"Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share..." (Jude v. 3, NIV).
HEADLINE: HARDENED CRIMINAL PARDONED; JUDGE ADOPTS HIM AND INVITES HIM INTO HIS HOME!
"Whoever walks the road, although a fool, shall not go astray" (Isaiah 35:8, NKJV).
Our salvation is as good as it gets! It's God's magnum opus--a miracle in its own right! The greatest miracle is one's salvation or transformation into a new person in Christ. No one could improve on it or imagine a better deliverance; forgiveness is just the beginning--we are justified and adopted, then sanctified and finally glorified. Jesus saved us--He did; He keeps us--He does; He's coming for us--He will! Our salvation is one of position (justification), condition (sanctification), and expectation (glorification).
HEADLINE: HARDENED CRIMINAL PARDONED; JUDGE ADOPTS HIM AND INVITES HIM INTO HIS HOME!
"Whoever walks the road, although a fool, shall not go astray" (Isaiah 35:8, NKJV).
Our salvation is as good as it gets! It's God's magnum opus--a miracle in its own right! The greatest miracle is one's salvation or transformation into a new person in Christ. No one could improve on it or imagine a better deliverance; forgiveness is just the beginning--we are justified and adopted, then sanctified and finally glorified. Jesus saved us--He did; He keeps us--He does; He's coming for us--He will! Our salvation is one of position (justification), condition (sanctification), and expectation (glorification).
It began in eternity past, is realized in time, and will be completed in eternity future. Another viewpoint shows Jesus delivering us from the ignorance and awareness of sin as our prophet, from the penalty and guilt of sin as our priest, from the power and dominion of sin as our king, and ultimately from the presence of sin itself. Our salvation provides us peace with God, purpose in life, power over sin, and meaning and purpose in life, and pardon for our wrongdoing, restoring the image of God in us as a work in progress called sanctification, culminating in glorification or Christlikeness.
"[H]ow shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? [God sees us as saved or lost and in need of intervention] This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him" (Heb. 2:3, NIV, emphasis mine). The complete Trinity partakes, gets involved, and into the act of our salvation: the Father purposes, authors, and plans it; the Son secures, reveals, and accomplishes it; and the Spirit applies, completes, and executes it! If you could be the author of a new and improved plan, you would be wiser than God! It is so great because our total depravity was so bad and our inability to work our way to heaven fell so short; if we had to do anything, we'd fail! It took the infinite sacrifice of the God-man on our behalf to do a perfect work.
However, we are still addicted to doing something for our salvation (cf. John 6:28; Acts 16:30) because we're works-oriented. Salvation is purely the work of God in our souls as He kindles and awakens faith within us, regenerating us--the Reformed gospel is that "salvation is of the Lord," like Jonah cried out in Jonah 2:9, meaning it's not "of man alone", nor "of man and God", but solely "of God." It is not a cooperative or joint effort with God, but a divine work of God in us (i.e., it's not synergistic, but monergistic). Only in the scenario of God's work alone can assurance be assured!
Just think: Our past is forgiven; our present is given meaning; our future is secured! Or you could say our salvation is past, present, and pending. It's surely a done deal and there's nothing to add to it or we would be insulting God. You could also say that we are saved, are being saved, and will be saved! We must never lose track of the fact that our whole being is depraved (heart, mind, and will), and needs salvation. God starts by making the unwilling willing (cf. Psa. 51:12; Phil. 2:13), and wooing the most stubborn of hearts.
If someone asks you if you are saved, ask them from what and see if they know. We are saved from the wrath of God, the devil, and even our own old sin nature--our flesh. We are rescued from the Lord, by the Lord! Don't forget: the entire subject matter of the Holy Scripture is salvation and what God has done to secure it for us, not what we are to do to try to save ourselves. It is, therefore, given, not achieved, because it's a gift received through an act of grace, not merit. No matter what, we don't deserve it, cannot earn it, add to it, nor can we ever pay it back.
There are four aspects of our salvation: we are redeemed as Jesus pays the price of our salvation from the slave market of sin; we are justified when righteousness is exchanged in God's court of law; we are reconciled back to fellowship with God's family, and God is propitiated as God's wrath is averted in His temple. There's much more than just being forgiven or getting a ticket out of hell. Our salvation shows us the more abundant life in Christ: "Without the way, there's no going; without the truth, there's no knowing; and without the life, there's no living," (according to St. Thomas a Kempis)!
The most wonderful revelation is when one realizes he cannot lose it and its permanency as a state of grace. Remember, God didn't have to save anyone, or it would be justice; however, He chose us when we didn't choose Him. This divine work of God was His rescue operation extraordinaire and will be consummated in glory where our works are evaluated and rewarded at the bema of Christ. We are transformed by the Holy Spirit from being as bad off and depraved as we possibly can be into eventual Christlikeness into being like Him as a contrast. Our salvation makes us what we were intended to be: complete in Christ (cf. Col. 2:10)!
