Basically, we should be content with our salvation regardless of what accompanied it and what we had to go through to get saved. Just like Paul said, in our struggle against sin we have not resisted to the point of shedding blood (Hebrews 12:4). This simply means that, no matter what we go through either before getting saved or while working out our salvation, we have not suffered like Jesus did. No salvation story, no matter how gory or messy it is,  can outweigh what Jesus did on the cross. He shed his blood for all mankind, although he was holy, he was treated like the worst of us. We stand to benefit from this and not necessarily repeat this sacrifice exactly. However, we are expected to carry the essence of this sacrifice in our body on a daily basis so that the life of Jesus will be manifested in us (2 Corinthians 4:10). That is, we are expected to live a God-glorifying, self-denying and sacrificial life that is able to further God’s agenda here on earth. 

Let’s take the story of Paul’s conversion as a case study. Paul persecuted the early church and even gave approval of and oversaw the stoning of Stephen. He was renowned for his zeal against the church, the bible describes him in Acts 9:1 as “… breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord…”. However, his encounter on the road to Damascus was one that changed, not only the trajectory of that particular journey, but his entire life and mission. He was on his way to persecute more churches yet he met the Lord Jesus Christ and heard him speak to him so audibly that the people travelling with him also heard the voice. Jesus asked him, “why are you persecuting me?”. (As a little side note, Christians have to understand that persecution of the church or the children of God is actually persecution of Jesus). Anyway, Paul became blind for 3 days; he didn’t eat or drink during this period. One may ask, was it necessary that he became blind for 3 days? I cannot particularly tell. But the point I want to make with this post is that, it doesn’t matter. All that matters is the fact that he was saved although the road to his salvation was not pretty. Paul probably would have preferred a different kind of experience leading to salvation. But nobody is given the right to customize their journey to salvation or their salvation story. You cannot choose how you should be saved. 

After one is saved, there is a lot of work to be done too. People expect a rosy Christian life with zero level of effort from their end. But this is not what the bible teaches. We are expected to work out our salvation with fear and trembling and do everything possible to ensure that we stay in the will of God. Of course, all of this is powered by the grace of God and the leading of the Spirit who is the seal and assurance of our salvation. Therefore, the road to heaven (which I call the culmination of our salvation story) is also not always pretty. During the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5:29-30, Jesus made these 2 statements regarding the level of effort Christians need to put into maintaining their salvation until we enter heaven. He said:

• If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. 
• If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. 

He ended both statements by saying that it is better to lose your members than for the whole body to be thrown into hell. What does this mean? In the literal sense, it means God would prefer it if you entered heaven with one eye and one arm instead of your entire body thrown into hell. And if this is the case, we too should prefer this level of sacrifice, pain and suffering if it means through these we can enter into heaven. Of course, the bible isn’t insisting that we literally gouge out our eyes or cut off our arms anytime we are tempted or led to sin by them. But this comes as an example of the kind of extreme measures we are expected to take just to stay away from sin and to make it into heaven. Even if it takes losing something or someone that is as important to us as an eye ball or a right arm, we are admonished to do so. The road to eternal salvation is not always pretty. 

Lastly, in Paul’s first epistle to the church in Corinth, he addressed the issue of sexual immorality in the church. He highlighted a single story and pronounced judgement on the perpetrator. In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul refers to a man who was in the church and known to be sleeping with his step mother. The apostle made two recommendations regarding how this individual should be treated. He stated categorically in verse 2 that “Let him who has done this be removed from among you”. This man was to be excommunicated or restricted from fellowshipping with the larger group of believers according to Paul. This seems like a pretty harsh judgment for the sins of a Christian brother but it aligns with what Jesus said during the sermon on the mount, captured in the previous paragraph. For the church of Corinth, this brother was probably that eye ball or right arm they were expected to remove from their midst to ensure that there was sanctity, the fear of God and a literal hatred for sin amongst them. The Apostle spends the remaining parts of this passage, instructing the church on the necessity of excommunicating some of its members who fall into a certain category of sins. He ends it all by saying in verse 13 “purge the evil person from among you”. Sin is a cancer that spreads rapidly; either multiplying itself or engendering other sins. Hence, sometimes to prevent the spread of sin, the perpetrator must be removed from the group. This is the essence of the Apostle’s instruction and it very much aligns with the theme of this post.

