My Shiny Red Salvation Car
I know we Lutherans cringe at the mention of “works” in connection with religion. However, I believe that is because of a negative misconception that most Lutherans have when it comes to “works”in our faith. The concept of works in my religion is because of Gods salvation, not to get Gods salvation.
When I was a teen I bought my first car for $750. It was a wreck of a car. It was neglected and beat up. I don’t think the previous owner ever did any maintenance. It required 2 quarts of oil once a week and a gallon of water every time I stopped. But it got me from point a to b.
I learned two very important lessons from that experience. One is you get what you pay for and more importantly is you get out of anything what you put into it.
So my next car was a brand new shiny red one. I took really good care of its maintenance and washed it regularly. Unfortunately, new cars are expensive. First, you have to pay a fortune for it, but then once you get it home the real costs begin. You have to get insurance to protect it from damage. Then you have to put gas in it to make it run. These are the minimum things you have to do for your car to run.
Now if you want to get the maximum performance from this new purchase. You have to change the oil and rotate the tires to keep it going. Occasionally give it a tune-up. And if it is really precious to you’ll take it through the car wash to get it clean. None of these things make the car a car. They only keep what has been bought, in good condition.
Beloved, God has bought each one of us a new Salvation car. He paid for it with the blood of His Son Jesus Christ. God offers this Salvation car with insurance against damnation, “When we declare with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved. “(Romans 10:9)
However, in order to make this new Salvation car work efficiently, you have to put gas in it. God provides the gas for free at His gas station chain called the Church. There are three tiers of gas that you can put in your Salvation car. There is a low, medium and high octane fuel that is offered. You can fill up on the low octane relatively easy. Just show up to church and sit in a pew for an hour on Sunday and you will fill up on low octane. But don’t expect to get too much mileage out of it. Then you have the medium and high octane available. This type of gas requires a little more effort, but that’s because you get a lot more mileage out of them. However, in order for the higher octanes to be achieved you have to blend them with detergents called prayer, Bible reading and memorizing, and fellowship with other Salvation car owners.
Like any other car our Salvation cars need to have their oil changed and tires rotated to keep them running well. Oil lubricates and keeps things from binding up and over heating. Tire rotation helps prevent them from being worn down and going flat too soon. We can change our Salvation cars oil and rotate its tires by stepping outside of our comfort zone and doing something, anything for Gods kingdom. Volunteer!
If you are really in love with your Salvation car you will want to run it through the car wash to get it cleaned up inside and out. At the cross of Jesus, where He bled for our uncleanness we are cleansed by His atoning blood. This cleansing cleans the dirtiest of cars and makes them sparkle and shine in Gods eyes..
Paul tells us not to “conform” to this world, to be “diligent” in our handling of God’s word, to “put on” the armor of God. Jesus tells us to “seek” Him and His kingdom and we will find, doors will be opened and things will be added. It is impossible to not do anything and have a clean and well maintained Salvation car.
Are you driving in a well maintained high octane fueled Salvation car or are you driving in a low octane minimally maintained point a to b Salvation car? Although, both cars have the same cost you get out what you put in.
Our salvation isn’t a one and done thing. It isn’t just to get us into Heaven later it’s to get Heaven into us now.
Brothers and sisters in Christ we have been given an awesome gift. Salvation! So be diligent. Seek a super charged salvation and it will be added to you. It would be a shame not to get the best performance out of it by using low octane effort and letting it run down and stall out for lack of care.
