Salvation
This is the first in a series of essays on the subject of salvation. The word, save, means "to deliver, to make or keep safe, to preserve." In all but a couple of times in the new testament the word is used as a verb or a preposition.
To understand the subject of salvation there are a few rules we must follow:
1. First, we must know what we are being delivered from or what we are being delivered to. For instance, if I say, "I am saved." That statement begs the question, "What am I saved from?" or "What am I saved to?" Without knowing the "from" or "to" the statement loses meaning.
2. Second, we must know the context in which it is used. Most often the context defines the meaning and application of words.
3. Third, we need to know what brings about the salvation. For instance is the salvation brought about by my actions or works, or is the salvation brought about solely by the actions or works of God and we are the recipients of that salvation by the grace of God? To illustrate the above, someone cried out "Lord, save me." Without any more information we don't know if the person
was concerned with the condition of his soul or if he was concerned with the immediate surrounding conditions. As it turns out, Peter was walking on water to go to Jesus. When he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. Peter was concerned with the immediate surrounding conditions and was crying out for the Lord to save him from drowning. He was not at
that time occupied with thoughts of where he would spend eternity.
There are two categories of salvation taught in the scriptures. There is the category that deals with our eternal salvation, i.e., our salvation from the condemning effects of sin, our salvation from being dead in trespasses and sins, and our salvation into heaven's glory world. All aspects of our eternal salvation we find is brought about by God's grace and is not by the works
or actions of man.
The second category deals with the many timely deliverances God's people can and do experience in our timely stay upon earth. Included in this category are deliverances from ignorance, from vain worship, from the pitfalls of life, from going about to establish our own righteousness, from this untoward generation, etc. In this category certain works or actions are generally
required by the child of God to bring about the deliverance.
2 Tim. 2:10 illustrates these two categories of salvation: "Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." The verse indicates with the words, "also" and "with," that these are two categories of salvation taught in the scripture.
One category as we have discussed pertains to eternal glory. The elect in this verse already have eternal glory due to the work and actions of God and by his grace. The second category of salvation is conditioned on the elect performing some work or action in order to obtain the timely salvation. This is a conditional salvation. The elect may or may not obtain this salvation
based on whether or not they fulfill the conditions prescribed. The eternal glory is an unconditional salvation. God has and will perform every thing necessary for the elect to obtain eternal glory.
Next one must already have been saved from the condemnation of sin and from being dead in trespasses and sins before he can experience the timely category of salvation. Phil. 2:12, 13 illustrates this principle: "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it
is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his own good pleasure." Thus we see that before we can work out our timely salvation God must first have performed a work in us that gives us both a desire (to will) toward God and his service and an ability (to do) to perform the service of God." Therefore, we have to be saved eternally in order that we might experience timely salvation.
Salvation From an
Untoward Generation
In this essay we continue a study of timely deliverance (salvation)
as
we look at the exhortation in Acts 2:40, "And with many other words
did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this
untoward
generation." It is only those who have been called of God that can
save
themselves from this "untoward generation." According to Rom. 3:17
the unregenerate (those not born again) know not the way of peace.
Likewise in Eph. 2:2, 3 we are told that before we are born again we
"walked according to the course of this world" and "had our
conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the
desires of our flesh and mind." It is only after the miracle of the
new birth that we can "save ourselves from this untoward
generation."
The Greek word for untoward is "skolios" meaning crooked or curved
in contrast to that which is straight. John describes for us this
"untoward generation" in the admonition of I John 2:15, 16, "Love
not
the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love
the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in
the
world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the
pride of
life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." James says in
James
4:4, "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the
friendship of
the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend
of
the world is the enemy of God." Thus we conclude that the course of
this world is to satiate self with the fleshly lusts. That is to
live a
lifestyle seeking to satisfy the fleshly desires.
There are two ways that are set forth for us that we can choose to
travel in this life. There is the broad way that most people travel
and
there is the narrow way of discipleship that a few travel. Matt.
7:13,
14 describes these ways for us thusly: "Enter ye in at the strait
gate:
for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to
destruction,
and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate
and
narrow is the way, which leadeth to life, and few there be which
find
it." For a child of God to travel the road of life living a
lifestyle
to satisfy the fleshly lust is to travel the road that leads to
destruction.
Destruction can come in many forms a few of which are:
1. Broken marriages, broken
relationships, broken fellowship, and
broken promises.
2. A lifetime of despair, despondency, and depression.
3. A lifetime of dependency brought on by addiction to drugs and
alcohol and other addictive substances and practices.
