What is the Point of Salvation?
Saved for what?
Recently, I was talking with a man who wanted to escape. We were in a cheap motel room, some second-hand clothes and groceries scattered across the floor. I sat on a chair and he sat on the worn, stained queen bed. He explained how he had come to live at the motel to get away from the life of drugs and violence he had been living a few towns away. As we talked, our conversation turned toward his future plans and the aims he felt God had for his life. He had some thoughts, but mostly seemed preoccupied with the idea of escape, of being saved from the darkness, sin, and fear he had known.
I am not here to criticize this good brother’s repentant heart or even to question his focus on the chance to overcome the pain of his past. But the conversation led me to ask questions about my own salvation from sin. I began to wonder if the question I should be thinking about is not “salvation from what?” but “salvation for what?” It reminded me of this teaching from the Master:
“When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there.” (Matt. 12:43-45).
There is danger in trying to escape evil in our lives without finding a righteous thing to replace it. When we leave ourselves “empty, swept, and garnished” we are very vulnerable to returning to our previous sins. This issue is precisely what the question of “salvation for what” is meant to address.
Unprofitable Servants
An easy and common answer to the question of why we are saved, or what we are saved for, is to focus on praising and serving God. And this is true, as far as it goes, but I believe it needs elaboration. The problem with this simple explanation is that it makes little to no sense from what we can understand of God’s perspective. The prophet-king Benjamin in the Book of Mormon puts it this way:
“I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants” (Mosiah 2:21).
No matter how much praise or service we render to God, we will never even approach matching what He has done for us.
Now, I recognize there is a danger in this way of thinking. We can extrapolate far too much from the idea that we can rationally comprehend the full mind of God. The narrow point I am trying to make is this: given the incomprehensible sacrifice involved in achieving salvation, I don’t think God did it primarily with the aim of earning our praise or service.
If the whole point of existence or salvation was to fit us for parts in a heavenly choir, certainly there must have been an easier way, perhaps starting with creating more obedient humans. So why did God go through this excruciating process? What is the point of salvation?
Joint-Heirs with Christ
The answer starts, as I see it, with creation. The beginning is inextricably bound up with the end.
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth” (Genesis 1:27-28).
This first commandment, perhaps the essence of our purpose on the earth, is not to praise God or serve Him as we typically describe it. Instead, this seems to be an invitation to join God in His own work. To continue the creation, replenish the earth. We are made in His image and are to join in His work.
That work involves tending and cultivating. It means family and community formation. It means kindness and care for adults, children, plants, animals, and the world. The other commandments that have followed are a guide for how to do that work and we should study them to learn our purpose here.
But this work is about more than just the world. If it weren’t it would quickly fall into the same trap of unprofitability and beg the question. No, the work on earth is preparation for the work in heaven. God is not seeking eternal worshippers but teaching children. Children who he hopes will grow up to inherit His work. “Joint-heirs with Christ” as Paul put it (Romans 8:17). Or, from a more contemporary source: “Wherefore, all things are theirs, whether life or death; or things present, or things to come, all things are theirs and they are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s” (D&C 76:59).
For us, the Living
So where does that leave me and my friend from the beginning? Contemplating joining God’s work for the eternities is certainly heady, but what does God expect me to fill my saved life with tomorrow? What is the point of salvation in this moment?
I think it primarily means cultivating and finding. We must build the kinds of places God intended for this earth, but also work on reaching out to others who are ready to join with God. These are the examples the Lord has shown to us through His life. But there is a third main sign also, present again from the beginning of the world: rest. God’s invitation is to escape the world of sin so we can join in His work and rest.
But perhaps the most important question is this: what piece of God’s work and rest are you ready to take up?