In meditations 38 to 42 we searched through the Gospels, the book of Acts, Paul's letter and ‘the Letter to the Hebrews’ to see how they depict ‘divine salvation’. Today we will comb through the letters of James, Peter and John for ‘salvation pictures’. As we already said before, we will not repeat the pictures which we have already found in the New Testament, although many of them are repeated time and again:
‘Divine Salvation’ is pictured as:
• Being made holy by the Holy Spirit of God
“God the Father chose you long ago, and the Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed Jesus Christ and are cleansed by his blood. May you have more and more of God's special favor and wonderful peace.” 1 Peter 1:2
• Being shielded by God’s power
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-- kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” 1 Peter 1:3-5
• Being a foreigner on earth
“Remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites when he judges. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time as foreigners here on earth.” 1 Peter 1:17
• Being a holy priest of God
“...and now God is building you, as living stones, into his spiritual temple. What's more, you are God's holy priests, who offer the spiritual sacrifices that please him because of Jesus Christ.”
1 Peter 2:5
• Sharing in God’s divine nature
“By that same mighty power, he [God] has given us all of his rich and wonderful promises. He has promised that you will escape the decadence all around you caused by evil desires and that you will share in his divine nature.” 2 Peter 1:4
• Being like Jesus
“Yes, dear friends, we are already God's children, and we can't even imagine what we will be like when Christ returns. But we do know that when he comes we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.” 1 John 3:2
• Having the testimony of God in your heart
“Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” 1 John 5:10-12
• Having fellowship with God the Father and God the Son
“If you wander beyond the teaching of Christ, you will not have fellowship with God. But if you continue in the teaching of Christ, you will have fellowship with both the Father and the Son.”
2 John 1:9
• Living in the love of God the Father and in the care of Jesus his Son
“This letter is from Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James. I am writing to all who are called to live in the love of God the Father and the care of Jesus Christ.” Jude 1:1
• Seeing Jesus’ face and having his Name written on your forehead
“No longer will anything be cursed. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there [in the new Jerusalem], and his servants will worship him. And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads.” Revelation 22:3-4
• For ever reigning with the Messiah over his Kingdom
“There will be no night there [New Jerusalem]-- no need for lamps or sun-- for the Lord God will shine on them. And they [Jesus’ servants] will reign forever and ever.” Revelation 22:5
“Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices shouting in heaven: ‘The whole world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.’" Revelation 11:15
• Having the right to eat the fruit from the tree of life
(see Genesis 2:9 and 3:22-24)
“Blessed are those who wash their robes so they can enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life.” Revelation 22:14
If you are like me, you might be overwhelmed by the 82 present and future ‘salvation pictures’ we have collected from the New Testament. Actually, our list is not even exhaustive, and as we said before, many of the salvation pictures are used frequently throughout the Gospels and the Epistles!
As specific circumstances and spiritual interests change over the years, our attraction to a particular ‘salvation picture’ might give way more than once to another picture. As a new follower of Jesus in a ‘free country’ you might momentarily be fascinated by a different kind of picture than those who live in countries where Christians are persecuted and imprisoned for their faith. Thank God for the fact that the great diversity of pictures is able to enrich our lives in every circumstance and in every stage of our spiritual journey.
It is time to start looking at some of those ‘salvation pictures’ in a more detailed way. Because of the character of our meditations, we are specifically interested in those pictures that deal with the Christian walk of life from its ‘rebirth experience’ until the stage of Christlike maturity.
So, let’s begin at the beginning...
The Bible verses 1 Peter 1:3-5 and 1 John 5:10-12 are quotes of the New International Version. All other texts are quoted from the New Living Translation.
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