<%@LANGUAGE="VBSCRIPT" CODEPAGE="65001"%> The Fundamentals of the Christian Faith - Part 3

The fundamentals of the christian faith
Part 3 - CONCEPTS RELATING TO SALVATION

By William R. Cunningham
Sunday May 18, 2003

INTRODUCTION

In this lesson we are going to look at the concepts pertaining to salvation. First we will look briefly how the law fits in with salvation and we will then look at the work of Christ in salvation. After that we will look briefly at several concepts that are associated with and are apart of the exegesis (explanation) of salvation. These include Justification, redemption, propitiation, grace, predestination, election, and foreknowledge.

I believe an understanding of these will help you grasp the true meaning and implication of salvation so that no one will be able to come and deceive you with a false Gospel. If nothing else, Christians should be certain of salvation and know intimately the things that are involved with salvation. Christians should be sufficiently equipped to rightly divide the word of truth pertaining to salvation.

This lesson is therefore designed to provide you with information regarding salvation. Most of the items here will require additional study, as they are doctrines in themselves (The doctrines of election and predestination for example).

THE LAW AND SALVATION

What purpose did the law have in relation to salvation? Is there a relationship between the law of God in the Old Testament and the justification in the New Testament? The answer is yes. The law did have a place in the whole salvation plan of God. Consider the following scripture.

Galatians 3:24-25 (NKJV) Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

Paul calls the law a tutor (schoolmaster) whose purpose was to bring us to Christ. What did the law do? The law revealed sin as sin and sinners as sinners. The law revealed the true condition of man, which was ungodly at best. Consider the following scriptures.

Romans 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet."

Romans 7:13 (NKJV) Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful.

God, through the law, revealed to humans that they are sinful and that what we do is sin.

What is the Law?

What is the law? What does "law" in the Bible mean? The word law could be used to identify several things over a period of time.

"Book of the law" (Deuteronomy and specifically the ten commandments)
Pentateuch (Also known as the Torah in the beginning)
The Law and The prophets: All of the OT law except the prophetic books.
"The traditions of the elders," which were elaborations on the law given by God. See Mark 7:5, 9

In general, the law is the expression of the character of God to humans. The law gave humans insight as to what God is like and therefore how we should govern our lives.

The law had at least two purposes.

Convict us of sin by illumination of our sinful ways as being sin
Point us to Christ (See Galatians 3:24,25)

The law was useful to restrain evil in that it affixed penalties on transgressions. Consider that humans have an overall sense of right and wrong, of morality, and fairness. These are the result of the awareness of God's law, which is really an expression of God's character. See 1 Timothy 1:9-10.

The law of God was in many ways a guardrail for God's people. It revealed the character of God but it also served as a means of controlling humans even in their sinful ways.

The law points to Christ through the sacrifices of the Old Testament (actually the underlying principle of those sacrifices).

The scapegoat (Leviticus 16:6-10)
The atonement sacrifices

Salvation in the Old Testament

We see in the Old Testament that Abraham was justified by faith and that justification was available totally by God's grace and election.

Romans 4
Joshua 24:2-5,14

The Old Testament law and sacrifices for sin were stepping-stones to Jesus Christ. The law prepared the way for Jesus Christ in that it brought the character and Way of God into plain view and it showed that our way is ungodly (unrighteous).

Also, note that God initiated all of the sacrifices and laws that pertained to the forgiveness of sins and righteousness. There was nothing that the people could have done to justify themselves towards God.

Man was powerless to save himself and unless God had not intervened then we all would still have destruction as our eternal abode. So God provided a method of justification even in the Old Testament though the method was not sufficient to permanently remove the death from sin from the hearts of people.

Hebrews 9:11-14 (NKJV) But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

The Old Testament was a glimpse into the future at the promise, which was Jesus Christ. The salvation obtained in the Old Testament could not cover the sins of all people nor was it sufficient for permanent justification.

