Who Said It?

Well it’s way past midnight and there are people all around
Some on their way up, some on their way down
The air burns and I’m trying to think straight
And I don’t know how much longer I can wait

-Bob Dylan, Can’t Wait

It’s late. Way past midnight. I’m reading. Thinking. Praying. Trying to get it right.
Trying to get what right? Trying to get salvation right. Nothing matters more than this.
Popular opinions and cheap assumptions are not enough. Too much is at stake.

I just read this:

By salvation I mean, not barely, (according to the vulgar notion) deliverance from hell, or going to heaven, but present deliverance from sin, a restoration of the soul to primitive health, its original purity, a recovery of divine nature, the renewal of our souls after the image of God in righteousness and true holiness, in justice, mercy and truth.

YES!! YES!! YES!!

That’s what salvation is.
The restoration of all creation to God’s original goodness.
It’s nice to find someone of repute who said what I’m saying about the nature of salvation.

Not a ticket to heaven.
Not postmortem salvation.
Not heaven and hell minimalism.
But the restoration of God’s original goodness.

CROSS
MYSTERY
ECLECTIC
COMMUNITY
RESTORATION

Here’s the quote I read way past midnight one more time:

By salvation I mean, not barely, (according to the vulgar notion) deliverance from hell, or going to heaven, but present deliverance from sin, a restoration of the soul to primitive health, its original purity, a recovery of divine nature, the renewal of our souls after the image of God in righteousness and true holiness, in justice, mercy and truth.

Here’s my question for you: Who Said It?

Try to resist the temptation to google it. Instead, just think about it. Who said it?

I’ll give you some time to submit your guesses (or perhaps you know), then I’ll give you the answer.

It’s way past midnight…

BZ

PS

Lord Jesus…

I’m doomed to love you, I’ve been rolling through stormy weather
I’m thinking of you and all the places we could roam together