The problem is twofold: sin and sins. Legalists only see certain sins that offend them, but the real root of the problem is our old sin nature and how sin not only enslaves us but alienates us from God and others. Sin is defined as a virus and our birthright from Adam and our Declaration of Independence from God. Albert Camus said, "The absurd is sin without God," and Dostoevsky said, "Without God all things are permissible." We must realize that all sin is primarily against God and offends His holiness, and sin cannot be in God's presence. We can have our best possible life now with the abundant life or life to the full just as Jesus promised in John 10:10.
Point in fact: God forgives all our sins: past, present, future (cf. Psalm 103:3; Acts 3:19; Isa. 43:25)! We can only lose fellowship, not our relationship! Salvation in toto is deliverance from what we are (our sin nature), as well as forgiveness from what we've done (our sins), thus restoring a right relationship to our Maker. Soli Deo Gloria!
"[H]ow shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? [God sees us as saved or lost and in need of intervention] This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him" (Heb. 2:3, NIV, emphasis mine). The complete Trinity partakes, gets involved, and into the act of our salvation: the Father purposes, authors, and plans it; the Son secures, reveals, and accomplishes it; and the Spirit applies, completes, and executes it! If you could be the author of a new and improved plan, you would be wiser than God! It is so great because our total depravity was so bad and our inability to work our way to heaven fell so short; if we had to do anything, we'd fail! It took the infinite sacrifice of the God-man on our behalf to do a perfect work.
However, we are still addicted to doing something for our salvation (cf. John 6:28; Acts 16:30) because we're works-oriented. Salvation is purely the work of God in our souls as He kindles and awakens faith within us, regenerating us--the Reformed gospel is that "salvation is of the Lord," like Jonah cried out in Jonah 2:9, meaning it's not "of man alone", nor "of man and God", but solely "of God." It is not a cooperative or joint effort with God, but a divine work of God in us (i.e., it's not synergistic, but monergistic). Only in the scenario of God's work alone can assurance be assured!
Just think: Our past is forgiven; our present is given meaning; our future is secured! Or you could say our salvation is past, present, and pending. It's surely a done deal and there's nothing to add to it or we would be insulting God. You could also say that we are saved, are being saved, and will be saved! We must never lose track of the fact that our whole being is depraved (heart, mind, and will), and needs salvation. God starts by making the unwilling willing (cf. Psa. 51:12; Phil. 2:13), and wooing the most stubborn of hearts.
If someone asks you if you are saved, ask them from what and see if they know. We are saved from the wrath of God, the devil, and even our own old sin nature--our flesh. We are rescued from the Lord, by the Lord! Don't forget: the entire subject matter of the Holy Scripture is salvation and what God has done to secure it for us, not what we are to do to try to save ourselves. It is, therefore, given, not achieved, because it's a gift received through an act of grace, not merit. No matter what, we don't deserve it, cannot earn it, add to it, nor can we ever pay it back.
There are four aspects of our salvation: we are redeemed as Jesus pays the price of our salvation from the slave market of sin; we are justified when righteousness is exchanged in God's court of law; we are reconciled back to fellowship with God's family, and God is propitiated as God's wrath is averted in His temple. There's much more than just being forgiven or getting a ticket out of hell. Our salvation shows us the more abundant life in Christ: "Without the way, there's no going; without the truth, there's no knowing; and without the life, there's no living," (according to St. Thomas a Kempis)!
The most wonderful revelation is when one realizes he cannot lose it and its permanency as a state of grace. Remember, God didn't have to save anyone, or it would be justice; however, He chose us when we didn't choose Him. This divine work of God was His rescue operation extraordinaire and will be consummated in glory where our works are evaluated and rewarded at the bema of Christ. We are transformed by the Holy Spirit from being as bad off and depraved as we possibly can be into eventual Christlikeness into being like Him as a contrast. Our salvation makes us what we were intended to be: complete in Christ (cf. Col. 2:10)!
The problem is twofold: sin and sins. Legalists only see certain sins that offend them, but the real root of the problem is our old sin nature and how sin not only enslaves us but alienates us from God and others. Sin is defined as a virus and our birthright from Adam and our Declaration of Independence from God. Albert Camus said, "The absurd is sin without God," and Dostoevsky said, "Without God all things are permissible." We must realize that all sin is primarily against God and offends His holiness, and sin cannot be in God's presence. We can have our best possible life now with the abundant life or life to the full just as Jesus promised in John 10:10.
Point in fact: God forgives all our sins: past, present, future (cf. Psalm 103:3; Acts 3:19; Isa. 43:25)! We can only lose fellowship, not our relationship! Salvation in toto is deliverance from what we are (our sin nature), as well as forgiveness from what we've done (our sins), thus restoring a right relationship to our Maker. Soli Deo Gloria!
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