I’m told that if we chase the word “salvation” back to its
linguistic roots we find that is almost a martial arts term. Salvation means to
be rescued from a narrow and dangerous place. David had been rescued, more than
once. Yet, overwhelmed by the sight of Bathsheba bathing, he got her pregnant
and then had her husband murdered. Until confronted by Nathan, he was blind to
his state. When confronted, he repented and was once again rescued.
In contrast, the un-named woman in Luke knew who she was and did her best to offer her service to Jesus. She repented and then was forgiven – rescued – and urged to “…go in peace.”
The question for us is: once rescued how do we stay in peace as the woman is urged rather than going back out as David did? We get some clues from Galatians. We won’t do it by our own works. We can do it by maintaining our spiritual practices so that we either will be able to avoid those dangerous places or be rescued before we start harming ourselves or anybody else.
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