When I was struggling with Greek in seminary, one day our class was dealing with the various ways the noun “salvation” and the verb “to save” appear in the New Testament. In the midst of the conversation, one of the students asked: “Dr. Gealy, what is ‘salvation’—really?” The room became especially quiet. It was a question each of us wanted to ask. Dr. Gealy knew it.

Dr. Fred Gealy was one of the most highly educated, wisest, most saintly persons I have ever known. In pre-World War II Japan he had been a missionary. When he was forced to return to the United States he gained respect as a New Testament scholar. In addition to all that, he was an accomplished organist. For all his gifts, graces and academic brilliance, Dr. Gealy, was one of the most amazingly humble men I have known.

For what seemed a long time, Dr. Gealy sat quietly with his eyes closed. Finally he said in his soft, gentle voice: “Would it be too embarrassing for me to admit that after all I have been through, all I have read and studied, that I must confess: ‘I cannot say’? I am like a little baby in a baby bed. Above my head someone has hung a brightly colored, wonderful play thing. Although I have no words to think with, I know it is mine. I cannot grasp it because I am still too much of an infant. And so I lie there on my back, awkwardly and excitedly moving my arms and legs and making the noises a delighted baby makes because although I do not know and cannot say exactly what it is, I know it is mine.”

The word “salvation” like all the other words of the Christian faith that point to the most profound realities and deepest truths of the Gospel is finally beyond our human ability to state adequately in words. However, I can make a few comments that may be helpful in pointing in the general direction of what the New Testament is talking about when it uses the Greek word we translate as “salvation.”

We do not have a word in English that adequately translates exactly what Paul and other New Testament writers meant when they used the Greek word we translate as “salvation.” Our verb “to save” and our noun “salvation” tend to be understood by us as primarily having to do with rescue. For us “to be saved” is for us to be rescued from some danger. We are “saved from drowning,” “saved from being killed,” “saved from hell.” Our American English word “salvation” has a kind of negative spin. Its focus is on what we are rescued from.

Well, this is part of what the New Testament word is trying to communicate. However, the Greek word in the New Testament also has meanings that are absent from the way we use the word “salvation” in English. The Greek word we translate as “salvation” can also be translated as “healing” or “wholeness.”^[1] In fact, some New Testament scholars debate whether what Jesus said should be translated as: “Your faith saved you” or “Your faith has healed you” or Your faith has made you whole.”^[2] The Greek word we translate as “salvation” has a positive spin on it. It is not merely rescue from something bad. Salvation also has to do with being made whole, being made healthy, being healed.

Now, to be sure in the New Testament era, centuries before modern medicine, antibiotics and such, to be ill was to be in danger of dying. Even a scratch that became infected could lead to death. So, to be healed, to be made whole, was also a rescue from death. But the word had a positive spin; it focused on movement toward wholeness and health. To be cured of a disease was not merely a rescue from death; it was the gift of wholeness and life and health. Thus when Paul wrote about salvation, he was not primarily focused on rescue from pain and punishment, here and hereafter. His focus was on the soul healing that makes it possible for us to be the persons God intends us to be.

The Good News of salvation is not merely that God’s merciful grace rescues us from punishment we deserve. Salvation is much more than merely rescue. The Good News of salvation is that God’s grace can turn our living around so that we can live each moment of everyday as God intends. Salvation is the offering of the possibility of living as God intends and discovering the fulfillment God’s grace offers. The Good News of salvation is that we can become the persons God intends us to be; we can live saying and doing what God wants said and done. In the Gospel of John this concept is stated when Jesus said: “I have come that you might have life, and have it abundantly.”^[3]

And in the passage that was read earlier, Paul tells us that this spiritual health, this way of life, this salvation, this wholeness of soul, is closer to us now than when we first believed.

You may have noticed that this statement sounds very much like what both John the Baptist and Jesus were preaching: “The kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven [that is, the reign of God, the reign of heaven] is near at hand.”^[4] John the Baptist, Jesus and Paul were saying almost the same thing. All of them were saying, God being in charge of our lives and us living as God intends us to live is very close to us—right now. 

And in truth it is. We are as close as our next decision to living as God intends us to live. We are as close as the next choice we make to allowing God to reign in our lives. We are as close as the next action we take, the next deed we do, to living in the kingdom of God. We are as close as the next thoughts we think, as close as the next words we say to living as the persons God intends us to be. 

It is one thing to know this in our heads; it is another to live it each moment of each day. From experience we know what Paul knew, that all too often we fail to do the good we know we ought to be doing and all too often we do what we know we ought not do.[5] How can we not merely know how we ought to live, but actually live that way? 

In the passage we read this morning Paul wrote that the key to living as God intends us to live, has to do with our “putting on Christ.” What I understand Paul to be telling us is that as we live, we are to keep our focus on Christ. We are to carry out the responsibilities life has given us, using our best understanding of Christ to guide us. The more we focus on Christ, the more likely we are to avoid both the attitudes and actions that distort our living and make the world worse. The more we focus on Christ, the more our living becomes Christ-like and the more spiritually healthy we are. 

Of course, we need to remember that spiritual health is similar to physical health in that just because we are healthy one moment does not mean we no longer have to strive to be healthy. Stop exercising, start overeating and increase the abuse of our bodies and our physical health disappears. Stop focusing on Christ, ignore the disciplines of spiritual health, and we are soon choosing darkness rather than light, and failing to be the persons God intends us to be. Each moment of each day we have to choose again and again to live our faith. But when our choices in life are shaped by our focus on Christ, we grow in grace; which is another way of saying our spiritual health continually grows stronger. 

We as persons and we as a nation always need to be spiritually healthy—and this is especially true today. In the face of the trials and frustrations in our lives, it is essential for us to keep our focus on Christ if we are to deal with whatever we must deal with in ways that are pleasing to God. This is true whether the trials and frustrations have to do with the unsettled and unsettling process of deciding who will be our next President, or whether we are dealing with personal or family tragedies that tempt us to give in to bitterness. Whether we are dealing with some personal injustice or being caught up in some personal triumph, for us to live as the persons God intends us to be, we must keep our focus on Christ. Whether we are caught up in joyful anticipation of our extended family coming together this Christmas or dreading the stress and hassle of our extended families coming together, for us to deal with the situation as God intends, we must keep our focus on Christ. 

Salvation, the healing and wholeness we need in order for us to be the persons God intends us to be is close; it is at hand; why, it is as close as the next thoughts we think, the next choice we make, the next words we speak, the next deed we do. The key is keeping our focus on Christ. Or, as Paul said, “Putting on Christ.” 

I like the way the New International Version translates the passage I have been talking about: The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 

 

God, help us remember that the salvation you have made possible is closer than we can imagine. Enable us to keep our focus on Christ so that regardless of what we are going through, what we choose to think, say and do will move us closer to being the persons you intend us to be. Amen.  

Pastoral Prayer:

            God, you are aware of all that is at work in life around us that stimulates our fears and anxieties and brings out the worst in us. God, give us the peace that is beyond the world’s understanding. Enable us to be so at peace with you that we have inner calm as we deal with the various problems and pains in our lives. God, give us such a confidence in you and your grace that we totally give ourselves to your purposes. Help us be so aware of your self-giving love that we are motivated to live giving of ourselves for the good of others and in the process discovering the scriptural promise that perfect love casts out fear is fulfilled in us.^[6]

            As we begin this season of hope, this season of Advent, we ask that your grace be so at work in our lives that we are enabled to face what we must face, do what we must do, and endure what we must endure with a sense of peace and confidence in your will.

Teach us to live the confident faith reflected in the prayer Jesus taught us: “Our
Father ....”