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Explanation of Salvation

Bill F. Henness

I realize there will be many zealots who will rise up in righteous indignation and disagree with me, however, if you have any tolerance for opposing views, please hear me out.

To begin with, almost everyone, at some time in their lives, have heard phrases like, “god in heaven,” “Jesus Christ,” “hell,” “get saved,” “get religion,” “Christian,” etc. The masses of people don’t know any theology or the doctrines of the Bible, but they have heard bits and pieces of religious talk. Virtually everyone grows up just being themselves, which includes their faults, weaknesses, and ignorance.

Now I’ll try to show a cross section of humanity, and their encounter with, “God.”

Take Fred as an example of an ordinary guy, who cusses, drinks some beer, drives an old truck with country music on the radio, goes out with whatever girls he can, and is one of the “good ole boys.”

In the back of Fred’s mind he knows he does wrong, and some right, like church people. Fred also has his share of troubles in life. Let’s say he has a near fatal accident, which causes him to do some serious thinking about the values of life.

Someone invites him to come to church with them and he does. Everything Fred holds as positive and good and true, is in the Church service. He hears the gospel and understands it. He hears about the dynamic power of God that is available to anyone who trusts Jesus as their savior.

Sounds OK so far, huh?

Fred walks down the aisle and later is baptized.

Let me explain what went on in Fred’s mind.

When he accepted the Bible as his rule book, he believes it is what he was told, God’s word. He is taught that Christ (the Holy Spirit) has come into his heart. He is taught, (accepted), that all his sins have been forgiven. He is further taught that he now has a new nature.

Now here is the crux. All of this positive reinforcement that he now has, gives him a very strong positive attitude, at least for the time being.

Fred now has the inner strength to stop drinking beer, smoking and cussing. Nothing has changed physically, but he now believes in a strength derived from his faith in Jesus.

Whenever he is tempted to return to his old ways, all he has to do is reinforce himself again with what he has been taught and which he believes implicitly to be the infinite power of God. Actually, he now has all of his own inner strengths reinforced by belief triggered from his “conversion” to accepting Jesus as his savior.

Another example is that of a good moral individual like Joan. Joan was brought up in a moral home, taken to church on occasion, and has a nice personality. However, she has a couple of secret habits that she cannot control, but apart from that, she’s a nice girl. She has tried on more than one occasion to control her bad habits, but cannot do it for any length of time.

While in the company of a friend who invited her to visit her church, Joan  hears  an old-time-gospel sermon being preached in a dogmatic manner.

Joan has heard all her life that there is a God, that bad people do not go to heaven, and that Christ is the savior, etc. She also happens to believe Christianity is the right and ultimate way to live, so, that morning, being of the conviction of her life being compared to everything pure, she did what she was told, and walked  toward the pulpit. She admitted to all the preacher had told her. He then proceeded to show her in the Bible, that if she confessed and prayed, God would save her and the power of God would enter her life. She confesses.

Now the same thing that happened to Fred, now happens to Joan. Because of what she is taught and what she has always believed about God and the Bible, she is now convinced, after her conversion, that she has the ultimate power of God within her. She is so overjoyed with this new motivation, that she now wants to show her appreciation to God by teaching a Sunday School class of kids. Her pleasant personality helps her to appear as a real dedicated Christian.

Joan was already a good person, except in her mind, the several bad habits she could not control. But now, because of her reinforced belief, that she has God in her heart, she is positive that she can overcome her bad habits.

To suggest to her that she already had the inner strength, with or without belief in God, is something she can’t accept. She is convinced that her new found motivation (Christ in her heart), is why she is now motivated to become a more faithful Christian and overcome her bad habits.

I guess that whatever it takes to turn on your positive powers will do for you, what you, without such motivation could never do.

This is how it may, in some circumstances, work, when an individual turns toward belief in God. If believed to be the ultimate authority, those who accept such an absurdity, will likewise be motivated to believe that their actions are the consequence of their faith. You may, if Christian, believe that you now have the power over sins merely because you have accepted belief in God and His ultimate authority. Besides this, if you are still unable to overcome some fault, it will be perceived by other Christians as a bad reflection on God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

In reality, I think, a person simply needs something to motivate them to do good. They might find the same impetus of power and strength in numerous other sources besides belief in a God. Individuals just need some positive belief —regardless of the source—to trigger their own inner powers.

It seems to me that everything about salvation, Christianity, etc., is mystical, and founded on the supernatural rather than natural reality that can actually be perceived by the senses. In other words, it’s all in your mind. If it’s not in your mind, it’s not there.

Has anyone ever actually perceived God answer prayer, apart from human assistance? I mean a prayer answered without the intervention of any other individual’s assistance. For instance: a miracle actually perceived as the result of God’s intervention. No?

It appears to me that everything that occurs in life, and is not the result of physical activity, can be designated as the result of what one perceives from a rational, or as in the case of religious belief, an irrational gullibility  promoted by preachers, popes, and the clergy of all the numerous religions. As they say, “It’s all in the mind!”

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A related website that may be of extreme interest to readers: http/www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/92846

Thanks to Jim Lee