Zev Porat

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

BELIEVING: THE ONLY LOGICAL WAY OF SALVATION

by Rev. Joda Collins 

A man walks into a psychiatrist office frantically swatting bugs flying around his head when there are none. 


A person breaks into a panic due to fear of heights when he takes steps up a ladder and refuses to go beyond the third step.  A person does not venture outside of his home.  A guy walks down the sidewalk and carefully avoids stepping on the cracks in the concrete.  None of these people view their behavior as odd nor are they overly-concerned about what others think of them because their belief system makes their behavior logical for them. 

The Christian experience is:
    1.  Entrance.
    2.  Maintenance and progress.
    3.  Transition to the next life.

Each of these components is fueled by faith. Not isolated faith because faith in something that has no relationship to reality is just misplaced confidence. If I have faith that a weak and broken chair will hold my body weight and sit in it with confidence, great will be the fall!  Faith is designed to get us from our current place of ineffectiveness to God's location of power.

My entrance in to the place of God's saving grace is by faith (believing) in the saving power of the shed blood of Christ.

My entrance in to a Christian life of purpose (maintenance and progress) is a faith-walk in accord with God's Word and direction.

My transition to the next life, if it is going to be a graceful and confident one, is by faith in the promises of Scripture regarding the next life.

However, faith (believing) is not the goal. The goal of salvation is not faith, but becoming a child of God. The goal of having a life of God-ordained purpose is not faith, but having a God-ordained life of purpose.  The goal of a grace-filled and confident exit from this life is not faith, but a grace-filled and confident exit from this life.  Faith (believing) is the path to those realities.  

If I believe the airplane can and will stay in the sky for my entire trip, I get to experience the reality of the power and ability of the airplane. If I have faith (believe) the chair that will hold my body weight, will hold my weight I get to sit in the chair and relax.  If I have faith (believe) the money in my hand will buy lunch, then I get to eat lunch. 

When I am in the airplane, those who do not believe in flying metal containers with wings do not effect the way I enjoy my flight or the fact of my ultimate arrival at my final destination.  When I am seated in my comfortable chair those who deny the existence of chairs do not alter my behavior around chairs or shake my confidence in strong chairs.  When I have purchased my meal, those who do not believe money can buy food or who do not believe that food exists have no power over me.  Such people just seem odd to me as I know they are out of touch with reality. 

Likewise, faith led me to Christ who saved me. I know I am saved. Those who deny the existence of Christ do not shake my confidence in Him or make me doubt my salvation. Walking by faith in this life has led me and continues to lead me to realities of God's leadership and more and more fellowship with God. Those who do not believe in walking by faith or the reality of a personal relationship with Christ do not make me doubt God's leadership or my personal fellowship with Christ.  Those who deny the reality of eternal life will not turn my conscious exit from this life to the next life in to fearful whimpers of doubt.  I faced the real possibility of death when I went in for major surgery in 1991.  The surgeon told me my chances of dying on the table were greater than living through the surgery.  Facing the probability of death was amazingly easy.  It never even crossed my mind to say a plausible good-bye to my wife or children, I guess, because I knew that even if I died, we are all saved and among us there is no such thing as good-bye.  Honestly, I never even gave the reality of dying a moments concern, not because dying was not a reality, but because dying did not frighten me.  It never crossed my mind to be concerned about it.  My years of living for and with Jesus, the cause, I am sure.  Now, that I reflect on that day, Oct 31, 1991, it just dawned on me that I forgot to pray for successful surgery!  Yikes!

As a man believes in his heart, so is he.  Proverbs 23:7.  God turns us in to what He wants us to be when we walk the path of godly faith because that is the only route to God where we experience God's life-changing power.  Faith (believing) is powerful.  It does not take a lot of wisdom, imagination or thought to realize faith is the only logical way to reach God!

It really does not matter what other people believe about your confidence in God. People who are disconnected from reality will be confused and/or critical.  So be it. 

We are and become what we believe.  Our belief system is our road map for the future.  As God modifies our belief system, He turns us more and more into his image as He becomes more and more the focal point of our existence. 

Christians are not swatting imaginary bugs; we are serving a living God. Our faith is our avenue to God. Our belief system is powerful and effective because God is powerful and effective. Our faith is logical because it is God-ordained for success. 

"For by grace are you saved through faith...."  (Ephesians 2:8.)  Faith is the avenue to grace.  Saving grace is the object of our faith.

"Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved...."  (Acts 16:31.) Belief is the avenue to the Lord Jesus Christ.  The saving power of the Lord Jesus Christ is the object of our belief. 

"We walk by faith...."  (2 Corinthians 5:7.)  The rest of the chapter identifies the purpose of the walk by faith is to serve and please God.  God is the object of our faith. 

Once we get to God we do not need faith because we are in the reality of the experience with God. The more we have experience with God, the easier bigger and bolder steps of faith become.  We call those who take big, bold steps of faith, spiritual giants.  There really are no spiritual giants. There are people who have taken enough little and medium steps of faith towards God until big steps become the norm for them.  Keep taking steps of faith until someone thinks you are a spiritual giant, then show him or her how to do it.  Anyone can do it.  It is not that hard.  Where God leads you, He is able to deliver you there and He will be there for you. He will prove it to you over and over. It is that simple.

For those who reject salvation by faith (believing), God has made a way of salvation by works.  It is called the Ten Commandments.  Keep the Ten Commandments perfectly and you do not need faith to be saved.  Either way works for God. You make your decision about which way you want to use.  
Author Image
Rev . Joda  Collins
www.jodacollins/spotlight/lulu.com
I make no claim that anyone else agrees with me.



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