Mysticism and Salvation

I am about as far from a mystic as anyone I’ve ever met.

I lack the sort of conversion story other believers often point to; the type of testimony that includes phrases like “I asked God …” and “I felt a strange sense of peace come over me”; the type of experience that leads you to write a date in the front of your Bible and remember it the rest of your life. All I have is a vague recollection of an emotional moment as a child on a front porch somewhere and the dawning realization that Jesus died for me, but memory is malleable and inaccurate more often than not.

So, like I do with everything else, I check boxes: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord” [check], and “believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead” [check], “you will be saved” [check and double-check]. 

That’s the word of God, and it gives me more confidence than the recollection of any experience or feeling.

Immanuel Can sums it up perfectly in this recent post: “So how can we know? The Father loves the Son. Surprisingly, this is the essential answer we have been looking for.”

No experience can be more reassuring than that. So, mysticism, yeah … not really my thing.

On Further Reflection

A few days back I linked to a post from a Texas pastor on the subject of God’s attributes that’s still percolating in my cranium this morning (you can find it here). This bit, for example:

“God isn’t merely wise; He’s wisdom. He isn’t merely powerful; He’s power. He isn’t merely good; He’s goodness. He isn’t merely holy; He’s holiness. He isn’t merely just; He’s justice. God’s manifold attributes can no more be separated from Him than He can be separated from Himself. They’re His essence.”

I suspect that’s something any serious Christian can nod in agreement with.

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This is pretty amazing:

"God isn’t merely wise; He’s wisdom. He isn’t merely powerful; He’s power. He isn’t merely good; He’s goodness. He isn’t merely holy; He’s holiness. He isn’t merely just; He’s justice. God’s manifold attributes can no more be separated from Him than He can be separated from Himself. They’re His essence. They’re all one in Him – His justice is His mercy and His mercy is His justice, His wisdom is His power and His power is His wisdom, His knowledge is His patience and His patience is His knowledge, His wrath is His goodness and His goodness is His wrath. God’s manifold attributes are distinguished in their objects and effects, but they’re all one in Him."

Read the whole thing here and give it some thought. If you don’t get it now, it may hit you later.

Made my day.