The plethora of Christianese….
On a daily basis we encounter a plethora of Christianese…. or terms considered to be most closely knit to the world of faith. Terms like “saved”, “sanctified”, “holiness”, and “righteousness” are thrown about like seasonings in a soup, all swirling together into one concept …. faith.
There is another list of words Christianese has decided are off limits, not just the “swear” words, a list of words like “works”, “law” and “obedience” as they insist these lead people into a self-actualized salvation.
It may be a good thing to stop here for just a brief prayer that Father God would calm you and prepare you for the information that follows.
Going to the Oxford Dictionary we can see the word “save” is defined as “to keep safe or rescue (someone or something) from harm or danger.” Likewise the word “salvation” is the “preservation or deliverance from harm ruin or loss.”
This is a one-to-one correlation, save and salvation, and yet each word has two distinct attributes, one is rescue and one of preservation. Oxford uses these examples:
“she saved a boy from drowning” = rescue
“she was never able to save much from her salary” = preservation
Let’s take the example of the drowning boy and examine it from the biblical perspective as we are (or were) drowning in our sin.
Q1. Once a person has been rescued does this provide the newly saved person to a complete understanding of how to swim?
Q2. Once saved, are they always saved? Or could they drown at another time?
Q3. Once the recently saved are on dry land are they immediately ready to jump back in the water to help others?
Now to break that down…..
Q1… admittedly there are a slew of circumstances that could lead to a person drowning, from being trapped in, or trapped by something. There is the lack of knowledge in swimming, as well as, personal disabilities that preclude one from swimming. All those anomalies aside, the person we see here lacks the knowledge to swim, and as such, once they hit dry ground, that knowledge of swimming is not going just download like a new phone app.
This person will need dedicated training and someone with a watchful eye close by until they are able to swim without incident. This can take a few days or even weeks to accomplish as the person may harbor anxiety and fear over going swimming at all.
Q2… The once saved always saved mentality prevails in church circles and to say it bluntly … it is a vicious lie.
Just like the drowning boy who wants to avoid that same mistake, may well find himself in ‘hot water’ once again, due to no fault of his own, a boat could sink; a river overruns its banks, or something as simple as falling asleep in the tub.
Q3… the short answer is NO!
This person needs time to heal and to get stronger, both physically and mentally, in order to properly assist. Like Q1 they may need to learn to swim! The expectation of a new convert immediately being assigned a ‘job’ in the church is bad for both parties.
This is the point of preservation found in the definition of the words saved and salvation. We have to have the instructions for swimming firmly embedded into our brains before we can count on our bodies to react to the situation.
After many years of learning and practicing, the boy will be able to swim at his leisure without fear of drowning (barring any accidental situations).
Once the boy has a firm grasp on the needed techniques, he can move forward with more challenging stroke patterns and then learning to come to the aid others.
As a young adult, I was on the local summer swim team and eventually moved on to the Junior High School swim team. Once established as a confident swimmer, I enrolled in the lifeguard program. After months of swimming laps and training on the CPR mannequin, I failed the class. Wont stop me from swimming nor will it stop me from trying my best to help another but I am not the best suited for the job.
Lets make this all make sense from the Biblical perspective….
Q1… what is it that is drowning mankind, or better yet what is sin, and how do we become saved from that sin?
1 John 3:4 “Whosoever committeth sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.”
Transgression, by definition, is the act that goes against a law, rule or code of conduct; it is an offense.
These offenses can be by omission, just not doing it by default, or by commission meaning there has been a decision made to not participate. According to this definition, we can see that sin is an act against the law. (remember that the word ‘law’ is one of the Churches not-so-favorite words)
The simple fact is this: There is a code, there are rules and the laws that God authored for our preservation … to keep us from ruin.
These instructions were given to mankind in the Garden of Eden and have not changed since the dawn of creation. Look at the description of salvation for Adam & Eve…
Genesis 3:21 “The Lord God made clothing out of skins for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them.”
Before you say “that proves nothing” let’s dig deeper into the facts…
In Leviticus 1 we read about the Atonement and the burnt offering. “If his gift is a burnt offering from the herd, he is to bring an unblemished male. He must bring it to the entrance to the tent of meeting so that he may be accepted by the Lord. He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering so it can be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him. He is to slaughter the bull before the Lord;”
God would not have wasted any part of the animal. The sacrifice was made and the skins used for clothing both figuratively and literally.
