I am thankful for....
Some families will be following an annual tradition tomorrow by having those gathered finish the above statement. Some will be greatly challenged to come up with something for which they are thankful; others will give short, safe answers without much thought behind them (friends, family, my country, salvation, etc). And that's the problem - many of us spend precious little time thinking about things for which we are thankful.The flip side of that is that we also spend little time thinking about those things which threaten the thing for which we are thankful. In a nut shell, much of our lives are spent working hard for things we need and things we want, always wanting more. So I ask you to slow down for a moment and think with me about this thing called salvation.
Some theologians have broken salvation down into 6, 7, or even 8 parts. I won't try to refute or defend any of them. I just know that salvation, the unspeakable gift of grace which God has given to us is something for which we should all be thankful (2 Cor. 9:15). And this salvation is so great that not neglecting its greatness is a necessary aspect of our being able to escape both the corruption that is in the world and the eternal punishment of those who prefer the kingdoms of this world to the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. (Hebrews 2:3; Revelation 11:15).
To be properly thankful for salvation, we must arrive at an understanding of what it is. What have we been saved from? What are we being saved from? What will we be saved to?
Many are grateful that they have been saved from the penalty of their sins, which is right and proper. We are told that this is an undeserved gift from God, and that there is nothing we can do to earn it, which is also right and proper. We are told that should we sin again (and again) we should repent and confess our sins, and that God will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (Proverbs 28:3; 1 John 1:9). This is true. Where we get in trouble is when this becomes our all-encompassing, yet limited, view of salvation. Eventually the yo-yo life of sinning and repenting becomes wearisome and we may begin to doubt whether we are really forgiven.
The equally dangerous counter point to this view is one that sees God as a doting and benevolent grandfather who indulges us no matter what we do, think, or say. The person blinded by this view sees God's love as being comparable to the world's view of tolerance. God, to this person, is not seen as holy or just. God becomes the "Man Upstairs" with whom they can get comfortable when they want. or ignore when they want.
To keep this post from becoming so long that no one will read it, let me say that the degree of our thankfulness for salvation will parallel our understanding of salvation. Yes, we have been saved from the penalty of our sins, but we are also being saved from the power of sin's control of our lives; and one day we will be saved even from the effects and presence of sin. Each one of the three tenses of our salvation is great and is worthy of our study.
So this Thanksgiving let us say with one voice "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! " (2 Corinthians 9:15) And then let us continue our study of what that gift is, living out our understanding on a daily basis.
