Waiter; There’s a Fly in My Salvation!

The Contract

Welcome Mr. Ross. How can my legal office be of service to you?

I have signed my name to a contract and would like to be released from it.

What is the contract pertaining too?

Well…ah…it’s my salvation contract.

Your salvation contract? That’s very interesting; do you have the document with you? Who presented this contract to you?

Yes, I have it right here. At the time I thought it was God, but the more I think about it I’m convinced now it was the Devil?

What makes you believe this?

After signing this salvation contract I noticed that things started to happen to me that were different than I had ever known. These appeared to be good things like experiencing greater spiritual awareness, feeling powerful and even seeing some signs and wonders.

Go on Mr. Ross.

Well I did experience these things, but there was no personal peace. I thought my salvation was supposed to be about peace. So I’m thinking maybe something is wrong with the contract.

An interesting deduction Mr. Ross; let me look at this contract for a moment. Hmmm, there appears to be the basic personal salvation legalese ——- a salvation god, sinner saved from hell, but then there are about ten pages of miscellaneous provisions.

What?

“Miscellaneous provisions.”

What are those?

Here is an example; on page six, it says; “Recipient”, that’s you; promises to sacrifice personal freedom in time and materials in order to serve the interests of the salvation provided. It further states that the recipient is entitled to all the peace that said salvation has to offer once said obligations have been satisfied.

Wait a minute! I find no wording here that constitutes the guidelines for satisfying this salvation’s expectations.

What does that mean?

It means Mr. Ross that there is no end to sacrificing time and materials and because of that you will never know peace in this salvation contract.

I thought that something was wrong! So how do I get out of it?

Mr. Ross I’m sorry, but this contract remains binding. There appears to be no way for you to separate from its obligation; it appears that you chose the wrong contract. I’m afraid that there is no way for us to help you, unless of course you need one of our other services.

Please, there must be some way out of this! I can’t accept my salvation without peace!

Well, there is one way, but you probably won’t see it as a better solution.

Tell me!

Mr. Ross… It’s another salvation contract.

It will free you from any previous binding obligations, but this new contract violates the basic motive as to why you sought for eternity on your own in the first place; you of course wanted to be in control of your spiritual destiny; Isn’t that right?

I’m afraid that this new salvation contract can’t provide you with the same level of personal power and success that you were hoping to achieve.

No wait, I want to hear more!

OK, here it is.

This contract is different from all others in that it provides you with a salvation of righteousness, peace and joy, but the contract clearly stipulates that if you are to benefit from its reward, it is because you choose to separate from a significant level of personal strength.

How much strength?

……. Mr. Ross… I’m afraid that this is just wasting your time, I’m sure that you can make some other concessions with the salvation you have.

No Wait! Please, I’m desperate! How much strength must I give up in order to acquire this new salvation?

Mr. Ross the contract requires that you enter into death in order to activate its agreement.

Death! What’s the point of having a salvation that kills me?

Unlike other contracts that invite you to sacrifice in order to please your deity, death clearly destroys any hope of you gaining glory for yourself. This new contract expects you to give its author all the glory.

Well that would mean that it isn’t my salvation after all, but based on someone else’s life.

Exactly Mr. Ross; fortunately the one who wrote this contract has actually proven that he is able to give you meaning even on the other side of death.

How is that possible?

As it turns out, he proved it first on himself and amazingly he was able to come back from the dead and he now lives forever.

So, you mean that I get to come back to life after I accept his contract?

Mr. Ross, this is another reason why I hesitated to even suggest this salvation contract to you in the first place. If you accept this contract then there is never any coming back. The only way for you to be released from your previous obligations is if you die. But if you were thinking about returning as you once were, then you would quickly find yourself reinstating all the old obligations once associated with your previous way of life. So what is actually expected of you is a willingness to say good bye to you … forever. This isn’t all bad in itself; if you accept this other contract you get to live in the strength and abundance of this new Savior’s life.

…. So I’ll never have my own salvation again or my own life back?

That’s correct.

Now even though I have provided you some insight here, I couldn’t possibly give counsel as to what you should choose; you must make that decision for yourself.

Could you at least give me the name of the one who formulated this new salvation contract?

Well, Yes, I’ll give it to you; it’s “Jesus.”

JESUS! I have Jesus in my own salvation contract! Why would I need a new Jesus contract?

Mr. Ross, I would like to point out that you may have Jesus in your salvation contract, but does Jesus have you in His?

Oh…I understand your point…where do I sign?

