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ON THE WAY TO SALVATION

NICLAS LJUNG

On theway –tosalvation

Originally publishedinSwedish by Libris Media2022

NIV(NewInternationalVersion)isusedunlessmentioned otherwise.

Illustration:IsacLjung (Jonatan Knutes –originalcover in Swedish)

Photo: Katie McBroom (Unsplash)

Publisher: BoD· BooksonDemand, Östermalmstorg 1, 114 42 Stockholm, Sverige, bod@bod.se

Print: LibriPlureos GmbH,Friedensallee 273, 22763 Hamburg, Tyskland

ISBN: 978-91-8080-927-6

Chapter7:Baptism

Part

Preface

During my years as apastor, Ihavemet many whoeagerly setout, withhopefulhearts, on ajourney with Jesus Christ.Theyhavebeen bothyoung andold andhavecomefroma widevariety of cultural backgrounds.Yet,I must admitthat aquiet,persistentquestionhas oftenlingeredatthe back of my mind:Willtheir faithendure, or will it fade away?I know Iamnot aloneincarryingthe painfulawareness that anewly awakened faith canbebothfragile andvulnerable. Perhapsthisvulnerability is felt most deeply when it is afamily member or close friend wholoses their faithand strays from the road to salvation. Over time, Ihavebecome increasingly convinced of one thing: we must do everything we cantonurture afaith that endures, not onlyinmoments of joy, butalsothrough seasons of doubtand silence. Foraswegentlyguide others,wetoo areshaped andstrengthenedonour ownjourney with God.

To better understand this,I find it helpfultothink of theChristian faith as ajourney. Formostofus, that’s not an unfamiliarway of thinking aboutlife. You’ve probablysaidthingslike, “It’sa dead end,”or“Itook one step forwardand twosteps back.”Maybe you’ve also said,“Let’sget moving,” or “We’re stepping into the unknown.”InEnglish, we oftenspeak of the way we live, or of how we shouldn’tgodowncertain roads.And we’renot alone in this; many culturesaroundthe world use similarexpressions. As we’llsee throughoutthisbook,thiskindoflanguagealsoappearsinthe Bible.

Both theOld andNew Testamentsconveythe idea that we areon ajourney throughlife, andthatlifeitself is ajourney.

When Iworkedasa children’sand youthpastorinthe Swedishtown of Falun, thecampsweheldatDalagårdenwereamong the highlightsofthe year.I remember onewarmand sunny summer’s daywhenwetook theyouth tenkilometersdeepintothe forest. We left them therewithwater,a map, anda compassand simply said, “See youbackatcamp!”Onthe wayback, they had to climbsteep hills andmaketheir waythrough aforestwithoutclear paths. Along theroute, they encountered checkpointswith variousactivities.The slowestgroup returned nearly sevenhours later,but in high spirits. At some stations,other groups hadtried to bribethe leaders for a ride backwhentheir legsweretired or theirfeetsore. Even though some of theyouth thoughtitwas thehardest thingtheyhad ever done,and others thoughtitwas themostfun,everyone had somethingtotalkabout that evening. Thosewho had stayed behind soon realized they hadmissedout on somethingmemorable and special.I must admit, albeitreluctantly, that thechallenge might have been abit tootough,asittruly testedthe teenagers’ endurance andpatience.

In asimilarway,ifwecompare lifetoa journey, we sometimes feel like giving up,orlikefinding shortcuts.Atother times,wesimply enjoywalking along peaceful,winding paths. But no matter how life unfolds,givingup is neveranoption. We allknow that thejourney of lifecan be hard.The secret to ameaningfullife, then,isnot choosingthe easiestpath,but theright one. Andthisiswhere God entersthe picture.Hecreated us, He knowswhy He didso, andfor

that reason,itisonlywith Himthatour lives canfindtruemeaning andpurpose.