My main focus however, is in his second recommendation. Paul gave the instruction that this man should be delivered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. Regarding the man being delivered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, I have written about it in an article you can find in this link, do check it out. My main focus, in this instance, is the fact that Paul believes the perpetrator being delivered to Satan and having his flesh destroyed will lead to his salvation in the day of the Lord. It is as if Paul is implying that, if this measure is not taken, this individual would continue in sin and will miss heaven on the day of judgement. But the discomfort and pain that will come with the destruction of his flesh, will actually ensure that he will be saved in the day of the Lord. 

Again, the road to salvation is not always pretty. Sometimes, you will be forced to inflict pain and misery on yourself just to ensure that you are saved on the last day. Other times, the pain and misery will be inflicted on you to ensure that you don’t miss heaven. And if that time comes, I pray you choose:

1. Salvation over comfort
2. Communion with the Holy God over union with family, friends and relations
3. The reproach of Christ over the pleasures/treasures of Egypt/the world (Hebrews 11:26). 

Because salvation, in and of itself, is valuable regardless of any accompanying conditions.

If there is anything I expect you to walk away with from this short series, it is the fact that no salvation story should be underrated or undermined. Salvation is God’s rescue mission. A rescue mission is still a rescue mission regardless of how long it took, how many boulders were lifted to get to the victim(s) or even what sacrifice had to take place for the victim(s) to be saved. This takes me all the way back to cross. 

I have heard world renowned atheists like Richard Dawkins belittle what happened at calvary and suggesting that the all-knowing God who created the heavens and the earth could have thought of a better way to save the world than to die on the cross. This will appear logical until we deeply interrogate what sin really is and its remedy. One would have expected the all-powerful God to just snap his finger and immediately zap away all that is wrong with the world and start a new one devoid of sin. Well God is not Thanos. This is the real world; we are not stuck in a Marvel comic either. 

First of all, sin is consequential both in the spiritual realm and the physical. I dare say it is more consequential spiritually than otherwise. The bible states categorically that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). This death is not a physical one, but a spiritual death which is characterised by a separation from God. In the New Testament, Jesus illustrates this same concept of spiritual death with an agricultural metaphor when he says in John 15:5 that, “I am the vine, ye are the branches … for without me you can do nothing”. When  a branch of a tree is broken off, it is dead because it is has been separated from its source of nourishment. This is what it means to be spiritually dead. 

Adam and Eve were instructed to refrain from eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil because the consequences of doing so was death (Genesis 2:17). From the story, we can tell that they didn’t die a physical death when they disobeyed God, but a spiritual one which was characterised by separation from God and a spread of decay through generations of the human race. Hence, to deal with sin and its consequences with a physical approach and not deal with its spiritual roots is an exercise in futility. Take for example Jesus’ description of the Pharisees and their attitude towards righteousness. We see this clearly in his chastisement of the Pharisees in Matthew 23, popularly known as the “7 woes to the Scribes and Pharisees”. From verse 25 to 28, Jesus referred to the Pharisees as hypocrites because of their approach to righteousness. His chastisements are summarised as follows:

• Jesus accused them of cleaning the outside of cups and plates while there is greed and self-indulgence inside. 
• Jesus described them as whitewashed tombs that are clean on the outside but are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness
• Jesus accused them of outwardly appearing righteous to others but being filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness. 

This is how God sees the Pharisees who followed the very laws he had given to the Israelites. It goes to show that it takes a lot more than dressing the outside of a vessel for God to consider it clean. It takes a rebirth of your spirit, a transformation of the heart, for you to be truly saved. If you expect God to snap his finger for all of this to happen then you are expecting him to go against the laws he has made himself. 

