Ever Noticed People Argue About Salvation?

Over the years I have seen so many arguments about salvation within the various Christian circles. They range from who's saved vs who isn't. How you get saved. What you have to do to get saved. Etc.

But the thing that stuck out to me today was the "works" based "discussions" around salvation. I put "discussions" in quotes because woah boy do people get into a tizzy on this.

But I think I found the solution to the arguments, maybe ALL the arguments about "works" and salvation.

Join me on this journey through... reality, ironically enough.

The thing that I noticed between the "works" based arguers and everyone else is there isn't a shared base of discussion being used to argue from. And that particular detail is the real problem that fuels the arguments.

That miscommunication, that talking from a different foundation or starting point is this.

Time

That might sound odd, but hang on for a bit longer.

There are two groups of people. But they don't realize they are two different groups of people. They all genuinely think they are the same group of people. The people who believe you receive salvation.

But the problem is TIME. And more specifically, when is the moment of salvation?

Now to be clear. No one is fundamentally wrong here. It's not about right or wrong because both sides are right. Right and wrong isn't the problem. It's perspective, framing, and lack of agreement that is the core of the arguments.

Everyone agrees that you receive salvation from Jesus Christ, from accepting Him. (of course if you don't agree with that, this is not about you. And also you are wildly wrong. Period)

The problem is one camp of people are TALKING about salvation being received right now, today while you are living.

While the other camp of people are TALKING about salvation through the lens of RECEIVING eternity with The Lord. aka You died and went to heaven.

This base, this root, this foundation of TIME is the problem that is causing so many people to argue about salvation. Even though they don't realize it's the problem.

They are all arguing about works and death and the cross and this and that but not all talking about WHEN salvation happens. If they all did talk about WHEN salvation happens they would realize they are not talking about the same thing.

It's a case of we're both talking about the same thing, but talking about it from different angles. And those angles are what's causing argument.

Married people should be well familiar with this concept... haha

You see some people talk about salvation as the moment you accept Christ. A decision. A specific second in the decades of a persons life. And that is correct. You are saved in that moment. But you have not "received" salvation yet because you have not "received" eternity in the presence of The Lord yet.

While others look at salvation as the end destination. The moment of judgement after you have died. And this makes sense, especially considering many of the people who believe in works see salvation as the result. As an outcome. A result of time and effort and work spent. Salvation as the destination WHEN IT'S REALIZED.

This fundamental non-agreement is what fuels the arguments. Is "salvation" when you accept Jesus, and then you live your life afterwards after that moment? Or is "salvation" after you die, and you are in heaven?

Both are correct. Which is how the miscommunication is happening.

But

Let's get precise.

Let's define salvation as the moment your eternal destination is decided, forever. And that moment is when you accept The Lord. That is the moment you are saved, saved from hell. And acknowledge that you don't get to enjoy salvation until after you have died.

Now that we clear up the miscommunication I want to be clear. Salvation is the moment your fate is decided. Which is when you accept The Lord. It's a single moment in time. In fact it's an exact second in the clock of your lifespan.

Perhaps it's October 23 at 8:07am and 32 seconds. Perhaps it's June 13th at 4:32pm. Perhaps it's 20 years earlier on March 20th at 11:59pm and 43 seconds.

That decision is THE decision. It's the decision that gives you the key to enter into Heaven with The Lord.

For example when Jesus was hanging on the cross and the thief acknowledged him. Jesus told him that because of his acknowledgement of Jesus he would be in heaven with Jesus on this day. It was that choice by the thief that got him the key to eternity with Jesus and The Father. Even though it would be hours later that the thief actually died and actually experienced his salvation.

This story, from Jesus himself. Is an example of salvation is awarded at the moment of accepting Jesus. But salvation is not realized until after you have died.

And I think this distinction will help so many people talk about salvation with others. Because often times the people arguing actually agree, but this disconnect of WHEN we're talking about salvation happening is what clouds the discussion.

Are we talking about salvation in terms of when it's received? or are we talking about salvation in terms of when it's realized?

And when you see this distinction you will understand a lot more about why people talk about works the way they do, and why they don't talk about works the way they do. It's because they are talking about "salvation" through a wildly different perspective or framing than you.

If you get on the same page about how you define this, you will find the conversation takes really amazing new turns and doesn't continue to run into walls.