« Friday Favorited Stories | Home | Ambrosial Question of the Week »

Thoughts on What God Truly Desires

By Dan | June 7, 2008

There was an interesting little discussion about salvation on the Jesus Creed blog the other day. I don’t know if you want to take the time to read it, but it was so compelling to me that I did post somewhere in the middle of things, comment #32. The discussion centered around what salvation truly means to God. Obviously this is the big question of big questions.

It came to me again this week as I read Matt. 15:1-20 in my devotions and also one of the lessons for this week, Hos. 5:16-6:6. You see the emphasis on what God wants- right hearts, people who do the things he puts in their hearts, mercy and not sacrifice.

These are great texts, because they push us as Christians to remember that being Christian involves the Christian life as well. God does truly desire that we change as a result of our salvation.

At the same time, this change is not our salvation. That’s where things got dicey in the conversation on the other blog. As we read texts that talk about the changes God desires to see in us, we need to read them in the context of Jesus’ entire mission to earth. And what was that mission? To save us from our failures and sins. To take people and apply his work to them. It’s only as a result of this that we can start to change and get just a little taste of our future resurrected perfection in heaven.

Does God want to save us solely by grace without works? Yes. Does God desire works? Yes. That’s the beauty of Lutheranism. We don’t force God into a box where he has to fit one or the other. God’s blessings on you as you live that tension every day of your lives.