It's Not A Salvation Issue..."

"It’s not a salvation issue!”

I don’t share the following to beat a dead horse – I’m just thinking through something “out loud”, if you will, and any input is welcome.  FOUR times in the last two weeks, I have been in conversations (either online or in person) where four different and completely unconnected individuals virtually raised the same type of objection against submitting themselves to specific things the Scriptures teach – because they didn’t think the things which they were objecting to are “salvation issues.”  Here’s the thing - each time, I actually agreed with them… but something doesn’t set right about their statements, and I think it is more than just me having a different preference on the issues they were objecting to. And I recognize that something may be shown from the Scriptures to no longer be a relevant command or teaching for the Church today, but none of these objectors bothered going that route - their dismissals were simply that the issues were not salvation issues and therefore they were justified in disregarding them.

First of all, the specific issues that came up were 1. Water baptism, 2. Headship veiling, and 3. Accountability to [a group of] fellow Christians.  Actually, two of the objections were against the practice of Christian women wearing headcoverings (more accurately referred to as headship veilings), so maybe it would be simplest to compare this particular teaching with the “it’s not a salvation issue” objection.  Restated more clearly, this objection says that someone doesn’t consider a particular teaching from the Scriptures to be a “salvation issue”, by which they usually mean we are saved (justified) by faith in the blood of Jesus Christ and neither veiling nor any other act of obedience can justify us in the eyes of God.  The logic of this objection further suggests that since the practice in question isn’t a “salvation” issue (even though this is rarely first established as anything more than personal opinion), therefore it’s strictly a personal preference and should not be taught as a command for all Christians, or at least certainly not promoted as a still-relevant Biblical command. 

At the risk of being misunderstood by anyone who only skims through this piece, I believe I can confidently say that I absolutely agree with them!  Neither a literal piece of cloth on a sister's head, nor a certain hair length, nor any other literal application of a Scriptural command are going to be able to justify someone before God and change them from a sinner to one of His children.  Again, our justification with God comes through a belief and trust in the saving power of the blood of Jesus Christ, a belief and trust that will subsequently lead men and women into joyful obedience.  The atonement that comes through the blood of Jesus is a precious fact that we dare not lose sight of, nor add to, even with various acts of obedience that are found in the Scriptures!

Consider for a moment how the literal, physical water into which we are immersed at baptism does not actually cleanse our soul from sin and save us; in spite of this, there are very few Christians who will actually refuse to follow after Jesus’ example and the Scriptural command to have their body literally baptized in water, especially on the basis that the water itself cannot save them.  The point is not that we can somehow do something to make us better before God; rather, it is that we should be willing to follow Him and His Word in loving obedience because of what He has already done for us!

I wonder if the following analogy could clarify this thought even better.  Have you ever heard someone use the expression that somebody “put the cart before the horse?”  Our obedience to the commands of our Heavenly Father (ie. to be baptized, for sisters to wear a headship veiling and brothers to remain bareheaded, or to follow any other relevant Scriptural teaching) is simply the “cart.”  On the other hand, when you see a heart that recognizes the bondage of its old master Satan, a heart that has repented and come under the blood of Christ, and the exercise of faith by that heart which desires to please the Master – this is the “horse”, in a manner of speaking. 

When we submit and come under the blood of Jesus Christ in repentant faith, then it is that they are owned by The Master.  Coming under the blood of Jesus Christ in believing faith and submitting to Him as Savior and Lord of our lives is indeed the "salvation issue!”  Until we have done so, a discussion of obedience to any other teaching of Scripture, including this study on headship and the practice of veiling, will be of absolutely no merit to any of us!  Ergo, it is only when we are finally broken and owned by the Master that He asks us to “pull the cart", and to obey Him in a few simple areas.  Not for salvation, nor for merit, nor for any lifting up of self, but simply to glorify Him through our submission to His will and to share a few specific symbols/pictures with the world that He has designed! 

What does it mean to you to have been “bought with a price”, or that you are “no longer your own?”  Do we actually realize just how foul the pit was from which He bought us and pulled us?  How real is Calvary in our life?  It seems only right that love and gratitude should motivate us to bear any cross that our Lord may ask!  When our human nature finds itself tempted to pull back a little against His gentle requests, or even in those times when our love and gratitude may have cooled a bit, our sense of duty and thankfulness to our Master ought to move us to obedience as well! 

From the Scriptures, we understand that physical actions like dipping one’s body under water or wearing a piece of cloth on the head are not “salvation issues”, at least not in the sense that they can justify anyone before God by any power of their own.  We cannot stress and repeat often enough that we are called to put our faith in the blood of Jesus Christ that can save each one of us and cleanse us from our every sin!  On the other hand, we need to be honest about the fact that these Biblical teachings are not irrelevant, nor simple matters of preference, but that they are actually issues because of our salvation! 

Stop and think about that for a moment; this is so much more than just a play on words!  Obedience to God’s Word is not just a privilege for us, but it is also our obligation as His blood-bought children, as His redeemed people, if He is truly Lord of our lives.  When we realize how that He was under no obligation whatsoever to save us from our awful condition, nor to extend such grace and mercy to us as He did in sacrificing Himself in our place, we can see how that it is also our privilege to follow after the One who loves us and saved us, even in the small things revealed in His Word. 

It is important to realize that every individual may be at a different place in their Christian walk than others around them, but where do you find yourself with this particular Scriptural teaching?  Do you find that you have used the concept of a “salvation issue” as a reason to avoid submitting to certain teachings, like the practice of the headship veiling and God-ordained gender differences, (or water baptism, a public confession of faith, or even accountability to other believers) as irrelevant to our day?  Maybe it’s time to stop and reconsider those reasons, and to take another long, hard look at what the Bible actually says about these things and what the Lord truly desires from us in this area. 

I have to think of the parable of the Prodigal Son – the young man who had gone astray was willing to return to his father’s house as just a simple servant if his Father would just permit him to return home!  In a similar way, what benefit is there for us in trying to avoid those simple things to which God’s Word calls us, especially when our Heavenly Father has loved us so much that He went after us to bring us back to Himself and to freely bless us with everything that is His?  Do you consider the Word of God to be pre-imminent in your life?  Let me encourage you to engage in a serious reconsideration of anything that you have been disregarding as not being a salvation issue – in the end, is my justification about what I want, what others around me want, or what God wants?  It seems that it will rarely be all three; which one do you want to want?