Bright Tuesday; Our Holy Father Martin the Confessor, Pope of Rome (655); the Newly Revealed Martyrs Anthony, John and Eustathius (1342)
Read
Acts 2:14-21; Luke 24:12-35
Christ is risen! Truly, He is risen!
In response to the most common question of evangelical Protestants, “Are you saved?” one of my professors in seminary would respond like this: “I have been saved, I am being saved, and I will be saved.”
It would appear that the last line of today’s epistle would contradict salvation being a process. But to call on the name of the Lord is not just uttering a few words and poof, we are saved. No, it includes two very important aspects.
First, it is the acceptance of the free gift that is salvation from God. For the apostles, the acceptance of this gift came first when they chose to follow Christ, next when they believed in Him after His Resurrection, and finally on the day of Pentecost when they freely received the Holy Spirit and began the apostolic work of evangelizing.
The second aspect is the necessity of living in constant engagement with God. The apostles learned from Christ how they are to live out this life-long process of salvation through faith, works, and repentance. In turn, they continue the work of Christ by bringing others into a relationship with God towards salvation.
Brothers and sisters, Christ has offered us the great gift of salvation through His Resurrection. We are called to a daily acceptance of this gift and to answer the invitation to share a new life with Him each and every day!