What is salvation? Why bother with it? Why think about it? Well, this is a Urantia Book forum, and we think about these sorts of things. Here’s a snapshot of my salvation experience for starters on the topic. I’m sure readers have different stories to tell.
I grew up in an anti-religious household. The subject was never discussed. Somehow, I knew it was a subject that was not allowed. One afternoon when I was around 7 years old, I remember sitting on the back steps of the family home. I was sobbing into my arms which were folded across my knees. I don’t remember why I was crying. I asked God (at least I think it was God, looking back on it now), “Why am I here?” This is a vivid memory. From then on, even though I had no help from parental guidance on the subject of God, I set out to find out more on my own. This took the form of going with my school friends to their church from time to time. I never had doubts about God. Over the years, I never joined a church, but after I married and had young children, I did join a religious cult.
Why did I join a religious cult? Well, one reason for me was the cult valued many deferent religious teachers such as Buddha, Ramakrishna, Saint Germain, Jesus, plus they had their own “guru”. They put pictures of them on their long and low altar lighted with many candles. I was intellectually attracted to the religious inclusiveness in the group. I did not then, nor can I now, accept the idea that Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I felt pretty sure other religions had something to offer and I liked that.
The cult had a bookstore. I bought and read a copy of every book they sold. I bought my first Urantia Book there. I adopted the way of thinking promoted by these people. I believed what they told us. By my own free will, I did what they told us to do, mentally speaking. In retrospect, I realize I was brainwashing myself. What an experience! I swallowed their bait, their pitch: hook, line and sinker. All of it was intellectually appealing, but in no way was it a spiritually satisfying experience from the beginning to the end. The end came when the group broke up and other parts of my life fell apart.
I became despondent and despairing. I went to my neighbors for comfort and spiritual support. I joined them for Bible study. I cried through most of it. And I was comforted. I was supported by these two dear ladies, and I began to get back on track with my life. I owned many books and found The Urantia Book on my own bookshelf! I found it in my own home and began reading it for myself around this time.
Then quite suddenly one afternoon in my life around this time, I had a profound experience. An unforgettable experience. I was saved. It was brief and certain. It was like I received a lifeline from above. I knew unequivocally that Jesus saved me. It happened without fanfare in my room. It forever changed me. So little did I know then.
Was I saved from something? Or was I saved for something?
Most of what I am going to offer in this discussion are references from the Urantia Book. I like to cite the Urantia Book because it provides the verbiage from which we derive the actual and/or possible meanings of the information presented. It’s a way of studying the material. To give context to a reference, you can tap the link. It is natural to recognize that insight from the material will vary from person to person.
I have picked out a few synonyms for the word salvation. One word I like is the word salvaged, though I did not find this word in an online thesaurus. Here are some others that meant something to me: saved, rescued, recovered, lifeline, born-again, found. After that cult experience, I truly was lost.
What about the non-Christian religions? Do they have such a thing as salvation? I found these references in the book:
5:4.5 All religions teach the worship of Deity and some doctrine of human salvation. The Buddhist religion promises salvation from suffering, unending peace; the Jewish religion promises salvation from difficulties, prosperity predicated on righteousness; the Greek religion promised salvation from disharmony, ugliness, by the realization of beauty; Christianity promises salvation from sin, sanctity; Mohammedanism provides deliverance from the rigorous moral standards of Judaism and Christianity. The religion of Jesus is salvation from self, deliverance from the evils of creature isolation in time and in eternity.
5:4.6 The Hebrews based their religion on goodness; the Greeks on beauty; both religions sought truth. Jesus revealed a God of love, and love is all-embracing of truth, beauty, and goodness.
5:4.7 The Zoroastrians had a religion of morals; the Hindus a religion of metaphysics; the Confucianists a religion of ethics. Jesus lived a religion of service. All these religions are of value in that they are valid approaches to the religion of Jesus. Religion is destined to become the reality of the spiritual unification of all that is good, beautiful, and true in human experience.
Several things stick out for me in the references. One, religions have varying doctrines of salvation. Two, the personal experience of salvation is a one-on-one experience between a person and God, irrespective of doctrinal concepts. And three, any God-worshipping religion is a valid approach to the religion of Jesus.
