Are you "saved"? What do you mean?

[Jacob4707]

silouanathenite posted this in another thread:

You know what has always confused me. What do people actually mean when they say saved. Can someone please explain? People lose me when they say that?

http://www.christianforums.com/showpost.php?p=29694321&postcount=134

As I was driving to work today, I thought about the fact that being saved means something different to Orthodox Christians than it does to Evangelical Protestants, but I also thought this:

When you ask a typical person what the opposite of "lost" is, they'll likely say "found." When you ask a typical Evangelical Protestant what the opposite of "lost" is, they'll likely say "saved."

When you ask a typical person what the opposite of "saved" is, they'll possibly say "spent" or "thrown away," or perhaps "unsaved." :) When you ask a typical Evangelical Protestant what the opposite of "saved" is, they'll likely say "lost."

So, what is the likely Orthodox response to the question: "What is the opposite of 'saved'?"

[Prawnik]

Oh, very well...

http://fatherstephen.wordpress.com/2006/12/11/are-you-saved/

Forgive the fact that I also link this article in another post.

[cobweb]

Growing up protestant, I think most people I knew meant that they were "saved" from eternal damnation.

[Jacob4707]

I know the Orthodox answer to what being "saved" means, but I'm curious: So, what is the likely Orthodox response to the question: "What is the opposite of 'saved'?"

Unfortunately, the title I gave this thread confuses what I'm asking. I hadn't had my coffee yet!!

http://obeskrivlig.blogg.se/images/stupidthings_1145454027_1146339092.jpg

[Eusebios]

If you are asking specifically about "saved" I would say, spent.:) If you are referrring to salvation, it would be a different story altogether.
Eusebios
:bow:

[cobweb]

I know the Orthodox answer to what being "saved" means, but I'm curious:

Unfortunately, the title I gave this thread confuses what I'm asking. I hadn't had my coffee yet!!

http://obeskrivlig.blogg.se/images/stupidthings_1145454027_1146339092.jpg
That's ok. I hadn't had mine yet either.

Working 2nd shift for the last 3 years
+ getting up at the crack of dawn every morning to get the kiddo ready for school
= a firmly held belief that coffee is more necessary to my existance as a functioning member of society than air.

(Translation: I'm a 2 pot a day coffee addict who can barely function without it. :P )

[Xpycoctomos]

damned... is there any other answer?

[cobweb]

damned... is there any other answer?
That is what I was going to say, but I don't know enough about the Orthodox persective to speak definitively about anything.

[Jacob4707]

That's ok. I hadn't had mine yet either.

Working 2nd shift for the last 3 years
+ getting up at the crack of dawn every morning to get the kiddo ready for school
= a firmly held belief that coffee is more necessary to my existance as a functioning member of society than air.

(Translation: I'm a 2 pot a day coffee addict who can barely function without it. :P )

Last year at Christmas/New Year's break - or was it 2 years ago? - I decided to break my caffeine need. It took 6 weeks for the headaches to go away. Since then, I mix my coffee about 5 parts decaf with 1 part caffeine, so I drink maybe the equivalent of 1 cup of caffeinated a day, and some days I do decaf only. The headaches have not returned even though I don't drink coffee on the weekends. I'm doing just fine in terms of staying awake, too.

[MariaRegina]

"In the process of being saved"

but not quite there

hanging on with the hope that I can forgive others as God has forgiven me,

but also knowing that if I judge others as they have judged me, I could be eternally damned, because that would place me under judgment.


That is one reason why I am seriously thinking of leaving CF ... it is not good for one's salvation ... especially when certain types of sins are discussed in detail or even the mention of those sins causes others to stumble. These types of discussions should be privately considered either by PM with trusted others or with one's spiritual father.

CF is not an Orthodox board (duh) and the top-down thinking here is wrong. There is this kind of juridical or judgmental thinking that we have to be punished for our so-called implied thoughts or inferences of the reader (not the writer) and this juridical thinking is contrary to Orthodox teachings:

where we are told by Christ Himself NOT to judge the intentions of others, but only judge ourselves.