Isaiah 61:10 “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.”
Romans 4:7 “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.”
God has provided the covering for our iniquity since the beginning of time. This is the creation of light/Yeshua on day one! This why Abraham knew how to worship God.
Genesis 26:5 “Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”
Notice here in Genesis God himself mentions this very same law being observed by Abraham approximately 600 years before Moses recorded it.
This is why Paul writes in Galatians 3: “Wherefore then serveth the law? It was written because of transgressions.”
Much of mankind was not paying attention to the instructions and others were flat out refusing them. Esau and his bowl of soup had more to do with his rebellion than his hunger.
Esau refused to take the leadership role (as firstborns were expected) when it came to the spiritual or priestly role in the family. This is why we read that God hated Esau. {Malachi 1:3/Romans 9:13}
Look at other key scripture that bears witness to this concept of the law and its relevance today. Straight from the lips of the Creator.
Matthew 5:18 “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law…”
The word fulfil there is defined as ‘pleroo’ in the Greek and it means to teach, example and live out. If this was our example, the life led by Yeshua, a life lived following the law, then by default it is our standard.
Romans 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
Paul is telling us that it is our reasonable action to submit to the word of God, which are the instructions that we call Torah . 
Romans 7:12 “Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
Proverbs 4:2 “For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.”
This also means he became for us the living sacrifice and our propitiation (payment) for sin. As in the garden, so too today, he provides our covering of sin. 
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
1 John 4:10 “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
Galatians 3:13 “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
Conclusion to Q1 = God has saved all of us from the deadly flood waters of sin and has preserved for us a plan through the law that is, in his own words, good doctrine!
Moving on to Q2 and is it possible to drown later? We can immediately see from Esau’s example that you can be available for salvation and simply turn your back on it.
Hebrews 6:4-6 “For it is impossible to renew to repentance those who were once enlightened, who tasted the heavenly gift, became companions with the Holy Spirit, tasted God’s good word and the powers of the coming age, and who have fallen away, because,[a] to their own harm, they are recrucifying the Son of God and holding Him up to contempt.”
Hebrews 10:26-27 “For if we deliberately sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire about to consume the adversaries.”
Jesus is very hard on those that “profess him with their lips and yet their hearts are far from him” in several places. In Matthew 7 he adds a exclamation point when he call them “Lawbreakers!”
It is more than obvious one can walk away from God even after their initial act of contrition. There is some speculation for those that never came to the understanding truth and the law, that being, if they did not recognize the authority of the instructions as God’s word and His will for their lives…. did they actually get “saved” or are they still floating around actively drowning?
Being saved, receiving salvation comes at the point of repentance. If you do not believe, or have faith that Gods instructions are for you…. then you have nothing to repent…. no sin.
When there is nothing for you to measure your actions against there is no possibility of sinning… unfortunately this isn’t the case.
Mark 2:17 “When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Growing up in the church with lots of Christianese I was taught that repentance is saying sorry for so many things. Asking for Gods forgiveness when I had never asked a person for forgiveness.
Saying sorry for being disruptive in class, using colorful language or for drinking a beer. My apologies had very little to do with “the weightier matters” of my life and my submission to Gods authority.
To repent from sins means to turn away from it completely. That means turning towards the Torah a.k.a. The law. This is where Q3 kicks in…
We are called to study the Scriptures … not just once… not just when we feel like it… Paul tell us to wash our mind with the Word daily! Paul tells Timothy he needs to dig in it more. We need to sit on dry land for a while and soak in the SON. We need this time of restoration and equipping.
2 Timothy 2:15 “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
Joshua 1:8 “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”
Ephesians 5:26-27 “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”
Romans 12:1-2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
God saved me…. paid the ransom for my worthless hyde freeing me from the curse of breaking the law. This was free from Him and I cannot boast.
God provided my salvation…. he preserved a way of life that keeps our relationship in tact… this is also free… but also very costly because of the world.
John 15:18-20 “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.”
Shalom friends.
Berean Breadcrumbs 
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