This brings me to my second point: without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin (Hebrews 9:22). The debt we owed God while we dwelt in sin is not cancelled unless blood is shed. Hence, all the sacrifices in the Old Testament only serve as a foreshadow to the great sacrifice on calvary. To save us, God intended to do a thorough job. He didn’t set out to do a lazyman’s work of merely washing the outside of the vessels we possess. He intended to create in us a new spirit that is united with his Spirit. This is no joke. It had to take the shedding of precious divine blood. In Hebrews 10:10, we are told that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all. Which means, the sacrifice of Jesus doesn’t need to be repeated (contrary to what happened in the Old Testament when animals were sacrificed). Jesus’ sacrifice is good enough to deal with all our sins and for all time. This is the essence of God’s approach to saving humanity. He intended for Jesus to be sacrificed to fulfil the law regarding remission of sins and also to offer us salvation that is good enough to save all of humanity and at any point in human history after the cross. 

God’s rescue mission was not all pretty and flowery, but it was effective and that’s just what we should focus on. Christians the world over sing songs about the cross and speak flamboyantly about its essence to the body of Christ, however, the cross is basically a symbol of death. In our world today, it could be synonymous to an electric chair. When we sing songs of adoration for the cross, we are not praising it for the instrument of death that it is, but for the life that came out of that one cross on calvary. At the center of our salvation story is an instrument of death. From the perspective of our Saviour, I can boldly state that salvation can be messy but completely worth it. The agony of Christ on the road to calvary and the pain he felt while hanging on the cross should tell us that our salvation caused him a lot of pain and cost him his life. 

In Hebrews 12:2, we are told that Christ endured the pain of the cross and despised the shame because of the joy that was awaiting him. This affirms the fact that God’s rescue mission of the whole of mankind didn’t come on a sliver platter. However, the Saviour was not perturbed or discouraged by the enormity of the task at hand, neither did he abandon the mission because of the excruciating pain. Rather, he endured the pain and disregarded the shame that came with being executed like a sinner all because of the joy that was set before him. Perhaps, we should also concern ourselves more with the joy of salvation rather than the manner in which salvation comes to us. I know there is exceeding joy in being saved, but today I came to remind you that the road to salvation is not always pretty and maybe we need to appreciate salvation a little more because of this.

Ravi Zacharias also puts it nicely (as always), he said “it was not the volume of sin that sent Christ to the cross; it was the FACT of sin”. Meaning, Jesus didn’t come to die on the cross because there was too much sin in the world, He would have still done so even if there was just a teeny-weeny dot of sin in the world. If it was about the volume of sin, he would have come during Noah’s time. Furthermore, it means that if I were the only person on this earth, Christ would have still come to die for me on the cross. What manner of love is this? This is perfectly depicted in the Parable of the good shepherd. I always picture myself as that one sheep who went astray, never thinking I was deserving of the master’s very presence yet here he comes in urgency to look for me. ‘You have 99 others’ I tell him, but he says ‘the 99 others will never make up for the anguish of losing you’. This is awe-inspiring; it drives me to my knees daily. Like, ‘Lord I don’t even think of you this much. Why are you so mindful of me? Jupiter, the galaxies, space, the sun and the moon are all more majestic and enormous in size than I am. How am I this visible that you can look past your ‘greatest’ creations and care so much about me?’

Isaiah, Job and David all said something to this effect. How undeserving we are of God’s grace. In their song ‘Avalanche’, hillsong put it nicely when they said ‘I am caught up in Grace like an avalanche’. By the way, an avalanche is a mass of snow, ice, and rocks falling rapidly down a mountainside. You need rescue from an avalanche. You need salvation from an avalanche. You can’t just up and leave, the force is too overwhelming; it will sweep you off your feet and toss you around like a doll. This is what hillsong has likened God’s grace to. Indeed, it is very overwhelming.