Iamthe firsttoadmit that Ioften need help in my walk with God. ThereissomuchinmylifethatGod needstotransform,and like everyone else, Iamnot whereI should be.Sometimes Irun away from responsibility,other times Imight withholdthe truthifitwill benefitme. From timetotime, Imay be driven by greed, convenience or self-reliance. Toooften Iget angryand blameothers when Ireally should be angryatmyself.I disappoint others when I fail to keep my promises, andI don’talwaysmanagetoprioritizemy family theway Ishould.Looking in themirror, Ican seethat Iam lackingmuchofthe fruitofthe Spirit, love,joy,peace,forbearance, kindness, goodness,faithfulness, gentleness, andself-control (Galatians 5:22–23).But at thesametime, Iamnot as Ioncewas,I am confident of this,thatHewho begana good work in me will carry it on to completionuntil theday ofChristJesus (Philippians 1:6),but for now Iamfar from complete. We areall on ajourney whereGod longsmorethananythingelsetoshapeus, guideusand transformusintothe likenessofhis sonJesus Christ.

ThemoreIreadthe Biblethrough thelensofa journey, themoreI find this themethroughoutthe scriptures.Wecan read how“Enoch walked faithfully with God” (Genesis 5:24). “Noahwas arighteous man, blamelessamong thepeopleofhis time, andhewalked faithfully withGod”(Genesis6:9).Abraham wascalledtoleave his homeand go to anew land that Godwould show him, so he setout on along journeytoa placehedid notknow (Genesis 12:1-9). When thepeopleofIsrael, underthe leadershipofMoses,leftEgypt 400 years after Abraham, it wasthe beginningofa journeythatwould

take them 40 years. They wandered throughdeserts andthe wildernessand in many ways,thiscametoshape thenationofIsrael, anditgavethemanidentity as ajourneyingpeople. To commemorate this journey, theJewishpeopleannually celebratethe FeastofTabernacleswhentheysleep in simple huts underanopen sky. TheunwillingprophetJonahwas called by Godtogoall the waytothe greatcity of NinevehinAssyria. In Micahwelearn that Godwantus: “Toact justly andtolovemercy andtowalk humbly withyourGod”(Micah6:8).

Mary andJosephlater setout on ajourney from Nazareth in Galilee to David’scity of Bethlehem,south of Jerusalem. They werethen forced to flee to Egyptinorder to escape Herod’swrath (Luke2:4, Matthew 2:13).WhenJesus called hisdisciples,itwas with theclassic words“Come, follow me!” (Matthew 4:19).AsI havestarted to see this themethroughoutthe Bible, Iamnow convincedthat we must recapturethislanguageofa journeytobetterunderstandGod’s plan andpurposefor ourlives.Thisway of viewing ourlives will better equipustohandleour walk of faith andprepare us for thethings that we aregoing to meet on ourjourney throughlife.

Thebook that youholdinyourhands is theresultofa lifeasa pastorand throughalifespent together with Jesus Christ. Ihave seen andmet many people journeyingontheir waythrough life, some of them havebeenpassing throughthe valley of shadow of death, others havegot themselves lost in their pursuitoftheir own happiness andsuccess.Thisbook is thereforewritten with several purposes in mind.

First,I want to help thosewho arenew to thefaith to geta good startontheir walk with God. Agoodstart is crucialtohow therest

Understandingthe Christianlifeasajourney is crucial to graspingthe kind of lifeJesus callsustolive. Each day, He wants to lead us in taking thenext best step forward—together with Him. Butthe journeyisn’t always easy.Wewillface trials,uphillclimbs,and at times, difficult crossroads.WhenJesus said,“Follow me,” it wasadeeply personal invitation to alifelongwalkasHis disciple.

This book provideswhatyou need to make thebestpossiblestart to your journey. Butitdoesn’t stop there—you’ll also be equipped, encouraged, andchallengedtokeepwalking with Jesus, no matter whereyou find yourself alongthe way.

Niclas Ljungbringsover30years of experience servingasa pastor. Hiswriting is both simple andprofound. With hisfeet firmly planted on thegroundand hiseyes fixedonheaven, he uses vividillustrations andclear imagerytohelpreadersunderstandwhatittruly meansto walk with God.

My longingand prayer is that this bookwillhelpbothnew andseasonedtravelersgainadeeperunderstanding of thelifeGod invitesus into—sothatyou canwalkinthe powerofthe Holy Spirit andgrow in your love forJesus.Ipraythatthisbookwillhelpyou—whether on your own, in asmall group, or as achurch—take thenextbeststepon your journey.