Salvation - A Contemporary Issue
WE may not be accustomed to thinking of salvation as a normal part of a modern vocabulary that includes such terms as computer chips, quantum theory, and biotelemetry. It may seem that this is a strictly religious concept, a bit quaint and old-fashioned today and slightly out of step with fast-paced progress. But salvation has a rich Biblical significance that includes health, safety, defense, and prosperity--familiar issues we hear about every day, often on the basis of their absence.
To judge from daily news reports, not a day goes by that mankind is not urgently in need of salvation in some form. Our individual need to find relief from physical and mental stress and to be assured of happy and satisfying lives is evidence that the idea of salvation simply cannot be tucked away on the shelf during the week to be brought out only for weekend religious services.
The tendency is to believe that the salvation the Bible talks about is confined to rescue from sin and immorality--and often to assume that this will take place in some distantly future afterworld. Certainly freedom from sin is important, but to restrict the effectiveness of salvation to only this one form of suffering is to contradict both Biblical teaching and example. From beginning to end, the Scriptures are filled with examples of safety from sickness, poverty, fear, deprivation, as well as redempti on from sin. The Bible spans many centuries, and throughout its pages the idea of full salvation remains urgent and indispensable, never out of date.
Certainly it's not out of date today. In fact, the need for salvation has never been greater. Complete salvation from sin, sickness, hunger, and lack of any kind begins with our individual willingness to learn more of our genuine, spiritual identity as children of God. Christ Jesus showed what it meant to be one with his Father and urged his followers of all time to recognize their own unity with God. Such a recognition of man's oneness with God brings true salvation. No one is unredeemable. Understandin g our actual, spiritual identity begins the healing, regenerative process that changes our perspective. Instead of feeling helpless or unworthy, we begin to feel, and express, the spiritual strength and integrity that enable us to live in accordance with God's purpose. We are able to relinquish limitations that were never imposed on man by divine law.
The Ten Commandments, found in Exodus, are laws of freedom and salvation. When Jesus taught and demonstrated on the basis of these divine laws, he brought out the Christlike, healing power of love for God and man that spiritual law always includes. The sick were healed, the sinful redeemed, the hungry fed. Salvation, to him, was obedience to his Father and was a natural part of worshiping God. He taught plainly that there was one way to be saved from pain, suffering, and lack. That way was through Christ , the spiritual Son of God, which he expressed so fully.
Christly salvation is still a vital human right. It is not only possible today but essential. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, points out in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: " 'Now,' cried the apostle, 'is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation,meaning, not that now men must prepare for a future-world salvation, or safety, but that now is the time in which to experience that salvation in spirit and in life. Salvation is as necessary now as i t was in Bible times, and is just as inclusive in its intent to save from every element of injustice and cruelty that mankind faces today. Salvation is indeed a contemporary issue.
