Who then can be saved?
If the entire story of the Bible is about God’s redemption of humanity through Jesus, then what does it mean to be “saved”? How does it happen, and what does it do?
Community Practices
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Preparation
Take turns having one person in the community commit to bringing bread and grape juice to share for communion on a given week. If you’re going for authenticity, use matzo (unleavened) bread. But really, any bread that everyone enjoys will do. Your first couple of times taking communion together in community, watch this video together before you take the bread and the cup.
Gather together as a community for dinner as usual, with the bread and the cup on the table alongside the evening meal. Have someone from your community volunteer to lead.
CommunionTo begin the evening meal, the leader will invite everyone to take a piece of bread and a glass of grape juice and will choose one of the following Scriptures to read:
Matthew 26:26–28
Mark 14:22–24
Luke 22:19–20
1 Corinthians 11:23–26
After reading one of the Scriptures, the leader will pray, giving thanks for the body and blood of Jesus. The leader might have everyone take each element individually, reciting the sacramental phrases, “ this is the body of Christ broken for you," and, "this is the blood of Christ shed for you,” before each element. Or, the leader might simply give thanks, then invite the group to eat and drink. With the sacrifice of Jesus in mind, everyone takes the bread and the cup, and then the community meal begins!
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One: Identifying Paradigms
Pray
Gather together as a community in a comfortable setting, then have one person read Titus 3:4-7 and invite the Holy Spirit to guide your time.
Recap
When Christians talk about salvation, what is it that they mean? Is salvation about escaping the fiery punishment of Hell and ensuring that, one day, you’ll get to live a disembodied existence somewhere up in the clouds? Is this achieved in a singular moment, only by saying a specific prayer, or is salvation an ongoing process? And is salvation concerned solely with the future, or does it have any bearing on our lives right now?
Our paradigm for salvation can be shaped by a lot of things–the church we grew up in, the way our family of origin talked about it, the pastors, authors, or Christian influencers we follow online. But how does the Bible actually talk about salvation? How did the people of God talk about it in the Hebrew Scriptures, and what did Jesus have to say?
The reality is that the Scriptures talk about our salvation in the past (God saved you), present (God is saving you), and future (God will save you) tenses. The God of mercy, not in anger but in love, chose to lay himself down for our sake, so that we might enter into a lifelong and eternal covenant relationship with him. Think of this as a marriage between a husband and wife, one that grows and deepens as the years go by. Yes, there was a specific day when the vows were said and the papers were signed, but the marriage is continuous and something that each party has to be very intentional about. Salvation is not achieved by our effort or work, but it is something that, in relationship and partnership with Jesus, we are called to pursue with intention.
Discuss
Take the next 30 minutes to discuss the following questions and prompts. If you don’t have time to discuss them all, feel free to choose the ones you think will be the most engaging or applicable for your community.
What is the earliest paradigm for salvation you can remember holding? Where or how did you learn about this paradigm?
Do you feel like your early paradigm for salvation was biblical? Have you unpacked this paradigm into one that is more based on Scripture? What has that process been like?
If someone were to ask you how you were saved, what would you say? Is there a moment you can point to when you decided to follow Jesus, or has it been a more ongoing process? If there was a moment you can pinpoint, what was that moment like?
Is there more to salvation than you’ve ever considered, or are there lies you’ve been believing about salvation?
How do you think God wants to grow or shift your paradigm for salvation?
Practice
This week, set aside time in your regular rhythm of being with Jesus to read and reflect on what the Scriptures say about salvation through Lectio Divina. This is a form of contemplative prayer that uses the slow, meditative reading of Scripture to hear from God. As you do this, consider the current paradigms you’ve held about salvation, and ask the Spirit if he wants to say anything to you about those. Take note of anything impactful and be ready to share about your experience with your community the next time you meet.
Read the listed Scriptures, and as you do, follow the Lectio Divina steps below.
John 17:3
Romans 6:23
Romans 1:16a
The steps of Lectio Divina:
Read: Slowly and carefully read the text to yourself. Take your time. As you move through the text, pay close attention to what words and ideas draw your attention in unique ways. When your focus is drawn to a particular word or thought, pause momentarily to reflect on it.
Reflect: Upon completing the passage, return to the beginning and read again. On your second time through the text, allow it to connect with you personally. Which words or phrases assume a particular significance in your heart, your season of life, or your relationships? Write these down.
Respond: Talk to God about your experience. If you’re confused, say that. Moved? Express gratitude to God. Upset? Tell him about it. If the text has brought something else to mind, talk to God about that.
