SIGNS OF SALVATION

Luke 19:8-10 “Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!” Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”

Have you ever known someone who talked about their faith, Bible reading, etc. whose output…personally or professionally was anything but? The singer whose lyrics need an “Explicit” warning on the label; the composer or author whose descriptions of some human activity could, at best, be called sordid? There are many people who live with one foot in one world and one foot in another. This is bifurcated faith…not integrated faith. Fact is, when someone surrenders to Jesus Christ, life changes. That’s a sign of salvation.

As I was studying the Gospel of Luke, I came to chapter 19 where I read the story of Zacchaeus, a very short Jewish man who collected taxes for Rome in the city of Jericho. Jesus Christ was traveling through the city and Zacchaeus wanted to catch a glimpse of him but was too short to see over the crowds. So, he ran on up ahead and climbed a tree to get a better venue from which to see the Lord. As Jesus came up to the tree, He stopped and invited Himself to a meal at Zacchaeus’ home!

People were shocked and offended at Jesus for going to this notorious sinner’s home to share a meal and be the guest of this man. What transpired because of this was a change of heart, repentance it’s called, and a change of behavior…a sign that something had happened within Zacchaeus. The crooked tax collector stood up and declared before Jesus. “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!” IF I have cheated? Everyone knew he had cheated, but his repentant declaration was that reparation that the Law required for theft. Something dramatic had taken place and everyone could see it. Zacchaeus was not the same guy anymore.

Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” There was evidence that God’s salvation had come and changed Zacchaeus’ heart. The power of the Kingdom of God manifest in Jesus Christ had penetrated a heart of stone and made it a soft, receptive heart. The tax collector’s life was changed. It would no longer be the same.

The evidence that salvation had come to Zacchaeus was a changed life, a changed focus in being. He was going to help the poor in the city and make reparations to those he had cheated to become rich. He’d still be a tax collector; that was his profession, but he would be and honest tax collector; a rare item in his day.

But when salvation comes to a person, life changes dramatically, so dramatically it’s referred to as “being born again”. Followers of Jesus are called “new creations in Christ Jesus” where old things pass away and all things become new. A radically saved one does not continue to live a lifestyle of habitual sin. The saved one no longer looks to the world or culture to validate their worth or authenticate their identity. God has given them a new way of life that is going to be lived out in and through them by the indwelling Person and Presence of the Holy Spirit. It’s a long obedience in the same direction, a marathon race where we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. I pray daily for folks whose testimony and life seem contradictory even as I pray for my own life daily that we would experience the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit, being conformed more and more to look like the one we call Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

All that said, a changed and changing life is a sign of God’s salvation that everyone can see a Jericho did that day when Jesus came to dinner.