The All Star game and saving faith

Amy noted to me that it seemed weird baseball would have an all-star game during the middle of the season. Of course, many if not most sports, with the exception of football, include an all-star game of sorts mid-way through the season (basketball, hockey, perhaps soccer).

The problem with an all-star game which occurs mid-way through the season is that many players are rewarded for simply having a great first half of the season. Sometimes they may finish extremely poorly. In fact several Rays players who made the all-star team would probably not have made the all-star team if voting took place at the end of the year.

So an all-star is an all-star for his first half performance. Period.

But the Christian life is about finishing, forgetting what is behind and straining to what is ahead (Phil 3:8-16). It is not about a prayer you prayed when you were little or about how you were at one time "saved" a long time ago. The truth of the matter is that we need to continue considering how is God "saving" us from the enslaving power of sin NOW, not just how he saved us from the punishment of sin THEN.

I don't mention John Calvin too much, but since he's like 500 years old right now and I'm a fan, here we go: the "P" in "TULIP" refers to the Perseverance of the Saints. That basically means that those who are "saved" will continue their walk by daily repentance and faith in Christ alone until their "season" is over. Finishing the race is an indication-not a reward, but Christ's completed work applied to their lives-they "were saved" from the Punishment of Sin, "are saved" from the enslaving Power of sin, and "will be saved" from the Presence of sin.

The Christian faith, unlike being an All-star, is not about first half performances. Instead it is a finishing and resting faith in Christ alone. Faith Now & Later, not some appearance of faith Then.