Salvation in Reverse

“…Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.  How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?  And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?  And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  And how can they preach unless they are sent.”   - Romans 10:13-15

The story of Hansel and Gretel is one which has been entertaining (and probably scaring) kids for generations.  It is the story of a brother and sister who are intentionally stranded in the forest by their parents who can no longer afford to feed them, they discover a house made entirely of sweets, get captured by the witch that owns the house, are held captive while the witch attempts to fatten them up so she can eat them, and finally escape when Gretel bravely tricks the witch and pushes her into her own oven and cooks her.  Great stuff, huh?

Probably one of the most familiar parts of the story is the wisdom of Hansel who, knowing the intentions of his parents, twice leaves a trail, once of stones and once of bread crumbs, so they can retrace their steps back home after they are abandoned.  In the passage above, Paul has laid out the “path” a person walks on their way to salvation.  To see this path we need to do as Hansel & Gretel did, follow the trail from where it ends to where it all began.  Let’s consider the progression of salvation in reverse:

            Someone is sent à they preach the word à the word is believed à they                           call on Jesus à they are saved!

By taking this backward look at salvation, we Christians are made painfully aware of the responsibility we have to the “lost”.  For starters, we have the responsibility to proclaim the message of “good news” to them.  Apart from a knowledge of Christ, an unbeliever will not be able to “believe” and “call” on Him.  And this knowledge comes through the preaching of the word.

            “…faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”  (Rom. 10:17)

And this “preaching”, which is nothing more than verbally communicating who Jesus is and what He has done for us, is not the responsibility of “professionals” (pastors, evangelists).

               1 Peter 2:9  “…you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

If you know what it is to be called out of darkness, then you have a message to tell to others, you are ready to “preach”.

The second major part of our responsibility to the “lost” is that of being willing to be sent.  We must take seriously the “great commission” given by Christ to His followers (not to be misunderstood as a “great suggestion”!).

            Matt. 28:19  “…go and make disciples of all nations…”

            2 Cor. 5:17,18, 20  “…if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation…all this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation…we are therefore Christ’s ambassadors….”

Now that doesn’t mean we all have to pack our bags for Botswana or board a plane for Portugal.  We simply have to be willing to go to those whom God puts in our path – our co-workers, neighbors, family, dentist, mechanic, and so on, and share with them what Christ has done for us and can do for them.

Sometimes we tell ourselves that God will make a way for people to be saved even if they don’t have a witness of the gospel (through their conscience or the witness of creation or some other mystical way).  While this may enable us to sleep well at night, it does not align well with what the Bible tells us about being saved. 

            Acts 4:12  “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name (besides that of Jesus) under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

            Rom. 10:9  “…if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

The scriptures are clear – without someone being sent, without the message being proclaimed, the lost will remain so.  Can we live with that?  I pray the answer for each of us who have experienced the wonderful grace of God (because someone was willing to be sent and to preach!) is a resounding “No!”

Clark Hausman
Clark is the pastor of Moyock Assembly of God