4. Loneliness.
5. Bondage to the false ideas and false teachings of false prophets.
6. Lives, ours and others, destroyed by lustful action.
7. Wasted opportunities to worship and serve God with the talents
God
has given us.
8. Guilt ridden lives often coupled with mental illness.
Those who travel the broad way of destruction usually do so because
of the promises of fleshly gratification (lust of flesh, lust
of eyes,
pride of life) only to find out later in life how "empty" those
promises
really were.
The other way set forth for us to travel is the "narrow" way of
discipleship or "way of peace also known as the "highway of
holiness."
We are admonished in Rom. 12:1, 2, "I beseech you therefore
brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a
living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, And be
not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing
of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable,
and perfect, will of God." The travelers along the "highway of
holiness" find that they experience a life of inner peace, rest,
comfort, fellowship with
God, true spiritual joy, friendship with God and God's obedient
people,
help in time of trouble, growth in the knowledge of God's word,
strength during the time of adversity, consolation in time of loss,
etc. Thus this way leads unto the deep, full spiritual life in God's
kingdom.
We save ourselves by initially and continually committing ourselves
to
the worship and service of God in his kingdom church and to being
disciples of Jesus Christ by studying his word and by being doers of
his word and by mortifying the deeds of the flesh through purging
out the old fleshly ways and replacing them with the way of holiness
and
godliness.
Thus we should all strive to enter in
at the strait gate and walk the
narrow way which leads to this rich spiritual kingdom life.
Salvation From Ignorance
In our previous essays we have considered how God has saved us from the
condemnation of sin, from the bondage of sin, and from the corruption of
sin. These make up our eternal salvation which according to the
scriptures are by the grace of God and not by the works of the
creature. In this essay we will begin to look at our timely salvation.
That there are two types of salvation taught in the scriptures is
plainly set forth in II Tim. 2:10, "Therefore I endure all things for
the elect's sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in
Christ Jesus with eternal glory." Thus "the elect" already have
"eternal glory" and Paul desired they would have another salvation, for
which he endured "all things" for their sake.
One aspect of
timely salvation is deliverance from ignorance and
working to "get right" with God. Paul prayed for a people in Romans
chapter 10 who were ignorant of God's righteousness and going about
trying to establish their own righteousness. In other words, they were
trying thru their efforts to "get right" with God. That such effort is
futile is evidenced by the fact that salvation from sin is by the grace
of God. They, however, according to their ignorance thought they could
do something that would put them in judicial favor with a just and holy
God.
Please note that no
one tries to get right with God who hasn't first
felt the conviction of sin in his heart. A person who wants to get
right with God does so, because he has been convicted in his heart of
sin. Next, no one has felt conviction of sin in his heart until God has
first written his laws in his heart. Without law there can be no
conviction of sin. God writes his laws in our heart when we are born
again (born spiritually). Jesus died and redeemed all, who are born
again, from the condemnation of sin. The born again person being
convicted by the laws of God written in his heart will try to alleviate
his heartfelt conviction of sin by trying to get right with God. At
this point in time he is ignorant of the "righteousness of God," i.e.,
that Christ thru his sufferings and death on the cross redeemed him and
made him right with God. He in his ignorance goes about trying to do
something to get right with God.
In Matt. 11:28 the
Lord said, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are
heave laden, and I will give you rest." The born again but convicted
child of God labors trying to establish his own righteousness all the
while he is heavy laden with a burden of sin guiltiness. What can save
this individual from the predicament he is in? Well the answer is
"coming to Jesus" to see that he is "the end (fulfillment) of the law
for righteousness." When we see that Jesus has made us righteous before
God then we will stop all our efforts in trying to get right with God.
The true gospel brings this knowledge to the laboring sin burdened child
of God. II Tim. 1:10 declares the gospel purpose as follows: "But is now
made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath
abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the
gospel." The gospel brings life and immortality to light! It declares
what Jesus has done for us and how we are made righteous thru his
sacrificial atonement.
The gospel does not
give life, but it brings that life that God has already given us (of
which we were before ignorant) to light or knowledge. Therefore when the
born again child of God who is burdened with sin guiltiness and trying
to get right with God hears and believes that Jesus died to deliver him
from his sins and that he is thus made right with God, he is then saved
from his ignorance and from his fruitless attempts to get right with
God. Many of God's born again people are today still in their ignorance
trying to get right with God.
