This is one of those posts where I just need to go through the exercise of writing something out. Lately, my thoughts have been focused on two main things, "what is salvation" and "what does Jesus mean when he says, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through me"?
What is Salvation?
This question, it seems to me, is the critical one that has to be answered before the second question about what Jesus means in John 14:6. Being saved necessarily means that there was something to be saved from. We could say that we are saved 'from our sins', but that's not quite it. I think the most accurate thing is to say that we are saved from the penalty of our sinfulness. Throughout the New Testament, you get much discussion about sacrifice and atonement, and in Hebrews, about Jesus being the 'better sacrifice'. This is all legal language. Paul says that "all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). What this means is that we all bear a legal charge against us. In order to clear that charge, a penalty must be paid. We see this drama play out in ancient Israel's sacrificial system. If someone sinned, in tandem with repentance they would bring the appropriate sacrifice to the temple, the priest would then transfer the guilt of that sin to the animal, and then the animal was either killed, or released in the wild. The important thing, however, was that God accredited forgiveness to the sinner in that exchange. There was nothing special about the animal or about the sacrifice - it was God's willingness to consider that sacrifice as sufficient.
In the eternal courtroom, on the Day that Jesus comes back, either you bear that sin yourself and pay the penalty through eternal death and suffering, or Jesus' sacrifice is considered as sufficient atonement, paying the penalty in your stead (by grace through faith, of course).
In light of this - we have something to consider. Forgiveness of sins, real forgiveness, was available before Jesus died on the cross. It wasn't a permanent forgiveness, but rather something that had to be repeated over and over, when sin occurred. Hebrews confirms this saying, "Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offer the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins." (Hebrews 10:11). There is something interesting here - "which can never take away sins" - does the writer mean that the repentance/sacrifices did not absolve the sinner? How can this be? God himself designed the sacrificial system in order serve as a mechanism for the forgiveness of sins (at least in part anyway). Over and over in the Old Testament, we see it said of people "so and so was righteous according to the law". How could that be if there was no actual forgiveness for sin? What seems plausible here is that this phrase, "which can never take away sins" means that the Sacrificial system was not able to prevent people from sinning in the future. In other words, it was a mechanism for AFTER sin had occurred, not a mechanism that would ensure ongoing righteousness. Jesus' sacrifice on the cross IS a sacrifice that is able to keep us from sinning again, and that seems to be the point that the author of Hebrews is making. In light of the promises of the new covenant, this seems confirmed. Jeremiah 31 says, "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts [...] no longer will they teach their neighbor or say to one another 'Know the LORD' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest". Paul famously cries out at one point in Romans 7, "But I see another law at work in my body, warring against the law of my mind and holding me captive to the law of sin that dwells within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will set me free from this body of death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:24) We have a body of death now, but will be given a new body that does not war with itself.
So, getting back to salvation - salvation can't simply be the forgiveness of sin - it is more than that. Part of it is the moment when we stand before Jesus, the judge of the World (Acts 10:42, 2 Cor. 5:10, John 5:22, John 5:27, Romans 2:16, Romans 14:10, etc), and either we bear our own sin, and its associated penalty, or our sin is not counted against us because of grace and our trust/faith in Jesus' work on the cross. But that's not the end of the story. Put plainly, Salvation is, being saved from the penalty of sin that you deserve as a sinner and then given a new glorified body that is unable to sin. That is what salvation is - it is being saved from your body of death.
What does Jesus mean in John 14:6?
The context of this verse is Jesus addressing his own disciples about having to leave them to "be clothed and exalted in glory". This happens after Judas leaves the room during the Last Supper. In John 13:36 it says, ""Lord", Simon Peter asked him, "where are you planning to go?" "Where I am about to go," Jesus replied, "you cannot with me come along now, though you will come along later." "Lord, why can I not with you come along right now?" asked Peter. "I will lay down for you my very life."" And then a little later on, "In my Father's house there are indeed many rooms. If it were not so, I would have told you. For I am about to go in order to make ready a place for you, and if I go and make ready a place for you, I will surely come again and receive you to myself..." (John 14:2-3) So the context here is eschatological, without a doubt. Jesus is talking about a future time - he is talking to his disciples about where he is going and why he has to leave them and what he is going to be doing while he is away.
