This article looks at the basics of salvation.

Source: The Outlook, 1988. 3 pages.

Salvation General References: Ephesians 2:1-10; Romans 8:30-34

Especially we who have long been exposed to God's gospel need to be repeatedly reminded of the "immen­sities" of His salvation.

Think of Peter's reminder (2 Peter 1:2-4) that, 'His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godli­ness through the knowledge of' Christ with its 'exceeding great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.' Or think of Paul's breathtaking reminder of those 'un­searchable riches' (Ephesians 3:8, 14ff.), their 'width and length and depth and height ... the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.'

In such a brief survey as this one can hardly hope to do more than direct attention to a few dimensions of this "so great a salvation," which Hebrews 2:3 warns us not to neglect.

1. "Justification by Faith"🔗

When the distraught keeper of the prison in Philippi faced the mis­sionaries with the question, "What must I do to be saved?" he was answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household" (Acts 16:30, 31). "The gospel of Christ ... is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes..." (Romans 1:16). Paul had been taught that man must save himself from his troubles by his own efforts. God's word taught and teaches us that our problem as sinners under the judg­ment of a righteous God are far too serious for such futile remedies. God saves us by putting us right with Himself through believing in Jesus Christ and His taking our place (Romans 3:20-­26). "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might be­come the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).

2. "You must be Born again"🔗

Salvation means much more than being forgiven our moral and spiritual debts through believing in Christ as our substitute. To really believe in Him is not something that we ourselves can achieve. Even such believing, Paul wrote (Ephesians 2:8) is "not of yourselves; it is the gift of God." Our Lord said, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him" (John 6:44). He shocked Nicodemus by telling that teacher, "You must be born again" (John 3:7). Nothing less than a rebirth to new life is needed to save us and that is exactly what the Lord's salvation includes.

God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.Ephesians 2:4-7, cf. Canons of Dordt III and IV, Art. 12

3. Adopted Children of God🔗

The Bible teaches us that the believer in Christ has become a child of God, both "born again" and "adopted" to be that. It is often as­sumed that Christianity teaches that all people are children of God. The Lord teaches us that, although mankind was created so, since man's revolt against Him this is no longer true. To the Jews who claimed they were children of God while rejecting Christ, He said, "You are of your father the devil," the murderer and father of lies, to whom their lives showed they were related (John 8:44). Only to those who believed in Him did He give "the right to be­come children of God, even to those who believe in His name" (1:12).

God sent forth His Son ... to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, 'Abba, Father!' Therefore you are ... a son, and ... an heir of God through Christ.Galatians 4:4-7; the word "abba" was an intimate word for father, like our "Daddy"

4. Conversion🔗

Salvation involves a radical change in our whole way of living, a turning from sin to God (Isaiah 55:7). It is sometimes claimed that to children of Christian families, given the promises of God's covenant to believers and their children (Acts 2:39), such a "turn around" is not necessary. The Bible warns us that this is a serious error. Though all may not experience such a radical conversion as Paul, all must turn from sin to God (John 3:3). Our Lord told His followers, "unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3). Paul was addressing, not pagans, but the Corinthian church when he wrote, "we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians. 5:20).

5. Sanctification and Perfection🔗

We must think of "conversion" from sin to God as not just a single "experience," but as a whole different way of life — one called "holy," which means separated from sin and dedicated to God. Christians are or­dered to "pursue ... holiness, without which no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14). All believers in Christ are "called to be saints" (Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2). We cannot have Christ as Savior while refusing to obey His orders as Lord (Luke 6:46ff.). Ac­cordingly, we sometimes sing,

How vast the benefits divine which we in Christ possess. We are redeemed from sin and shame, and called to holiness." We are called to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure ... that you may be­come blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life.Philippians 2:12-16

Although the Lord is making every believer perfect, and we must aim at that, the Bible also teaches us that no one reaches that goal in our present life. The believer may not go on sinning (1 John 3:4ff.), but is also warned that "if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves" (1:8). Paul confessed that he had not reached perfection, but he "pressed on" toward it as in a race "toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:12-14).

6. Our Assurance🔗

Our struggle and even battle for Christian living is not to be dis­couraging, but an eager and persistent effort toward a certain, thrilling hope. We must share the confidence of Paul writing to the Philippians, "that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (1:6). We are en­ couraged to "be steadfast, immov­able, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 15:58). "He is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you fault­less before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy," to His own glory (Jude 24).

Questions:🔗

  1. What must I do to be saved? (Acts 16:30, 31; Romans 1:16, 17; 3:20-24.)
     
  2. How is believing related to being "born again"? (Ephesians 2:8; John 6:44, 38-40.)
     
  3. How do we become children of God? (John 1:12; Galatians 4:4, 5; 3:26.)
     
  4. Does one born and baptized in the church need to be converted? (John 3:3; Matthew 18:3; 2 Corinthians 5:20.)
     
  5. How is our being born again re­lated to godly living? (Hebrews 12:14; Philippians 2:12, 13.)
     
  6. Can a Christian live a holy life? (1 John 1:8; 2:4, 5; 3:6; Philippians 3:12-14.)
     
  7. What is our Christian as­surance? (Philippians 1:6; 1 John 2:3-5; Jude 24.)

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