The Work of Jesus Christ

We are able to receive salvation because of the redemptive act of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was born, lived, died, and was raised from the dead for the sole purpose of saving us from our sins. The Bible declares:

(Matthew 1:21 NIV) "She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

For a long time I was perplexed by the phrase, "his people" in the above verse. Who are his people and does this mean that those who are not his people cannot be saved. The phrase "his people" comes from the Greek word Laos, which means:

A people (as opposed to the general populous or people as a whole, which is the Greek demos)
One's own populace
People group
Tribe
Nation
All those who are of the same stock and language

This therefore seems to refer to the concept of predestination and election, which we will discuss later in this study. In short, we can say that Jesus Christ will save Christians (the believers) from their sins (the penalty of sin, which is death. See Romans 6:23). The word save in the above verse should be placed in the context of the Christian group and not in some group that belongs to God before the people of that group are saved. The later would imply that there are people that belong to God whom God will call and therefore save. The remaining people do not belong to God and therefore cannot be saved. This is not the case; though one might see something like that in the above verse in the fact that Jesus told the religious leaders that they were of their father the Devil (John 8:44).

Jesus has provided salvation but how does Jesus' perfect and sufficient sacrifice apply to us? Note that it is important to realize that Jesus' sacrifice for our sins was sufficient and that nothing else is required to save us. That is extremely important because many believe that there are additional things that they have to do (words) in order to be saved. The fact is that Jesus has completed all that is necessary for us to be saved. All that remains is that we believe in Jesus Christ.

Now let's discuss some of the concepts pertaining to salvation.

Concepts of Salvation

There are several concepts that are important in understanding the mechanisms of salvation. Some are as follows.

Justification
Redemption
Propitiation
Grace
Predestination
Election
Foreknowledge

Let's briefly discuss these now.

Justification

Justification is the process of being made acceptable to God. Justification is being declared righteous by God through Jesus Christ. We should also note that justification is a gift of God that we can freely enjoy yet not earn. We cannot save ourselves so we cannot earn justification or justify ourselves based on some godly formula.

Non-Imputing of Sin - Read Psalm 32:2, Romans 4:8, and 2 Corinthians 5:19. Non-imputing means non-reckoning or non-accounting of sin. Though sin is present, God does not hold it against us. This non-imputing does not mean that God simply overlooks or pretends that the sin isn't there. He simply does not hold it against us due to the regeneration process. He doesn't hold it against us because we have been born again and united with Christ. See Romans 8:31-34.

Imputation of Righteousness of Jesus Christ - Instead of imputing our sins to us, God imputes the righteousness of Jesus Christ on us. Therefore, our righteousness is found in Jesus Christ. See 1 Corinthians 1:30. Again note that God doesn't make us righteous by injecting us with righteousness that engulfs our very being nor does he transform us into a pure righteous being. Instead, God declares us righteous by Christ Jesus.

See also Acts 13:39, Romans 3:20-26, 5:1, Galatians 2:16, 5:4.

Redemption

Redemption is the deliverance by payment of a price. Sometimes the word ransom is used though that seems to introduce theological difficulties, which is beyond the scope of this study. Christ freed us by paying the price, and therefore becoming the propitiation for our sins as we discussed above.

We are free from sin and death.
We are free to serve God.
1 Corinthians 7:23 (NKJV) You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.

Propitiation

Propitiation is the act of appeasing what God demands. God demands death (separation) as a result of sin. Therefore, we should all die and be eternally separated from God because all have sinned. However, the death of Jesus Christ appeased God in that it met God's demand for the penalty of sin.

If it were not for Jesus Christ then we would have to die for our own sins. All would be lost.

Romans 3:21-26 (NKJV) But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

See also Hebrews 2:17, 1 John 2:2, 4:10.

Grace

Grace is unmerited favor extended to someone. In other words, grace is when God extended His love towards us by giving Jesus as a sacrifice for our sins even though we did not deserve it. Grace is not earned but freely extended. Grace is the foundation of salvation because we do not deserve it, could do nothing to obtain it, and yet God provides it to us anyway.

Election

God's choice refers to His election. It is very necessary that we understand the concept of God's election and God's elect. First of all, God's election does not refer to those who God has already chosen to be saved while the remainder is destined for the second death

God's election in the New Testament is not discriminatory. His election includes all, by their free will, who believes. Therefore, election includes the component of human responsibility since we have the final choice of accepting or rejecting salvation. So we individually must respond to the call of salvation from God. Understand that salvation is not totally up to us. There is a mystery in regards to the doctrine of predestination, which we will discuss shortly.

Our ability to believe is not due to our election as the Calvinists suppose. We are also not elected due to God's foresight of our faith as the Arminianists suppose. Calvinism holds to the belief that we are only able to believe or accept the Gospel of Christ to salvation because we were already chosen by God to do so. The Arminians hold that the only reason that God elected certain individuals to receive salvation is because he already knew that those individuals would receive it.