****

Many can mark the day of their salvation. At some point they saw the need to ask for help from above and Jesus/Yeshua heard their prayer and sent the gift of the Holy Spirit. That moment in time begins a unique journey of discovery for all of us. From that day forward we define ourselves as a Christian pilgrim walking down a path to glory and secure in the hollow of God’s hand. However life doesn’t always provide us safe passage. When life fails us we also define our Christianity by those same moments in time.

The list of questionable experiences maybe many. We know that our flesh is weak and life is not always kind. Such worldly engagements can leave a mark upon our hearts as well as upon our flesh. The effects of lust, pride or greed is a good example; it affects the health of our faith; but we still call our self a “Christian”. And don’t discount how we engage the kingdoms of men. Each organization demands conformity and in many ways they expect ownership of us. This can include our experiences within religion.

I can speak from experience when I say that a search for fellowship has carried many a believer down a plethora of denominational roads. Yet in each case we are attempting to please God based on following house rules. However each of those experiences actually add a level of confusion to our faith; but we still wear the title “Christian”.

Now hopefully you can see the problem if adopting a linear or natural way of thinking. Jesus isn’t seeing us in this light, but when our humanity makes God our co-pilot we measure salvation and Christianity by human standards.

Maybe you don’t see it that way, but in your current state of faith, do you still carry unnecessary worldly burdens? Is your faith a struggle because the past won’t leave you alone? Do you explain your faith by your many failures or is it by the life of the Savior? As can be expected life and poor choices have a tendency to make Christianity all about us? I guess the easiest way to detect a problem amounts to asking how we sum up the Christian/ salvation experience. Are we a byproduct of years of Christian trial and error?

Now I bring this to light because we have at our disposal a gospel message that makes it all about Jesus. The gospel message is not about adding experiences to our faith, but rather losing them at the Cross. In fact, losing our self and our past indiscretions is what the Cross is all about.

The Christian life finds its greatest freedom by first identifying with the death of our Savior. The Cross is significant because it was not only able to redeem mankind back to God, but it makes a way for humanity to be released from the ravages of a fallen world. Paul the Apostle brings it all into perspective by saying;

1 Corinthians 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Furthermore Paul tells us how to set at bay our old ways;

Colossians 3:5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.

More specifically we discover that the Holy Spirit becomes our way of escape:

Romans 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

We separate from our former way of life by trusting the Holy Spirit to do the work for us as well as in us. As we call upon Him to deal with any point of human frailty, He applies what Jesus did for us on the Cross. What this amounts to is a way of freedom for the believer. By supernaturally entering into death with Jesus we discover a tangible and powerful separation from the world, the flesh and the devil.

Now, in respect to our subject: do all examples of salvation and Christianity produce good fruit? I would have to say “no” by virtue of the fact that we remain so divided as a church body. There are up to forty thousand Christian denominations all seeking a connection with but one God. Yet wherever a religion falls short of Christ is where we see Christianity and salvation take a nose dive. Paul the Apostle helps us see the problem:

2 Corinthians 11:4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.

So whatever has hindered life in Christ has much to do with the things that have been added to our salvation and definition of Christianity. But what if we can start over with a new salvation and Christian slate? Consider what the Word has to say:

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Respectfully I say we all have had one foot in the world and another in pursuit of God. Yet if we have missed the way on any point of life or faith then a “REDO” is available.

Now some may say; “salvation has already been given” and I would agree; however the Word says that we are “being saved” (1 Corinthians 1:18). If “being saved” hasn’t offered you a complete victory, or if the salvation you received has simply been religious in nature, then a greater victory remains available by starting over. And let me add; this is not about rededicating ones life to the old. No; we want something new.

Choose your own words here, but you may find benefit in the things being said;

Application

Jesus/Yeshua, on my behalf and by the power of the Holy Spirit

• I ask that you test the quality of my salvation and Christianity experience at the Cross.
• If it falls short of truly being what you had in mind for me, then let’s start new.
• Be my Savior and the foundation of a new salvation and Christianity made in your image.
• Forgive me of my sins and wash me clean by your blood.
• Remove the physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual obstacles that once plagued me due to my ties to religion (even ties to my own religion).
• And remove “the improper” physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual ties I once made with men and demons alike; those people and powers that once sold me a counterfeit faith.
• You are the Resurrection power that now saves me and makes me new.

The thing I noticed as I took similar steps; it became very quiet within my heart and mind. All the clutter of year’s worth of trial and error type Christianity was gone and a new honey moon stage of intimacy with Jesus has begun.

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