Rest: Finish your time by sitting quietly in God’s presence. You might express wonder, awe, gratitude, or praise through words, or you might allow yourself to feel and experience these things in silence before God.
Pray
End by having someone read Revelation 7:9-12 as a prayer over the group.
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Pray
Gather together as a community in a comfortable setting, then have one person read Colossians 2:13-15 and invite the Holy Spirit to guide your time.
Recap
Last week we touched on the idea of different paradigms for understanding salvation and how those paradigms shape us as followers of Jesus. One very popular paradigm is called Penal Substitutionary Atonement, which is the “courtroom” version of salvation. The idea is that humanity stands condemned, Jesus takes the punishment, and God’s wrath is satisfied. But while this story is emotionally powerful and rooted in parts of Christian tradition, we have to ask ourselves if this is truly the central biblical story of salvation.
The truth is, instead of viewing the cross as a legal transaction, the Scriptures lay out for us what became the earliest Christian understanding of salvation; something called Christus Victor. This is about Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection as God’s decisive rescue mission, defeating sin, death, and the powers of evil, liberating humanity from bondage, and inaugurating God’s kingdom. Jesus is victorious.
In Colossians 2, Paul says that humanity was “dead in sin,” incapable of rescuing itself. So God acted first, forgiving all sin, canceling every charge, and triumphing over the spiritual powers through the cross. Salvation is not something humans achieve or earn; it is something God accomplishes out of love before we are even able to respond. The cross becomes not the moment God pours out wrath on Jesus, but the moment Jesus absorbs the destructive power of sin and death and publicly defeats the enemy, turning the instrument of execution into the symbol of ultimate victory and hope.
You see, God’s goal in salvation has always been far greater than us avoiding punishment or escaping hell. The Father, Son, and Spirit act together in love to restore humanity into divine relationship, inviting us into the shared life and love of the Trinity. Through Christ, believers are not merely forgiven; they are adopted as God’s children, welcomed into unbreakable belonging and eternal love. Salvation, then, is not driven by fear but by God’s relentless pursuit, assuring us that nothing in all creation can ever separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
Discuss
Take the next 30 minutes to discuss the following questions and prompts. If you don’t have time to discuss them all, feel free to choose the ones you think will be the most engaging or applicable for your community.
Which “salvation story” has shaped you the most in your walk with Jesus - courtroom, rescue, adoption, something else? How has that story affected the way you relate to God?
How does the Christus Victor view of the cross change your understanding of what Jesus accomplished by his death? Does salvation seem different when you view the cross primarily as victory over sin, death, and evil, rather than as a legal transaction or as the wrath of God being satisfied?
The Scriptures tell us that we were dead, but God made us alive. What does this reveal to us about God’s initiative in salvation? Does this confront the idea that we must somehow earn God’s love?
How do you emotionally respond to the idea that the Father did not need the Son to make you loveable, that he already loved you even before you could respond? Is it hard to receive the idea that nothing in all creation can separate us from God’s love? If so, what are the hardest things for you personally to believe that about?
Where do you still find yourself operating out of fear (fear of punishment, rejection, or not being enough) rather than out of trust in God’s pursuing love? How does seeing yourself as a beloved child of God change the way you think about failure, growth, obedience, and security?
How might the Christus Victor paradigm of salvation reshape the way we treat others, especially those we see as broken, difficult, or far from God? If God’s mission is rescue and restoration, what does that call us to embody as a community?
Practice
The practice this week is to do Lectio Divina again, but this time using one, longer passage of Scripture. Set aside time in your regular rhythm of being with Jesus to slowly and reflectively read through Romans 8:14-39, allowing its words to make their way deep into your mind and heart. If you need a reminder on the steps of Lectio Divina, see the practice from last week. Once again, as you do this practice, take note of anything impactful and be ready to share about your experience with your community the next time you meet.
Pray
End by having someone read Romans 8:38-39 as a prayer over the group.
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Pray
Gather together as a community in a comfortable setting, then have one person read 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 and invite the Holy Spirit to guide your time.
Recap
Many of us have baggage when it comes to the idea of heaven and hell. We’ve been shaped by our upbringing, our church experience, and largely by pop-culture. Heaven is often portrayed as a realm of fluffy clouds, cupid-like angels, and robes of white, while hell is shown as a craggy dungeon filled with fire and chains, ruled over by the Devil himself. But is this what the Bible teaches about heaven and hell, and where humans will spend eternity? Instead of a narrow “salvation as escaping judgment” paradigm, the Bible frames salvation primarily as restoration to loving union with God, partnered with God’s defeat of evil, sin, and death. But the Bible also has something to say about judgment, heaven, and hell.
