Salvation vs. Relationship

Scripture: The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. Hebrews 10:1-3

Observation: There is an interesting logical statement here about The Law - The evidence that it was never designed to sanctify humans is that is was commanded to be repeated over and over. If it worked, it wouldn't be needed again!!

As part of the "new covenant", there are also things that are to be repeated. However, there are other elements that are designed to be done only once, and the interesting thing is that there is a clear difference in purpose between these two types of instructions from Jesus.

The items that are intended to sanctify us - and thus mark us as believers in Jesus - are the sinners prayer, profession of faith, and baptism. As private and public pronouncement of our faith in Jesus, and the fact Jesus' sacrifice is sufficient for all time, doing these items once secures our salvation.

The items we repeat regularly - the lords supper, prayer and confession, worship - are items that are part of a relationship with Jesus. We do these things not to declare faith, but rather as a result of that faith in order to draw into relationship with the living God.

Application: Especially when it comes to confessing my sin in prayer, I think I think like many other Christians ... that it is something we must do regularly to ensure our salvation, and maybe even that unconfessed sin has ramifications regarding our eternal life. However, it seems more accurate to state that confession is much more about our relationship with God. If we cannot engage honestly with God, we have a relationship issue.

This would therefore be true of all elements of the Christian life. Things I should be doing regularly are evidence of my relationship with God. Whether that's loving and serving others, or praying, or reading the Bible, or worshiping ... doing these things strengthens my relationship with God, and failing to do them distances that relationship. It isn't a matter of losing my salvation, it's a matter of enjoying this life now through my closeness to God.

The place I need to work most on this is prayer. I pray irregularly, and usually only briefly. I need to dive deeper into conversational prayer with God - praying continuously - and regarding all matters of my life.

Prayer: Lord, I will focus more time on you in prayer. I wish to speak with my father, Abba, and strengthen my relationship with your through conversation. I will seek you earnestly. Thank you so much for the sacrifice of Jesus, the one-time all-sufficient sacrifice in which I fervently believe and trust. Amen.