"I am the way and the truth and the life," replied Jesus. "No one can come to the Father except through me. If you have known me, you will know the Father. In fact, from this time forward you do know him and have seen him." (John 14:6-7)
Straight to the point of what I'm wrestling with here - what Jesus appears to be saying here is not that belief in Him is the only way to be saved. What he seems to be saying here is that he is the Judge. He is speaking about heaven and how he is preparing a place there for the disciples, and by extension, all of those who are his disciples. His statement in verse 6, is a direct answer to the question Philip asks him which is, "people show us the Father, that is all we need". Earlier on in the Gospel of John, Jesus says, "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved." (John 10:9) Similarly here, I would argue Jesus is talking about his place as Judge. A gate is a place where all must pass through - the shepherd, to which Jesus also compares himself, knows which sheep are his and which ones are not.
Before I am thrown out and burned at the stake - what has prompted the wrestling here is the knowledge that over 70% of the Bible is written before Jesus ever comes on the scene. Abraham didn't know who Jesus was, Moses didn't know who Jesus was, David didn't know, none of the prophets knew, Elijah didn't know - Enoch didn't know...and yet we know, from Scripture, that all of these people were righteous before God. In Matthew 17, Moses and Elijah stand next to Jesus during the Transfiguration. In Luke 16, Jesus tells the story of a poor man named Lazarus dying and being taken by angels to sit next to Abraham "in a place of honor at the table". Hebrews 11 is a literal pantheon of OT Giants, listing several people throughout the Tanahk, who I think it would be safe to say were considered Righteous by God, without every having known the name of Jesus.
Promises and Faith
To be clear, I think that those of us who live after Jesus' life and death are right to put our trust in Him and call upon his name. After all, Jesus says that "if you have seen me, you have seen the Father" and "I and the Father are one." But what does Jesus represent? He represents God's promises! And it is through faith in God's promises by which one is considered Righteous on the Day that Jesus returns. Before Jesus' life, Abraham, Moses, David, the prophets, etc, they all knew God's promises and they put their hope and trust (faith) in those promises. Those promises included that God would one day restore all things, which is really what the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is. The Gospel is that one day, God is going to restore all things and make everything right. Do we believe that? Jesus represents that because of a) his sinless life and b) his death AND resurrection. His life, death and resurrection are CONFIRMATION of God's promises. Through his life, we can know that God is going to fulfill every single 'jot and tittle' of every promise that He ever made.
It was always faith in God's promises which justified someone. "Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness". "Enoch walked with God and then he was no more." (Gen. 5:24) What I want to argue is that when Paul talks about 'faith in Jesus Christ', he isn't necessarily talking about faith in the man himself, but faith in what He represents. Faith, then, looks like emulating the life of the man who represented the promises of God.
Looking for the Practical
As always, I want this to be more than just theological talk. What I see around me today is salvation being viewed by some as 'fire insurance' against Hell. If salvation is really just a matter of saying a 'sinner's prayer', then it is cheap - and if there's one thing I know about Jesus' death on the cross, its that it is not cheap. Will I thumb my nose at someone who says, "I am saved?" No, definitely not - but I feel that for those of us who believe, and who really want to follow after Jesus as His disciple, is thinking in terms of 'saved' or 'not saved' even all that helpful? It seems to me that Paul harps a ton on perseverance and endurance in the faith - he talks about finishing the race and completing the task before him. Because he talks about it so much, I have to assume there is some value in persevering and enduring. He also warns several times throughout his letters to various churches, about people shipwrecking their faith or walking away from the faith. I guess he never outright says that these people have lost salvation, but it also doesn't seem like Paul viewed salvation as something that was had now.
I view salvation as the goal - it is the prize at the end of the race, in Paul's metaphor. It is the reward for obedience (John 14:15) and for laying down our lives (Matthew 16:24). When we have a view of what is to come, we are much better able to focus - and to keep what is important in front of us. I think we know this intuitively. If we have something thing we are working towards, whether financially or personally, we have a much easier time of aligning our daily activities towards meeting that goal. If we already have something, or there isn't a clear direction for where we are going, our efforts seem to be more prone to distraction.
There is more to wrestle with here, no doubt. I hold this loosely for now - longing to see growth in myself as well as others around me.
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