In the book of Revelation, the Bible’s climactic vision is not one of people escaping a doomed earth, but of a “new heaven and new earth,” where God dwells with humanity, tears and death are gone, and all of creation is healed. Although many try to read Revelation through a literal lens, John’s letter is actually symbolic literature written to encourage persecuted first-century Christians, with its ending offering a clear horizon for the whole story: Jesus will return, there will be resurrection, judgment, and new creation. Instead of the modern idea of “rapture-as-escape,” Revelation offers us the historic Christian hope of bodily resurrection into a renewed creation, where heaven (the space where God’s good will is always done) and earth are finally reunited.
But before heaven and earth are fully reunited, God does say that judgment will happen. The thing is, in our modern culture, we think of judgment as primarily a negative thing. Whether that’s a condescending attitude toward the choices of another person, or God’s overflowing wrath and anger at sinful humans. But in the biblical narrative, judgment is not framed as petty vengeance, but as justice, or the restoration of shalom (peace) and the eradication of evil so that creation can flourish. In a similar vein, hell is most often talked about in the Scriptures as destruction, death, or even the second death, meaning that it’s about the ultimate end of evil and all that brings chaos and division to God’s good creation. And this all has bearing for our lives now. It’s about pulling the future into the present: what we believe about the end shapes how we live, and our discipleship is about becoming a person of love over time. Not motivated by sales pitches or threats, but by union with God, resistance to sin and evil, and a hope that the last enemy, death, will be destroyed.
Discuss
Take the next 30 minutes to discuss the following questions and prompts. If you don’t have time to discuss them all, feel free to choose the ones you think will be the most engaging or applicable for your community.
What early images or teachings shaped your understanding of heaven, hell, and judgment? How have those images helped or hindered your faith over time?
Salvation is not primarily about escaping hell or earning heaven, but about restoration to loving union with God. How does this definition challenge or reframe the way you think about being “saved”?
What you believe about the future inevitably shapes what you do in the present. Where do you see your beliefs about the future actively shaping your daily choices, priorities, or relationships?
The book of Revelation describes heaven coming down to earth, not people escaping up to heaven. How does this vision of new creation change the way you think about the physical world, your work, or your responsibility toward creation now?
The Scriptures talk about judgment not merely as punishment, but as the restoration of shalom and the removal of evil. How does this understanding affect your emotional or spiritual reaction to the idea of Jesus as judge?
There is a distinction between what the Church around the world agrees on (real, everlasting consequences of rejecting God) and what it debates (the nature and duration of hell). Why do you think Scripture leaves room for mystery here, and how should that shape the way Christians talk about hell?
How might the ideas that resurrection, judgment, and new creation are real and coming change how you live this week? What could change in your speech, your forgiveness, your use of time, or your love of others?
Practice
This week, the practice is to do a short imaginative prayer exercise centered around the biblical idea of re-creation. One time this week, take 5-7 minutes in your regular rhythm of spending time with Jesus to do this.
To start, find a comfortable place, free from distractions. Let your hands rest open, and take one slow breath, in and out. Then, invite the Spirit of Jesus to remind you that you’re not trying to escape the world, and ask him to help you notice what God promises to renew.
Next, imagine that you are standing at the edge of a place that feels familiar and yet deeply healed. It is this world you live in, but it is freed from what bruises and breaks it. Notice what is different first; is there no hum of anxiety, no sharp edge of fear? Now, notice if there is something present that feels new; laughter, stillness, unguarded joy?
As you imagine this, look at the ground beneath your feet, and notice that this is creation without strain. Here, nothing is fighting to survive. Everything belongs, and everything is in right relationship with what is around it.
Take a moment to pause and stay still in this place.
Now imagine that God is near. He’s not distant or hidden. He’s not rushing you or demanding something of you, he is simply present, dwelling with you. In his presence, there is nothing you need to prove, or fix, or carry.
Again, take a moment to pause here in the presence of God.
Next, pay attention to your own body in this place, in the presence of God. What has loosened? What feels lighter? What finally feels at home?
Listen for these words, as if they are spoken over you by God: “See, I am making all things new. The dwelling space of God is with humanity, and death will be no more.”
Pause one last time, to allow these words to sink into your mind and heart.
