Transformative, Incarnational Reality

What is faith? What is salvation? These have often become religious buzzwords, by overuse flattened out into abstraction, holy words sliding into empty slogans. Yet both faith and salvation have definite form and can be discerned in tangible ways. They can be embodied and lived out, realities to be inhabited, not concepts to be admired from afar.

Faith is lived trust, casting all our cares and anxieties upon the Lord, who takes care of us (1 Peter 5:7). It is committing our way to the Lord, entrusting ourselves to him who acts on our behalf (Psalms 37:5). It is following Lord Jesus, walking in his ways: “Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (1 John 2:6).

Salvation is transformative reality, as the apostles of our Lord have taught us: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17). “Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God – what is good and well-pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2). “Therefore, my dear friends ... continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Philippians 2:12-13). “Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (2 Peter 1:4).

To follow Lord Jesus, walking in his ways, 
entrusting all to him, is the beginning of salvation. 
For neither faith nor salvation are abstractions 
but are livable, transformative, 
incarnational reality.

What It Is To Have Faith in Jesus Christ

Faith in Christ is different from faith in propositions about Christ. The latter makes faith nothing more than an abstraction, disembodied and detached from the person of Christ, and from relationship with Christ — because Christ is not the object of such faith. True faith in Christ is a living, dynamic, and personal relationship with Christ. 

Lord Jesus said, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). To have faith in Jesus Christ is to follow him, for he is the Way. It is to yield to him, for he is The Truth. It is to live him, for he is The Life.

Dying Your Best Death Now

We are not here to live our best life but to die our best death, to deny ourselves in self-giving, other-centered, cross-shaped love. So shall we find our life. For this is the life of Christ, and our life is in him. Lord Jesus said, 

Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? (Mark 8:34-37) 

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mark 8:45)

And St. Paul answered, 

I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20 NET)

This is for all of us, the way of life for everyday saints and everyday living. It is the way of True Being, for it is the Way of Christ, in whom we have our being. 

It is the way of marriage and family and home. For though it may seem funny, it is nevertheless true that marriage is a martyrdom: we lay down our lives for the other. Parenthood, also, is a martyrdom: we lay down our lives for our children. 

Dying our best death is the only way of truly living our best life — dying and living with Christ for the sake of others. And so we discover the love of God, the life of Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit at work within.