It is only through Christ’s blood that our salvation is paid for. Only through faith can we receive God’s grace and be rescued from Hell. It is a wonderful gift, but it is also so much more than that, for we are not rescued to be on our own. God doesn’t throw us a life raft and say, “Good luck, take care of yourself!” No, he speaks into our lives and transforms us through his Spirit. He wants to live inside us and work through us.
The world sees salvation as only a way to avoid a terrible fate, but salvation is not about running from something but running to someone. When all that Jesus is to us is a means to an end, then we miss the true breadth of the gift. The Father, Christ, and the Holy Spirit are always with us. That relationship grows on this earth and gives us strength, peace, and joy, but ultimately God’s love transforms our hearts. It allows us to love others unlike we ever could on our own and lead them into the truth.
For our salvation benefits us alone, but the love of God that lives and works in us benefits everyone it encounters. We are called not just to a single-serving salvation but to a communal shepherding. To live transformed lives in a way that impacts others.
For when we one day get to Heaven, our joy won’t come from the avoidance of Hell but from our relationship with the eternal God. For in Him, we experience a love beyond any we can imagine. A love we share with others in our own limited way but will someday know in its fullest.