As you end your time, before you leave this space, notice one small detail that you want to remember, perhaps an image, a feeling, or a sense of peace. Hold that detail gently, and slowly return your attention to the physical space you are in. As you do this, trust that what God is making new there, is already breaking into the world here.
Finally, close your time with a prayer of gratitude to Jesus.
If you’re up for it, come to your next community night ready to share about your experience.
Pray
End by having someone read Revelation 21:1-4 as a prayer over the group.
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Pray
Gather together as a community in a comfortable setting, then have one person read Matthew 7:15-20 and invite the Holy Spirit to guide your time.
Recap
Many people in our society put a lot of stock into gatekeeping who’s in or out when it comes to a particular group or fandom. But how is inclusion determined, and who gets to decide? When it comes to following Jesus, according to the Scriptures, authentic belonging is revealed by genuine engagement and lived commitment. Jesus taught that his authentic disciples could be known by the fruit that their lives produce. Simply claiming the name “Christian” is not sufficient, and Jesus himself insisted there is a real difference between sincere disciples and false ones. And that difference is visible in a person’s life.
Jesus’s warning about false prophets in Matthew 7 is not mainly about obvious religious charlatans, though. Instead, it’s about anyone who claims to speak for or follow God while living in ongoing disobedience to the way of King Jesus. You see, the Scriptures consistently teach that disciples are known by their fruit, which is defined as doing the will of the Father. At its simplest, this is loving God and loving others in concrete, ordinary ways. Miracles, spiritual language, or public ministry are not proof of faithfulness. Rather, a life shaped by love, repentance, and obedience is. Salvation is not private or invisible, but shows itself in how one lives.
But Jesus’s teachings should not be misunderstood! He doesn’t say that people earn salvation by good behavior: salvation is a gift, freely given by God. But, our salvation is worked out through a lived relationship with Jesus. True discipleship looks less like perfection and more like ongoing confession, repentance, and participation in God’s life. In the end, judgment is not about performance but “with-ness,” whether a person truly knows Jesus and walks with him. And the fruit of that relationship is a life slowly transformed by love.
Discuss
Take the next 30 minutes to discuss the following questions and prompts. If you don’t have time to discuss them all, feel free to choose the ones you think will be the most engaging or applicable for your community.
In what ways have you seen people (including yourself) relate to Christianity more as a cultural identity, social belonging, or trend than as a lived allegiance to Jesus?
The teaching from Sunday challenges the common phrase “only God knows their heart.” Where do you think this idea came from, and how has it shaped the way Christians talk about accountability, leadership, or public witness?
Jesus says we will recognize true and false disciples “by their fruit.” What is the difference between making a faithful assessment of someone’s life and passing judgment in a condemning or self-righteous way?
Jesus’s rejection of the false disciples centers on their lack of relationship with him. What does it mean to be known by Jesus rather than simply knowing about him?
Paul’s call to “work out your salvation” is presented as a communal, ongoing process. What role do teaching, learning, confession, and shared practices play in shaping long-term discipleship?
Practice
Being willing to recognize our shortcomings and then being open to confession and repentance are key elements to authentic discipleship to Jesus. It’s a good practice to regularly take inventory of our lives and ask Jesus where we need to confess and turn away from certain things back towards him.
The practice this week is to humbly spend some quiet time in the presence of Jesus, asking him to help you see any areas where your life is not aligning with the ways of loving God and loving others.
One time this week, take 10-15 minutes to invite the Spirit of Jesus to speak to you about anything you need to confess or repent of. Then, sit quietly as you wait to hear. Jesus often speaks to us through images, word pictures, spontaneous thoughts, or Scripture. And remember, the voice of Jesus is kind and patient, not angry or condemning. He is gentle with us, loves us, and wants what’s best for us, and anything he brings to mind will always line up with Scripture–Jesus doesn’t contradict himself.
If Jesus brings anything to your mind, an area where you need to confess and repent, do just that–confess it to Jesus, and ask that he would help you, by the power of his Spirit, to turn toward him.
Next, ask that Jesus would help you take a courageous step–confessing to someone in your community, and asking them to hold you accountable in your repentance. James 5:16 says, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” Jesus has called us into his family for a reason, following him is not a solo endeavor. Jesus uses our confession to our brothers and sisters, and the accountability of the community, to help bring his freedom into our lives. Ask Jesus to help you find a safe person to talk to this week, and be willing to confess to them and ask that they hold you accountable in your repentance.
If appropriate, share about your experience the next time your community meets.
Pray
End by having someone read Philippians 2:12-13 as a prayer over the group.