With that in mind, does that mean we are saved forever? So, no matter our actions are we still locked up in God’s grace? Is ‘once saved, forever saved’ biblical? Well, let’s go to scripture. Even before that, let’s look at one aspect of God’s nature that is mind-boggling as well: God’s unwillingness to violate the human will. Moses said in Deuteronomy 30:19 (clearly inspired by God) that, I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants. God almighty, creator of the heavens and the earth is the very epitome of love and justice combined. He has set before you life and death but won’t force you to choose life, but rather admonish you to do so. This is the reason why there is evil in the world. Because God didn’t create a robot when he made man, he created a being. In the very sense of the word, a being can choose what it wants to be. Therefore, if God won’t violate the human will, it means he wouldn’t impose his grace on anybody. If so, then it means that human beings can willingly and actively walk away from His grace. His grace is precious and boundless, it is not a cage or a trap. It doesn’t have a laser beam demarcating its boundaries. Therefore it is safe to say that one can be in God’s grace and walk right out of it. That is why there is such a term as ‘backsliding’ or ‘falling away’… better still, apostasy.

Prophetically, the bible actually admonishes us to expect a massive falling away of Christians leading to the revelation of the anti-christ. The bible says in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 that, ‘Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the FALLING AWAY comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition’. Even if you are still not convinced that a Christian can lose his salvation, let’s hear what Jesus himself said will be one of the most shocking incidents on judgment day. He said many will step up to him and say they cast out demons and healed the sick in his name but he will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU workers of iniquity’. Now these aren’t ordinary Christians. These, to me, appear to be men of God who lost their salvation even without knowing it. Yes, you can lose it and not know it. A man of God I listened to recently said that, ‘God is the only boss who can fire you and keep you working for him’. The gifts and callings of God are irrevocable. Hence, you can be operating in spiritual gifts and not make it to heaven. These are the sort of people Jesus was talking about here. They were Christians; they did miracles in the name of Jesus. Yet he called them ‘workers of iniquity’. Brethren, be not deceived, the grace of God is no licence to sin. It is free but not cheap, therefore we must handle our salvation with utmost care and reverence as we work it out daily!

Now that we have seen what scripture says about falling away from the faith, let’s take a look at the implications of that. Can I come back to Christ when I fall away… especially when I verbally denounce him and go after another god? The answer from scripture is a big NO! Here it is:

4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,

5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,

6 If they shall FALL AWAY, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. (Hebrews 6:4-6)

There it is. God abounds in grace but he won’t have his grace trampled under the foot of men. The verse literally means, those who fall away from Christianity have literally done what the Romans did – they have crucified Christ and shamed him openly. He offered himself for us once and dealt with the problem of sin once and for all. So when you walk away from this offer, especially when you have tasted it before, you can’t just come back like God’s grace is an option and not the ultimate.

It is even more scary when you find out the writer of the book of Hebrew repeated this truth in Chapter 10 (v 26). Here he stated that anybody who continues to ‘WILLINGLY sin’ after becoming a Christian will eventually fall away and there will no longer remain an offering for him. He would have to go find his own Christ and nail him to the cross for his salvation. Which is absurd and impossible. Therefore I would like to admonish all Christians who read this post to remain in the grace of God. Do not fall away. No matter what you go through in this life, hold on to your faith in Christ. No earthly pain and anguish can be compared to a minute’s relief in hell – if even there is such a thing. When you have questions, search for answers and don’t allow yourself to be swayed by any wind of doctrine… the leaven of the Pharisees, as Jesus calls it.

I told a friend recently that, hell is the reverse-reality of the love of God. How terrible the punishment of hell is, reveals to us how deeply hurt God is by those who have no regard for his grace. Plus, he loves you so much to save you from hell. Read about hell once in awhile when you don’t feel loved and you will know how deeply loved you are of God. He loved you enough to save you from it. Jesus is the good shepherd: the good shepherd gives his life for his sheep. He is the good shepherd and not the good goatherd. Goats are stubborn and adamant in their ways. Sheep are obedient and very compliant. That is why Christ said ‘my sheep know me and they hear my voice’. Be a sheep today and even to the end of time.