The evangelicals talk about "when you were saved" and the Orthodox talk about "being saved" day by day.
And I'm thinking they're both right. I was thinking over some things in my life, I was looking at the decisions I was making and at the ones I wanted to make (so many things are possible, but only if you decide to do them), and I thought, I think I need to make a decision (again) for Jesus.
Because being saved isn’t just deciding once. I mean, it is. You accept the grace and He accepts you. But that one big decision is really the decision to keep deciding, and deciding in God's favor. Like in marriage, it’s a promise to always turn towards rather than away when the option is offered. And the option will be offered every day.
Commitment is not static. It is steadfast.
(I would add, of course, that those constant turnings-towards are only made by the grace of God. His Holy Spirit in us is constantly turning our faces to look at Jesus. It's not gritting our teeth and pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. I hope I'm not implying that. Just that we have to keep walking in His direction; we aren't standing still, and we must not go backwards.)
3 comments:
Oh, I like this a lot. Thank you!
Annie
Very thoughtful, thanks!
I don't know if you have heard the saying, "We have been saved, are being saved, and will be saved," from any Orthodox, but this is the salvation concept in a nutshell. Though Orthodox most often talk of the "being saved" part, they do believe that there was a moment at which it all began.
Thank you, Annie!
And, Katie, thanks for the correction. I didn't mean to imply that the Orthodox thought it didn't have a beginning; I was more trying to give them credit because it was from an Orthodox writer that I first heard of the concept of "being saved". My guess is that it was actually from that saying you just quoted! Thank you.
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