stretches out – into perfection – in eternity.