Recuérdame

Let’s take a look at a picture of a quarter.  

You’ve probably both seen these and spent these here and there throughout your life. On one side of this quarter we can see a face, we see writing, etc. No matter what you notice about this side of the quarter, you’ll probably agree that it’s worth 25 cents, a “quarter” of a dollar (which may be enough money to fill one of your tires with air…sometimes). Let’s look at the other side. 

Same quarter, totally different picture, different writing, etc. But it has the same functional value as it did when we were looking at the first side. It’s still 25 cents, and I can still use it to buy things (like air). At the end of the day, both pictures represent one and the same thing, not two separate contradictory things.  I believe the Church has unnecessarily created false theological paradoxes which lead to confusion, division, and even great fear within the body of Christ. It should not be so!! For example, some have envisioned a contradiction between God’s justice and his mercy, saying “a merciful God would never allow sinners to be punished for their sins”. Even though that’s not true [our example of the synonymity of justice and mercy is in the Cross: He justly applied punishment to sin while mercifully bearing it on our behalf so that sinners don’t have to], the intellectual distinction between justice and mercy makes an error which skews the truth. The truth isn’t the problem. There’s no paradox in God because He’s not two separate things at odds with himself. There is no “balance” in God because He’s not made up of multiple things that need balancing. God is one; He’s wholly united in himself, with himself, and there’s no contradiction in Him [James 1:17]. We don’t have to find some mysterious “balance” when it comes to the truth, we just have to see and believe what’s true. If I perceive a contradiction, the problem is on my end. It happens when we look at spiritual things through unspiritual lenses. [John 3:3-12, 6:63 and Romans 8:5-8]. Both sides of the coin represent the same thing, even though it looks different from different angles. That would be enough for its own blog post, but I’m going to continue. (Two-in-One post! Woah!)  I want to apply this concept to the discussion of salvation. The classic Predestination dichotomy (A can of worms!! Oh boy…here we go). Does God choose us, or do we choose him? Which side of the coin do we spend? This discussion has literally divided church bodies (including that of my teenage years) and set denominational boundaries that don’t need to exist because we’ve made an intellectual distinction between free will and God’s sovereignty. How silly (and wrong).  Here’s why this is important. I’ve had too many discussions with wonderful people who struggle with legitimate fears about their personal salvation: “What if God didn’t choose me?”, they ask. “What if He saved me, but I mess up and get unsaved? What if I thought I was saved but really I’m not? How do I know either way?” Yikes! Where do these fears come from? Jesus made it pretty clear how this works. I think these fears stem from useless and confusing teachings about one or the other “side” of the salvation coin.  So for the sake of length, I’ll just outline the bare-boned simplicity of how Jesus preached the sureness of salvation: If you follow Him, He will feed you. [John 6:35] If you confess Him, He will embrace you. [Matthew 10:32] If you draw near to Him, He will draw near to you. [James 4:8] If you reject Him, He will reject you. [Matthew 10:33] If you seek Him, you will find Him. [Matthew 7:7-11] If you repent, He will honor you. [Luke 15:11-24] If you obey Him, He will answer your prayers. [John 9:31 & 14:21]  If you love Him, He will make his home in you. [John 14:23] And if you believe in Him, you will be saved. [John 3:16-21] If you do your part, He’ll do his part. He offers you a gift that only He can give, then it’s up to you to receive it and live it out.  And if you make a mistake, fear not! Sin doesn’t keep us from God, stubbornness does. Jesus already paid the penalty for your sins. If they couldn’t stop Jesus 2000 years ago then they certainly can’t stop Him now. He knew what he was getting into. Just repent, nail that sin to the cross, (or “flush it” as I like to say”) and keep pressing on towards Jesus who has already forgiven you  for it [Philippians 8:13-16]. Boom! Easy. You’re still saved! Yay!  So have no fear! It really is that simple. If you believe what Jesus said, your salvation is secure in Him.  [See 1 John 3:19-24, 1 Corinthians 1:1-9, Jude 15, Philippians 1:6, 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, and John 14 and 15 for even more biblical context and support].