Those who are outside of election (not saved) are still being called to salvation by God. There will always be a call from God to salvation as long as one is unsaved and still living.

Predestination

Predestination refers the doctrine where God's sovereignty is over all things and yet the human will is preserved. This is indeed a mystery that we have yet to understand fully. Predestination upholds the followinig.

God is sovereign and he has predestined the course of human history. God is in complete control
God's sovereignty does not negate human free will and choice. In other words, God is in complete control and humans have the power of free choice, even in salvation.

This leads to two basic concepts in regards to salvation and predestination.

Salvation is not fully dependent on us (see 2 Corinthians 5:19. God was reconciling the world to Himself through Christ. We had nothing to do with this. All we have to do is receive in order to make what God made available to us a reality.
Salvation is not fully dependent on God (See John 3:16). We have to believe in order to realize the salvation that was provided by Jesus Christ.

Predestination also refers to God's election. See Ephesians 1-4; Romans 8:28-30. We must realize that predestination in scripture ONLY refers to salvation. It is never used in association with Hell, damnation, heaven, etc. See Ephesians 1:5,11; Romans 8:29-30. Therefore, it is very wrong to conjecture that God has predestined some to salvation and others to eternal damnation. Look carefully at Romans 8:29-30.

(Romans 8:29-30 NIV) For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. {30} And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

This simply tells us that God has already entered into a relationship with those who would believe, i.e., Christians. It does not imply that God chose who those would be. For example, I may say that I will be a friend with anyone in the GoodTime organization. Whoever is part of the Goodtime organization is a separate concern. Whoever is part of that organization, now and in the future, I have already determined that I would be their friend. I believe that the same principle applies to predestination and foreknowledge. God has already determined, before time began, that he would have a personal relationship with all of His people, namely Christians, and these people will be in the image of His son Jesus Christ. This seems to be in line with the statement in Matthew 1:21.

There is no scripture evidence that suggests that Jesus' actions were limited to those whom God pre-determined would be saved (would believe). Jesus died for all and we have the responsibility to believe (John 3:16).

The only barrier between the elected ones and the non-elect is unbelief (John 3:19). Jesus didn't come to save some (those that were pre-ordained for salvation) and condemn others. Non-believers are condemned by their own unbelief.

Foreknowledge

Foreknowledge is directly related to predestination and election. As a matter of fact, you can't talk about any one of the three without referring to the others. There are three instances of the term "foreknowledge" or "foreknew: in the Bible. They are as follows.

Romans 8:29
Romans 11:2
1 Peter 1:2
Acts 2:23

It is interesting that none of these refer to the act or state of knowing what will happen in the future. In other words, all instances of the word "foreknowledge" refer to people not events. When the Bible "says" foreknew, it refers to God knowing someone and not what that someone would do.

Therefore, God's foreknowledge is more relationship oriented then event oriented. So God's foreknowledge refers to those that God already knows.

Another interesting point about the word "know" is that it sometimes refers to an intimate relationship such as the phrase, "to know his wife." So again we see that knowing in a biblical sense could refer to a relationship instead of mere intellectual knowledge.

It is very important to realize that God's election is not based on His foreknowledge. That is, God didn't choose one person over another because he knew what they would do. No. Consider the following scripture.

Romans 8:29-30 (NKJV) For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

Foreknowledge must be the background of election instead of foreordination. The concept of foreordination implies an election to eternal unbelief. It implies that God elects some to salvation and others to reprobation. This is not true. Foreknowledge leads to election, which then leads to saving faith.

Conclusion

We have discussed some of the concepts that pertain to salvation. Each of the topics discussed could be a study all there own. We have attempted to introduce you to these concepts for your awareness and further study. The most important thing to remember is that Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sins and therefore we have forgiveness from God for our sins. Jesus' redemptive act was sufficient to satisfy God's demand for sin and now we can live righteously before God through Christ. There is nothing else that you have to do except believe. After you believe simply live the new life that you have.

Salvation is freely extended to all people. If you believe in Jesus Christ then you are saved. That's it. Live according to the word and don't doubt your salvation, which is through Christ.

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The fundamentals of the christian faith Part 3 - CONCEPTS RELATING TO SALVATION