Let us have the
same concern and prayer for them that Paul expressed in Rom. 10:1,
"Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they
might be saved." Isaiah 40:1,2 illustrates the purpose of the gospel in
saving God's people from ignorance and effort in trying to get right
with God: "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye
comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is
accomplished; that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of
the Lord's hand double for all her sins." Many of God's people today are
fighting a warfare in trying to get right with God when the war is
already won for them by the Lord, they just don't know it. The gospel,
however, brings this knowledge to them. It is indeed a great
comfort and load removed from our heart when wecome to believe that
Jesus has redeemed us from our sins by his sacrificial atonement and by
the grace of God. It removes the load of sin guiltiness from our heart
and delivers us from a fruitless effort of trying to get right with God.
Salvation From a Condemning Heart
In this essay we will continue to look at our timely
salvation. That
there are two types of salvation taught in the
scriptures is plainly set
forth in II Tim. 2:10, "Therefore I endure all
things for the elect's
sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which
is in Christ Jesus
with eternal glory." Thus "the elect" already have
"eternal glory" and
Paul desired they would have another salvation, for
which he endured
"all things" for their sake. We will now consider
how the elect are
saved from a condemning heart and into the service
of God.
When we are born again God writes his laws in our
heart and mind (Heb.
8:10; II Cor. 3:3; Heb. 10:16; Rom. 2:15), sprinkles
our heart from an
evil conscience (Heb. 10:22), and sets up a
courtroom in our heart and
mind (Rom. 2:15; 1 John 3:21, 22). In this courtroom
we are convicted in our hearts as sinners under the wrathful judgment
of God as the
following examples illustrate:
1. Isa. 6:5 "Then said I, Woe is me! For I am
undone; because I am a
man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a
people of unclean
lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of
hosts."
2. Luke 18:13 "And the publican, standing afar off,
would not lift
up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon
his breast, saying,
God be merciful to me a sinner."
3. Rom. 7:24 "O wretched man that I am! Who shall
deliver me from
the body of this death?"
Thus, as the above scriptures illustrate, when we
see ourselves in
light of God's laws and the justice and holiness of
God, that we then
begin to see ourselves as poor ruined sinners worthy
of God's wrath
being executed upon us. The question before us is
"How are we delivered
(saved) from our condemning heart?" The answer is
given to us in Mk.16:15, 16, "And he said unto them, Go ye into all
the world, and preach
the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and
is baptized shall
be saved; but he that believeth not shall be
damned." Thus, without
doubt, there is a salvation in the preaching of the
gospel, believing
the gospel, and being baptized."
I Pet. 3:21 describes
this salvation to us as follows: "The like figure
whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not
the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the
answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ."
Peter points out to us that the salvation in baptism
is "not" the
putting away of the filth of the flesh. The filth of
the flesh is sin.
Sin is not put away by water baptism. Sin is put
away by the death,
burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Baptism is
a figure of the
death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Peter also points out to us that the salvation in
water baptism is "the
answer of a good conscience toward God." I have
always been taught that
if you have an answer then you must have first had a
question. The
question is a two part question. First, do you as a
sinner, believe
that Jesus died on the cross to deliver you from
your sins and that when
he arose that proved you are justified? The second
part of this question is that since Jesus died to redeem you from
your sins are you
going to serve him as his disciple and enter into
that service thru
water baptism?
Thus belief of the
gospel message and being "baptized in
water serves to deliver (save) you from a condemning
heart. The gospel
message assures you that Jesus delivered you from
the wrathful judgment
of God and thus assuages the condemning heart.
Likewise, water baptism
assuages the heart that would condemn us if/when we
turn away from the
service of God.
The above principles are illustrated for us in Isa.
6:6 8. As you will
recall from above that Isaiah in v.5 had seen
himself in a state of
condemnation and woe. Verses 6 and 7 tell us how
that God had taken
care of the problem that plagued Isaiah's heart:
"Then flew one of the
seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand,
which he had taken
with tongs from off the altar: and he laid it upon
my mouth, and said,
Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity
is taken away, and
thy sin purged." In the typical language above, if
in place of the "seraphim" we inserted the gospel preacher and in
place of the "live
coal" we inserted Jesus' suffering and death on the
cross, then we have
the gospel message that brings such comfort to a sin
plagued heart.
Next, in v.8 we see the call to service and response
of Isaiah: "Also I
heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I
send, and who will go
for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me." This is
typical of the call
to service in the gospel and ones response to that
call by being
baptized in water. Thus it is the answer of a good
conscience towards
God.
