Experiencing Salvation

When John Wesley asked Count Von Zinzendorf if he knew when he was saved, he replied, "I have always been saved!"

A very famous churchman's reply to the same question was, "I was saved nearly two thousand years ago, on a hill called Golgotha, outside the city of Jerusalem."

And this is the main point of the biblical witness: Our Salvation was accomplished nearly two thousand years ago in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the one true Son of God. The meaning that this past event has for us today, our response to that event, and our willingness to believe is crucial for us.

It doesn't matter so much when we come to believe as it does that we believe.


from (and thanks to):
Robert V. Dodd, Remember That You Are Not Alone, Faith Is for Sharing, CSS Publishing

"Doing" Faith

Alas, I confess to not being the best at grammar - not the way of 1970's Secondary education!

I was therefore intrigued to read that in John's Gospel faith is never referred to as a noun but rather as a verb. In otherwords faith is not something we have, but something we do! To quote Prof Karoline Lewis, "We tend to talk about "our faith" or "having faith," assuming that it is a done deal, that believing is as simple as acquiring faith. But the Gospel of John never refers to faith as a noun. Faith is not a possession, not something that one gets, not something that one has—it is something that one does. Believing for the characters in the Fourth Gospel is a verb." (http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=2/17/2008)

Now that does put a new perspective on what we have being trying to get across to Christians for .... ! Thank you Prof Karoline - this is a most helpful help.