Let's Be Saved

WE all want to be rescued or delivered from danger when we're in trouble. And most of us probably would like to be saved from sin as well -- that is, if we could figure out what this spiritual salvation is and how to experience it. Is there a power that we can count on to save us? I had an experience that helped me to see for myself God's power to save. A friend and I had ended our visit around eleven in the evening. I'd lived in the same town most of my life, so the streets were very familiar and I started the drive home without much thought. At first I was extremely sleepy.

Then I was jolted awake: ``Stay alert!'' It was as clear as a voice speaking. I sat up straight and shook my head. The sharp command came again, ``Stay alert!'' I sat up even straighter and put both hands on the wheel. I focused on the traffic (not much of it at 11 p.m.), the traffic lights (they were working). At the last light before home, I turned the corner and in my lane was a car careening toward me at high speed. I wrenched the wheel -- and he missed me by a hairsbreadth. I could see why it had been so important for me to obey the message from God, divine Love, to stay alert. For though the escape was narrow, both the other driver and I were saved. I felt so close to God at that moment and have cherished that closeness over the years.

Wait a minute, you say, what does being saved from a traffic accident have to do with being saved from sin? Isn't salvation something theological that's important only to save us from eternal punishment after we die?

Actually, salvation has a much more immediate and practical impact on our lives. It reaches into every aspect of our lives, enabling us to experience the willingness and power of God to govern His creation harmoniously. We are saved from materiality and sin as we recognize that in truth God's creation, including man, is entirely spiritual. But God doesn't save us in some ways and leave us to save ourselves in others. The Bible assures us God is Love, and He ``is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.''1

When we think of the marvelous healings of Christ Jesus that are recorded in the New Testament, the goodness and omnipotence of God is so clear. Jesus never acted as though it were necessary to get sick and die in order to be saved. On the contrary, he healed, taught others how to heal, and expected his followers in all ages to heal through God's power.

To be saved requires us to learn of man's sinless being as the perfect image and likeness of God, divine Mind. Sin in its broadest terms has been described as ``missing the mark.'' We always miss the mark if we feel God, divine Love, is unwilling or unable to save from all untoward conditions of life. But as we learn to trust God to save us, our lives are regenerated and redeemed from sin. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, puts it this way: ``The sinner has no refuge from sin, except in God, who is his salvation. We must, however, realize God's presence, power, and love, in order to be saved from sin.''2 And elsewhere she encourages, ``Divine Love waits and pleads to save mankind -- and awaits with warrant and welcome, grace and glory, the earth-weary and heavy-laden who find and point the path to heaven.''3

As we learn to listen to and obey God's commands, our deep desire to be led by the omnipotence of omnipresent Love brings blessings. If you let it, divine Love will be saving you, too, in every way.

1Psalms 46:1. 2Unity of Good, p. 2. 3Message to The Mother Church for 1902, p. 11.