Shalom & Salvation
Is salvation actually the right term too use in regards to us be restored into relationship with God? I think not. Some of the stuff i have been reading lately has made me stop and think and caused me to rethink the standard definitions of some of the basic tenets of our faith. I realise that there is a danger of falling into heresy here but I feel it is worthwhile pursuing and exploring.
The cambridge dictionary defines salvation as:
Definition
salvation noun
/sæl?ve?.??n/ n
• [S or U] (a way of) being saved from danger, loss or harm
After the diagnosis, getting to know Mary was his salvation.
a marriage beyond salvation
• [U] In the Christian religion, salvation of a person or their spirit is the state of being saved from evil and its effects by the death of Jesus Christ on a cross. The Gospel message is one of personal salvation.
In the Hebrew language the word for salvation is yasha, from which we have Joshua. Yasha (hoshia) has this meaning: “to be wide, or roomy – a broad and spacious place.” Yasha communicates the idea of freedom. It is “liberation from confinement, constriction, and limitation.” The word for salvation in the Greek language the word is sozo or soteria, whose the meaning is “cure, recovery, remedy.”
Biblically the use of saved or the inferrence of salvation was used in regards to deliverance from physical or material problems there are very few examples ofthe terms “salvation or being saved” in regards to a spiritual situation or in regard to personal sin.
Often in the old testament the hebrew word hoshia is used in regards to a salvific act, usually in English this is translated as deliverance, again in regards to a partuular physical or material situation. Deliverance in this context is the correct term to use, the example given in Exodus of the Jews being delivered from egypt is perhaps one of the best examples of God’s salvific intention. The Jews wished to be free to worship God, why could they have not done this in Egypt, why did it require a total exodus? The exodus was required not just for spiritual reasons but also for material and physical reasons.
The Jewish nation was in captivity to pharoah as slaves, they were oppressed and violated, and treated as little more than beasts of burden. Gods salvific act of deliverance for the Jews was a release from a physical and material bondage. If it was a case of the spiritual alone they could have worshipped God in Egypt, but this would have done nothing to release them from their physically oppressive state. It is clear that hoshia is being used here to illustrate Isreal’s liberation from another nation.
Throughout the old testament this example of liberation from oppression is continued, God is said to have saved his people from their enemies, from nations who are persecuting and oppressing them and on anindividual basis from those who seek to harm the people of Israel as is so clearly illustrated in the Psalms. Quite often the psalmist cries out that God has/will deliver him from those who seek to harm him. Hoshia is almost never used in regards to a release or deliverance from a sin or sinful state but always in regards to a manifestly material issue.
I cannot stres sthis point enough that in the OT the words used for salvation refer to salvation from real historical, political and material distress. These words point to the the deliverance or liberation of the needy, the disadvantaged, the poor and helpless from their oppressors.
There are only a few exceptions where hoshia or hassil is used in regards to spiritual issues those being Ez 36:29, Ez 37:23.
THE HEBREW VIEW OF SALVATION
In scriptural thinking, salvation is not limited to the soulish area. This is because Elohiym sees a ‘person’ as one or echad (a unity). Salvation involves the spirit, soul or mind, and the body. All three are seen as the one person. As far as life goes, there is no separation of these three. Salvation is relationship centered, as YHVH is seen as Father and not a collective mind separated from humanity. YHVH is seen as being involved in all areas of life, and so doing the right things as a result of trusting is part of salvation. Salvation begins with trusting in His words which leads to right action. Salvation is not LEAVING this world but becoming actively involved in changing what is wrong and sustaining what is right. ‘Peace’ in Greek thinking is to escape the pressures of life. ‘Peace’ in Hebrew thought is to actively take part in the ‘completion’ of what is good and righteous. Peace and salvation involve being a whole human being. YHVH gives instructions to guide us in our growth to be a full person, spirit, soul, and body, and to save us, spirit, soul, and body from whatever would desire to destroy any of these three areas.
THE GREEK VIEW OF SALVATION
The whole idea of salvation to the Greek mind is wrapped up in the state or eternal status of the soul. As we have discussed before, in Greek dualistic thinking, only the soul or the domain of the nous or mind is ‘godly’, or can be godly. Salvation is right thinking and creedal in it’s nature. To ‘believe’ is to know the right things. This knowledge comes only from the gods. Many even believed that there would be ‘doorkeepers’ at the gates of the heavens and that secret codes would have to be declared before entrance. This could be where we get all the St. Peter jokes. Salvation, none the less, was confessional and directed at the soul.
The following is an early example from the gnostic document, The Gospel of Philip: The Lord revealed to me what the soul must say when ascending into heaven, and how she must answer each of the upper powers: I have come to know myself, and I have collected myself from everywhere, and I have not sown children to the Archon but have uprooted his roots and have collected the dispersed members, and I know thee who thou art: I am of those from above. And thus she is released. To be ’saved’ in Greek thought is to be released from this evil world. Salvation is a matter of creeds and correct knowledge about the gods. In gnostic thought, the concept of ‘keys’ are mentioned quit liberally. Scriptural terms such as, ‘believe’, to ‘know’ or ‘knowledge’, ‘word’ or ‘words’, ‘keys’ and ‘gates’, ‘confess’ and ‘faith’, are all tied in with this esoteric knowledge given by the gods.
These terms were easily transferred to New Testament teaching. When Yahshua said “I am the door… I am the good shepherd… I am the light of the world… I am the way, the truth, and the life…”, these were understood to speak of the logos or the nous come down from heaven to distribute this knowledge or gnosis. He came to bring the ‘keys’ of salvation. Let me remind you that in Greek thought the logos was the collective mind or nous of the gods. In order for the soul to be destined for heaven one must ‘believe’ certain propositions about the logos. The early ‘church’ remained very ‘hebrew’ for the first two centuries and this is why there is no record of ‘creeds’ being established. The creeds come later when the church is dominated by gentiles and the ‘Jewish believers’ have been chased away by the Jews and the Christians.
Where does sin fit in?
A component of salvation that it appears i am disregarding or overlooking is sin. Salvation entails another act that of repentance and forgiveness. Because God liberates in a holistic manner that of physically emotionally and spiritually, sin is also dealt with. To be liberated physically includes the spiritual aspect as well, the idea of salvation includes the idea of turning away from sin and seeking forgiveness, note however in the case of the Jews in the OT quite often God forgave them, not because they deserved it but because he is a God of Justice, this is evident from passages such as 1Sam;12:9-10. God’s act of salvation demonstrated in this passage is an act of grace. This is further demonstrated in Dueteronomy 7:7-8, 9:6.
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