There was a time not so long ago when corporal punishment was considered an appropriate form of discipline. You could even find support for it in the Bible—verses such as, “Do not withhold correction from a child, / For if you beat him with a rod, he will not die. / You shall beat him with a rod / And deliver his soul from hell” (Proverbs 23:13, 14, NKJV). These verses suggest that beating a child with a stick as a form of punishment for bad behavior is appropriate. In fact, according to verse 14, a blow or two, well administered, could be considered an act of salvation!
So perhaps we should consider again the proverb to “beat him with a rod and deliver his soul from hell.” If you were to reduce this verse to an equation, it might look something like this: (a) spiritually lost, plus (b) beating with rod, equals (c) salvation.
With that kind of thinking, one might be able to argue that salvation justifies war and bloodshed as long as the end result is positive. History tells us that people have made that argument and acted upon it. I don’t know about you, but if that is the path to salvation, then I think I would choose a different path.
Many people hold different understandings of the path to salvation, even within Christianity itself. Several other stories in the Bible tell us what salvation is not.
what salvation is not
First, Luke 9:51–56 records a trip Jesus took from Galilee to Samaria. At one point along the way, Jesus politely sent messages ahead to ask if He and His party could pass through a Samaritan village, but the people rejected His request. Feeling insulted, James and John, two of Jesus’ closest disciples, asked “Lord, should we call down fire from heaven to burn them up?” (verse 54, NLT*).
Jesus had done nothing to earn the rejection of the villagers. However, He rejected the solution to the problem that was proposed by His disciples. The Bible says that He “rebuked them” (verse 55).
Salvation is not found in returning evil for evil.
In John 8:1–11 we read about a time when a group of men brought to Jesus a woman who had been “caught in adultery” (verse 4, NKJV). Leviticus 20:10 clearly states that the punishment for such an act was for both the man and the woman to be put to death. Therefore, they correctly charged the woman with her crime and then demanded a response from Jesus.
So what did Jesus do? He simply wrote in the dust—probably the sins of those present—and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Then, turning to the woman, He said, “ ‘Neither do I condemn you.’ . . . ‘Go now and leave your life of sin’ ” (verse 11).
Salvation is not found in committing acts of violence and condemnation against the wrongdoer.
On another occasion Jesus told the crowd who was listening to Him that they should obey whatever their religious leaders told them to do (Matthew 23:2, 3). However, He went on to condemn their behavior. He said, “But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them” (verses 3, 4).
Throughout this passage, Jesus did not mince His words, but He spoke with tears in His eyes, and by the end of the discourse, He was openly weeping. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,” He said. “How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me” (verse 37, NLT).
Salvation is not found in a hypocritical religious system.
Mark 10:17–31 records a question that a wealthy young man brought to Jesus. The man asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” (verse 7).
Jesus’ answer was to obey the commandments, and then He mentioned several of them.
The man replied, “All these I have kept since I was a boy” (verse 20).
The Bible says that Jesus looked at the young man and loved him. Then He got to the heart of the matter. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me” (verse 21).
Sadly, Mark tells us that “the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth” (verse 22).
Salvation is not found in simply following all of the commandments, nor is it found in the accumulation of wealth.
what salvation is
Two of these stories illustrate what salvation is. The first one is the story about the adulterous woman who was brought to Jesus. His response to her is the gospel in a nutshell “ ‘Neither do I condemn you’ Jesus declared. ‘Go now and leave your life of sin’ ” (John 8:11). With the words, “Neither do I condemn you,” Jesus offered the woman forgiveness for her sin. A word Christians often use for this is grace. However, notice that Jesus didn’t stop there. He went on to challenge the woman to stop committing adultery. “Go now,” He said, “and leave your life of sin.” Jesus began by offering grace because He knew that the woman had to be set free of her guilt in order to obey. The same is true of us today. Salvation is found in grace.
In the story of the rich young ruler, Jesus began by telling the man to obey the commandments. When the young man said he had kept them all of his life, Jesus put His finger on the root of the man’s problem: His obedience had been merely external. Covetousness made it impossible for him to truly obey God’s commandments. The young man needed a change of heart that would help him recognize the needs of the poor and use his wealth to help them. Salvation is found in this change of heart.
Salvation begins with grace. This means recognizing one’s own faults and failings and experiencing God’s forgiveness. Then, just as Jesus did, we must bestow this God-given grace upon others.
The answer to life’s problems is not found in a sword, a gun, or the rod of discipline. It is not found in anger, resentment, or vengeance. As Jesus said, to live in violence is to die in violence (Matthew 26:52). Jesus demonstrated the answer to life’s problems every day that He walked this earth. The way of living in salvation is found on the path of grace, even if it hurts to demonstrate grace.