Thus the salvation from a condemning heart requires
the preaching of
the gospel; belief of the gospel; repentance; i.e.,
turning from any
false belief system or evil works in our lives; and
baptism. This
salvation requires us as born again children of God
to perform the above
works if we are to experience this salvation from a
condemning
conscience and salvation into the service of God in
his kingdom. Unlike
our eternal salvation which is by grace and without
our works, this
timely salvation is brought about in part by the
works God has given us
to maintain.
Salvation From Death of Fellowship
In this essay we will consider another aspect of our
timely salvation
which is deliverance from being dead to fellowship
with God. One of the
chief joys of a child of God is to have fellowship
with God. Fellowship
is defined as "sharing in common." Amos brings to
our attention the
requirement for fellowship when he asked the
question in Amos 3:3, "Can
two walk together, except they be agreed?" The
answer is implied that
we must be agreed together in order to have
fellowship one with
another. In order for us to have fellowship with God
we must agree with
God. This agreement is on God's terms and not on
ours. God does not
change (nor does truth) in order that we may have
fellowship with him.
Anytime that change is required, it is required of
us! This requirement
for fellowship is further set forth in 1 John 1:5 7,
"This then is the
message which we have heard of him, and declare unto
you, that God is
light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say
that we have
fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie,
and do not the truth:
but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light,
we have fellowship
one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his
Son cleanseth us
from all sin." Thus to have fellowship with God and
to have true
Christian fellowship with one another we must walk
in the light of God's
revealed truth.
Only God's born again children can have fellowship
with God. According
to Rom. 8:7, 8, "Because the carnal mind is enmity
against God: for it
is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can
be. So then they
that are in the flesh cannot please God." A person
who has not been
born spiritually is "in the flesh" and thus has only
a carnal (fleshy)
mind. This type of individual cannot please God and
thus can have no
fellowship with God. Also this type of person cannot
understand
spiritual things (Rom. 3:11; 1 Cor. 2:14), or seek
after God (Rom.
3:11), or do good (Rom. 3:12, or know the way of
peace (Rom. 3:17), or
fear God (Rom. 3:18). Thus he is incapable of
walking with God. It is
only after we are born spiritually that we can
understand spiritual
things, do good, seek after God, know the way of
peace, and fear God.
Thus, we who are born again are the only ones
capable of having
fellowship with God.
Many times God's born again children do not have
fellowship with him.
When Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave, this was
not only typical of
the resurrection, but it was also typical of the new
birth when we are
quickened from being dead in trespasses and sins.
When Lazarus came
forth from the grave he had grave clothes on. Jesus
commanded to loose
him and let him go. When we are born of the Spirit
we are still
possessors of grave clothes, i.e., our habits and
lifestyle. These must
be changed if we are to have fellowship with God.
Thus repentance is
required for God's children to have fellowship with
God.
With many of God's children, they experience
fellowship with God and
then die to that fellowship. In James 5:19, 20 we
are told, "Brethren,
if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert
him; let him know,
that he which converteth the sinner from the error
of his way shall save
a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of
sins." James refers to
brethren erring from the truth and if they continue
in that error they
would die. This is a death to fellowship.
Luke 15:11
32 addresses
dying to the fellowship of God and being saved from
that death. In this
passage the younger of the two sons had requested
that his Father divide
the inheritance. Upon receiving his portion the
younger son took his
journey into a far country and wasted his substance
with riotous
living. That youngest son when he was in a far
country wasting his
substance with riotous living was dead to the
fellowship of his Father
and to his elder brother. After he had repented and
come back he was
restored to fellowship with his Father. His
relationship with his
Father never changed. He was his Father's son before
he left, after he
left, and when he returned. Likewise our
relationship with God does not
change. We are his children regardless of our status
of fellowship.
When the younger son had returned the Father
declared, "For this my son
was dead; and is alive again, he was lost, and is
found." Later he
explained to the elder brother, "for this thy
brother was dead, and is
alive again; and was lost, and is found." The
essential requirement for
the younger son who was dead to the fellowship of
his Father and elder
brother was to repent. While the providential hand
of God was present
in leading him to repent, yet "he" had to repent to
be saved from death
to fellowship.
How we live our lives and what we believe are
essentials in having
fellowship with God. II Cor. 6:14 18 declares to us,
"Be ye not
unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what
fellowship hath
righteousness with unrighteousness? And what
communion hath light with
darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial?
Or what part hat
he that believeth with an infidel? And what
agreement hat the temple of
God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living
God; as God hath
said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I
will be their God,
and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from
among them, and be
ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the
unclean thing; and I will
receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye
shall be my sons and
daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."
In conclusion repentance saves us from the death of
fellowship with
God. Living godly lives and believing the truth
brings us into
fellowship with God.
