What does it mean to be "Saved" or "Born-again"? Even to Christians, this might not be well understood. Having come from a more ritualistic Christian background, I didn't even know what believers meant when they said "The gospel" (No they weren't referring directly to the four books in the New Testament).
I had a work event last night where I was speaking with a deacon (though I didn't know he was a deacon at the time) and we were coming from the same theology (Reformed Baptist). This is highly unusual since there are so many denominations (for example another person I was speaking to is married to a Pentecostal minister). And while an elder who also founded a church, he too was saved, though decades ago. He completely understood everything that I was talking about when explaining my experiences leading up to my conversion. Experience is an important word in this context. The intelligent born-again Christian will respect any history that a newly saved believer will have had and will evangelize with compassion, as I have shared in my piece "Effective Witnessing". And conversely when he spoke I understand what he was saying as well. This is because being born-again is black and white and so the lack of ambiguity makes it basic and simple. God is not the author of confusion. (1 Corinthians 14:33)
The deacon was talking about being "saved" which until about three weeks ago was another concept foreign to me. When I was baptized into the Catholic Church in 2010, I didn't view myself as saved, I viewed myself as an official Christian who was going to live by the books and be dutiful. It wasn't until the past summer when my eyes were opened to the incredibly delicate, and though we all are affected by it, somehow controversial crisis of death. It was then I realized all of the answers to life's problems are found in the Bible. I became convicted by the Holy Spirit once and for all.
After this revelation, the mesh of Bible-only believing Christians no longer threatened or confused me. Despite their various backgrounds and points of interest, what they said made perfect sense. Their central point of salvation didn't vary and I admired their confidence. Not only did I admire it, I found myself developing that same certainty and fitting in with them. I related and could contribute. For the first time I actually felt like a real Christian because for the first time I realized that I was idolizing myself and seeking approval from people who also had false gods. I deduced that the root of human volatility and unreliability is the adoration of self.
I zealously proclaimed the gospel, not as I understood it, but as it actually is. And in so I felt vindicated by the rejection of certain people in my life. Now as I re-balance after a tumultuous month of highs and lows as described in the conclusion of my testimony, I am now in a period of reflection and reprieve while I with assurance await my next instruction.
So what does it mean to be saved? It means to see the error of self-deification. I didn't notice how far deep into idolism I was, as I wrote about in "Little g". Being saved doesn't mean we become perfect, it means we finally see our imperfection. And this is not to say that I didn't receive the Holy Spirit when I was baptized on my birthday in April 2010, it just means that my previous way of living, both worship of self through giving into sin time and again, as well as reliance on others and not on God, are no longer acceptable and must be guarded against with vigilance. (1 Peter 5:8)
It's not as painful to live in salvation as I thought it would be. The cross isn't as heavy as I thought it would be, and having thought it would be too much is essentially a tell-tale sign of a reliance on self. Jesus said he will carry all of my burdens, (Matthew 11:28-30) but I didn't believe Him. And that was why I chose superficial means of relief from the weight, instead of relying on God's strength. The release of pride to not need to be the best has been one of the greatest fruits of conversion. It is lonely to want to be ahead of everyone else, and frustrating when I see no one is actually following. Now I can just go day-by-day and see where the Lord takes me. That is grace.
I had a work event last night where I was speaking with a deacon (though I didn't know he was a deacon at the time) and we were coming from the same theology (Reformed Baptist). This is highly unusual since there are so many denominations (for example another person I was speaking to is married to a Pentecostal minister). And while an elder who also founded a church, he too was saved, though decades ago. He completely understood everything that I was talking about when explaining my experiences leading up to my conversion. Experience is an important word in this context. The intelligent born-again Christian will respect any history that a newly saved believer will have had and will evangelize with compassion, as I have shared in my piece "Effective Witnessing". And conversely when he spoke I understand what he was saying as well. This is because being born-again is black and white and so the lack of ambiguity makes it basic and simple. God is not the author of confusion. (1 Corinthians 14:33)
The deacon was talking about being "saved" which until about three weeks ago was another concept foreign to me. When I was baptized into the Catholic Church in 2010, I didn't view myself as saved, I viewed myself as an official Christian who was going to live by the books and be dutiful. It wasn't until the past summer when my eyes were opened to the incredibly delicate, and though we all are affected by it, somehow controversial crisis of death. It was then I realized all of the answers to life's problems are found in the Bible. I became convicted by the Holy Spirit once and for all.
After this revelation, the mesh of Bible-only believing Christians no longer threatened or confused me. Despite their various backgrounds and points of interest, what they said made perfect sense. Their central point of salvation didn't vary and I admired their confidence. Not only did I admire it, I found myself developing that same certainty and fitting in with them. I related and could contribute. For the first time I actually felt like a real Christian because for the first time I realized that I was idolizing myself and seeking approval from people who also had false gods. I deduced that the root of human volatility and unreliability is the adoration of self.
I zealously proclaimed the gospel, not as I understood it, but as it actually is. And in so I felt vindicated by the rejection of certain people in my life. Now as I re-balance after a tumultuous month of highs and lows as described in the conclusion of my testimony, I am now in a period of reflection and reprieve while I with assurance await my next instruction.
So what does it mean to be saved? It means to see the error of self-deification. I didn't notice how far deep into idolism I was, as I wrote about in "Little g". Being saved doesn't mean we become perfect, it means we finally see our imperfection. And this is not to say that I didn't receive the Holy Spirit when I was baptized on my birthday in April 2010, it just means that my previous way of living, both worship of self through giving into sin time and again, as well as reliance on others and not on God, are no longer acceptable and must be guarded against with vigilance. (1 Peter 5:8)
It's not as painful to live in salvation as I thought it would be. The cross isn't as heavy as I thought it would be, and having thought it would be too much is essentially a tell-tale sign of a reliance on self. Jesus said he will carry all of my burdens, (Matthew 11:28-30) but I didn't believe Him. And that was why I chose superficial means of relief from the weight, instead of relying on God's strength. The release of pride to not need to be the best has been one of the greatest fruits of conversion. It is lonely to want to be ahead of everyone else, and frustrating when I see no one is actually following. Now I can just go day-by-day and see where the Lord takes me. That is grace.
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