When were you saved? [View all]

[arely staircase]

That is a question I am asked by fundamentalist friends who don't understand my Episcopal faith. Here is the best answer I have found:

"Can a person get 'saved' in the Episcopal Church?"

The answer is an absolute "YES!" Often, there is the follow up question, "When were you saved?" My response is "I was saved in the year 33AD by a man hanging on a cross between heaven and earth on a filthy hillside just outside of Jerusalem, and I am being saved as this same man, who rose in victory over the grave and death, lives to interceed for me at the right hand of God. And more, I will be saved when he comes again in glory to judge the living and the dead--pick one, but I live in all three catogories according to the Scriptures..."

Here are four aspects of an Anglican understanding of salvation, from A sermon given at The Episcopal Church at Princeton University,
The Rev. Dr. Stephen L. White, Chaplain


1. We believe salvation begins with baptism. In baptism we are reborn by the Holy Spirit. (So, if anyone asks you if you are born again, the answer can always be “yes” if you are baptized.

Baptism is the rite by which we are initiated as Christians. In it we turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as our Savior an we are sealed and marked as Christ’s own forever. [Read the Baptism service in the BCP] But far from completing the process of becoming a Christian, in baptism we are just beginning the journey.

2. The salvation process is nurtured by the Eucharist – that great rehearsal and celebration of our salvation. The consecrated bread and wine are the food for the Christian traveler. Eucharist is central to our lives as Christian pilgrims because in it:
•we hear the scriptures read and rehearse the history of our salvation
•we hear the Gospel proclaimed
•we pray for the church, the world, others, ourselves
•we are reminded that our sins are forgiven if we ask for forgiveness
•we celebrate the real presence of the risen Christ among us and we are fed with spiritual food in communion
•we dedicate ourselves to serving Christ in the world as we prepare to depart.

In other words, we pray – implicitly and explicitly – “Lord Jesus, be known to us as you were known to your disciples in the breaking of the bread.”

3. As already mentioned there is continual growth. We stumble and fall, and then pick ourselves up again and keep on going. We stray and we return. As we receive communion we should say: “Out with self, out with envy, out with anger and self-centeredness, out with greed. In with Jesus, in with love, in with compassion, in with patience, in with understanding, in with love.” Our goal is to be able to say with Saint Paul: “It is not I, but Christ who is within me.”

4. Finally, honesty with ourselves is paramount. If life is a continuing process toward salvation, then continual repentance is key. And there is no true repentance without brutal honesty with oneself. You can’t fake repentance.

We come now to the four steps of repentance:

To repent we 1.) We acknowledge our sins to ourselves; 2.) We confess our sins to God; 3.) We ask those whom we have harmed or offended for forgiveness and we make restitution or reparations where necessary and where possible; 4.) We resolve to amend our lives, asking God’s help.

Rather than asking if others are saved, Christians would be much better off to embrace that God's love is unconditional---Jesus never asked anyone if they were saved, but in his life and ministry he did ask those he encoutered "How can i help you?"