Thursday, March 01, 2012

MYTH #26-To Jesus salvation is all about heaven!


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The emphasis upon salvation throughout the years tends to over focus on salvation as the channel or gateway to heaven. This has become an overriding theme in Christianity and yet is a myth. Salvation is so much more than a gateway to heaven or eternal life.
In the Old Testament Scriptures the concept of Shalom is a primary theme. Shalom is where people experience a peaceful and satisfying relationship with every aspect of life. Shalom encompasses the idea of peace, well-being, prosperity, and the experience of God's blessings. Everywhere in the Old Testament, peace and prosperity are seen as God's reward to those whose ways are pleasing to Him. In Proverbs 16:7 it says: "When a man's ways are pleasing to the Lord, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him." And in Psalm 128:1-2 it says: "Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways. You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours." Where "salvation" or "saved" is used in the Old Testament, it is in a "quite concrete" sense that "covers more than spiritual blessings," such as deliverance from earthly enemies, well-being and "the effect of God's goodness on his people". This sense of an all-embracing salvation is continued in the New Testament, even though the more spiritual aspect of forgiveness of sin receives a stronger emphasis today.

Jesus speaks of a wider sense of what salvation means. In Luke 7:50, Jesus says to the "sinful woman" regarding forgiveness of her sins, "Your faith has saved you", and in Mark 10:52 He uses the same Greek word for the blind man to imply restoration of sight. In Mark 5:28, He uses "saved" with a double meaning when he told the woman who had been suffering from bleeding, "Daughter, your faith has healed you, go in peace and be freed from your suffering." The word "healed" there is the word for "salvation". So, physical healing and spiritual salvation are found in the same term. Jesus didn't separate the physical from the spiritual.