Our view of salvation sees the Church as a hospital

(1) where we are treated as patients and not criminals;

(2) where we come to be cured through the graces received in the Holy Mysteries (sacraments) and her Divine Services.

(3) where grace is defined as a Divine Energy of God so that we are receiving the very Energy of God into our souls which can radically transform us if we can put aside all earthly cares and the rash judgments of others for real or implied hurts and/or injuries received that can cloud our thinking.

Basically salvation is not a one time process for most people but an ongoing struggle to reach the Kingdom of God. It is a struggle to reach theosis where God dwells in us and we exist in God to the point where we have lost our ego-centeredness and have become God-centered.

These are my thoughts after reading Kyriacos Markides' latest book: Gifts of the Desert.

[Shubunkin]

I know the Orthodox answer to what being "saved" means, but I'm curious:

Unfortunately, the title I gave this thread confuses what I'm asking. I hadn't had my coffee yet!!

http://obeskrivlig.blogg.se/images/stupidthings_1145454027_1146339092.jpg
That is cute (and so true!) :)

[MariaRegina]

Last year at Christmas/New Year's break - or was it 2 years ago? - I decided to break my caffeine need. It took 6 weeks for the headaches to go away. Since then, I mix my coffee about 5 parts decaf with 1 part caffeine, so I drink maybe the equivalent of 1 cup of caffeinated a day, and some days I do decaf only. The headaches have not returned even though I don't drink coffee on the weekends. I'm doing just fine in terms of staying awake, too.
My hubbie does the same,

Although he has discovered that the organic coffee doesn't give him the headaches as the non-organic stuff does.

[eoj]

SAVED means to TRUTHFULLY LOVE JESUS CHRIST.

[MariaRegina]

SAVED means to TRUTHFULLY LOVE JESUS CHRIST.
Ah!

But one can think they are truthfully loving the Lord, but in reality they are quite self-centered, because they are only infatuated with God.

[Shubunkin]

Ah!

But one can think they are truthfully loving the Lord, but in reality they are quite self-centered, because they are only infatuated with God.
or infatuated with the idea of God... I completely agree with you, Aria. I have known many Christian friends that thought and believed God to be so wonderful, kind, and merciful that they are forgetting to read their Bible and clean up their lives. Is love enough? Each Christian believer must ask themself this question.

[Jacob4707]

silouanathenite posted this in another thread:



http://www.christianforums.com/showpost.php?p=29694321&postcount=134

As I was driving to work today, I thought about the fact that being saved means something different to Orthodox Christians than it does to Evangelical Protestants, but I also thought this:

When you ask a typical person what the opposite of "lost" is, they'll likely say "found." When you ask a typical Evangelical Protestant what the opposite of "lost" is, they'll likely say "saved."

When you ask a typical person what the opposite of "saved" is, they'll possibly say "spent" or "thrown away," or perhaps "unsaved." :) When you ask a typical Evangelical Protestant what the opposite of "saved" is, they'll likely say "lost."

So, what is the likely Orthodox response to the question: "What is the opposite of 'saved'?"

If asked by an Evangelical Protestant if one is saved, if one says "no" or hesitates, the EP is going to think/conclude "not saved = lost" based on the above. That's why I thought it was interesting to posit what the opposites of "saved" and "lost" mean to EPs and the man on the street, and to ask what it might mean to Orthodox Christians. Since "saved" has different meanings for EPs and for Orthodox Christians, their opposites likely have different meanings, too - maybe?

[gzt]

I'd say "damned", but I'm pretty sure I would've said that way back in the day [sometime around the dawn of time, it seems] as well.

[Chacci]

The opposite of saved is unenlightened.

[Jacob4707]

The opposite of saved is unenlightened.

I think you might win a kewpie doll with that answer!!

http://the-doll-shoppe.com/images/kewpie/KANDY_Kane.jpg

[eoe]

I would say the opposite is dead. We are saved from death and sin.

[Chacci]

Whooo HOOOO!

I've been wanting a Kewpie Doll!!

[DonVA]

(Translation: I'm a 2 pot a day coffee addict who can barely function without it. :P )

You're not the only one! :pray: