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The word “salvation”
means to be delivered from something. In
Biblical terms, salvation means the “saving”
of a sinner from God’s righteous judgment.
When someone truly seeks forgiveness in
Jesus, their sins are forgiven and they
are cleansed from their unrighteousness.
Their relationship with God is restored to
what God had originally intended, and they
are made into a whole new person in Christ
Jesus.
2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creation. The old has passed away; behold,
the new has come.”
A saved person is
someone who has fully trusted in Jesus
Christ as their Lord and Savior and
therefore possesses the Holy Spirit (John 3:16; Acts 16:31;
Eph. 2:8-9; Rom. 10:9-10; Titus 3:4-5).
All of this is the work of God, not man. Our
salvation is a free gift from God above.
Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is
death, but the free gift of God is eternal
life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Isaiah 59:2
tells us that if anyone sins, they deserve
eternal separation from God, but because of
God’s love and mercy, God the Son, Jesus
Christ died in our place. 1 Peter 2:24 says,
Christ “bore our sins in his body on the
tree, that we might die to sin and live to
righteousness. By his wounds you have been
healed.” Jesus bore the sins of the entire
world in His body on the cross to bring
complete redemption for those who trust in
Him alone for their salvation. 1 John 2:2 says, “He is the
propitiation for our sins, and not for ours
only but also for the sins of the whole
world.”
Propitiation means “averting
the wrath of God by the offering of a gift.”
It refers to the turning away of the wrath
of God as the just judgment of our sin by
God’s own provision of the sacrifice of
Jesus Christ on the cross.
We are forgiven when we
realize that there is nothing we can do to
earn God’s favor and we put our trust in
what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross.
Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have
been saved through faith. And this is not
your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a
result of works, so that no one may boast.”
God alone can save us. The only thing we
bring to the cross is our sin. Both God the
Father, and Jesus the Son are called Savior
in scripture (Isa. 43:3, 11; John 4:42). It
was the Father who sent the Son to save the
world from their sins. 1 John 4:10 says,
“In
this is love, not that we have loved God but
that he loved us and sent his Son to be the
propitiation for our sins.” When Christ died
on the cross, He made a
complete atonement for our sins and
delivered us from death unto life.
The message of the gospel is the message of
forgiveness for our sins through Christ’s
atoning work on Calvary’s cross. The plan of
redemption is God’s rescue plan for those
who put their trust in Jesus Christ to be
reconciled to God. This great plan of
salvation is put into effect by the power of
the Holy Spirit who comes to live inside of
us.
The Bible describes our salvation
in terms of a process: past, present, and
future.
• Ephesians 2:5 says, “You have
been saved” (past tense), which is our
justification;
• 1 Corinthians 1:18 says,
“You are being saved” (present tense), which
is the process of our sanctification;
•
Romans 5:9 says, “You shall be saved”
(future tense), in the believer’s final
glorification.
When we come to Christ
certain things happen in our lives that
conform us into Christ’s image and
ultimately brings us home to be with Him for
eternity.
The first thing to happen
in a Christian’s life is they are born again
through the process of regeneration.
Regeneration is a supernatural work of the
Holy Spirit by which the divine nature and
divine life are given to the new believer
(John 3:3-8). Regeneration occurs when God
acknowledges a person’s belief in the gospel
and they are “born again” into the family of
God.
This change is made through the
power of the Holy Spirit. The new birth
begins and ends with God, not man. John 1:12-13 says,
“But to all who did receive
him, who believed in his name, he gave the
right to become children of God, who were
born, not of blood nor of the will of the
flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
(cf. 1 Jn. 2:29; 5:1-4).
The
Bible is clear, when we are born again we
are transformed spiritually into a new
person.
We are not saved unless we have experienced
the new birth. John 3:5 says, “Jesus
answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you,
unless one is born of water and the Spirit,
he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
Our
good works have nothing to do with it. Titus 3:5 says,
“He saved us, not because of works
done by us in righteousness, but according
to his own mercy, by the washing of
regeneration and renewal of the Holy
Spirit.” God made the provision for us to be
born again and regenerated through the new
birth so that His Spirit could come and live
inside of us.
When we are born again
God justifies us.
Justification is
the divine act of God whereby He legally
declares a sinner righteous because that
sinner has put their faith in Jesus Christ
alone for their salvation. Romans 3:21-26 says,
“But now the righteousness of God has been
manifested apart from the law, although the
Law and the Prophets bear witness to it —
the righteousness of God through faith in
Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there
is no distinction: for all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God, and are
justified by his grace as a gift, through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom
God put forward as a propitiation by his
blood, to be received by faith. This was to
show God’s righteousness, because in his
divine forbearance he had passed over former
sins. It was to show his righteousness at
the present time, so that he might be just
and the justifier of the one who has faith
in Jesus.”
Therefore, justification
is not the result of any works the newly
justified person did, or will do, to earn
their salvation. We are justified freely by
God’s grace and His good pleasure in His
Son. Jesus suffered torture and death for
those who would trust in him and his
righteousness to be saved. 1 Peter 2:24
says, “He himself bore our sins in his body
on the tree, that we might die to sin and
live to righteousness. By his wounds you
have been healed.”
Jesus Christ finished the
work required for our justification on the
cross. At the moment we trust in him for our
salvation we are justified (legally declared
righteous). Romans 5:9 says, “Since,
therefore, we have now been justified by his
blood, much more shall we be saved by him
from the wrath of God.”
When we are
justified we enter into a saving
relationship with the God who created us.
Justification is a one-time event in the
life of the believer. Romans 4:25 says,
Christ “was delivered up for our trespasses and
raised for our justification.”
Once we are justified, God
begins the process of taking the world out
of us and molding us into His image through
our sanctification.
Justification sets God’s people legally
free from the penalty for their sins;
sanctification sets God’s people free from
the power of sin. Justification is something
that God does for us; sanctification is what
God does inside of us.
Sanctification
means, “to be set apart” for common use, “to
be made holy.” To sanctify a person is to
make that person holy in God’s eyes.
Sanctification is God’s gracious work that
enables Christians to follow God’s moral
teachings. In sanctification, we learn to
love God supremely and to love our neighbors
as ourselves. God does not sanctify us
because we are worthy or good. God
sanctifies us because of His mercy alone.
Sanctification is God’s free gift to those
who believe (Eph. 2:8).
The
New Testament speaks about both the
relational aspect of sanctification (setting
a person or thing apart for God), and the
moral aspect (living an upright life).
The nature of sanctification is twofold
in that Christians are made holy
through Christ, and they are called to
continue to grow into, and strive for
holiness by cooperating with the indwelling
Spirit until they enjoy complete
conformity to Christ in their final
glorification. These two types of
sanctification are usually called
“positional” sanctification, and
“progressive” sanctification.
As a onetime event (positional
sanctification), when we are born from
above, we are brought into God’s family and
set apart for holy living (Acts 20:32; 26:18;
1 Cor. 6:11). As a process (progressive
sanctification), the new
Christian becomes more sanctified, or
spiritually mature over time
like a child growing up into adulthood.
1 Peter 2:2 says, “Like newborn infants,
long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it
you may grow up into salvation.”
This means
that Christians should anticipate developing
a deeper spiritual life and become more like
the loving, compassionate, and
self-controlled people that God created them
to be. Even though there will be occasional
failures and setbacks, God will ultimately
make His people more like Him.
In
Philippians 3:12-16 Paul said, “Not that I
have already obtained all this, or have
already been made perfect, but I press on to
take hold of that for which Christ Jesus
took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider
myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one
thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and
straining toward what is ahead, I press on
toward the goal to win the prize for which
God has called me heavenward in Christ
Jesus. All of us who are mature should take
such a view of things. And if on some point
you think differently, that too God will
make clear to you. Only let us live up to
what we have already attained.” (NIV)
Paul realized that he was
not yet perfect and because of that, he
still sinned at times. He looked forward to
the resurrection and his final glorification when
he would be made perfect. Paul
emphasized the need for progress in
Christian living. He presented himself as
one who continually reached forward to see
God’s kingdom come about. Paul knew that
this side of the resurrection we all have to
deal with our sinful fallen nature. Our
flesh is corrupt (Rom. 7:15), and that will
only change when Christ glorifies us
and takes us home to be with Him for
eternity (1 Cor. 15:51-55).
The Holy Spirit is the one who
sanctifies us and transforms us into Christ’s
image.
We grow in our
sanctification
when we walk in the Spirit and stop carrying
out the desires of the flesh.
Galatians 5:16-18 says, “But I say, walk by
the Spirit, and you will not gratify the
desires of the flesh. For the desires of the
flesh are against the Spirit, and the
desires of the Spirit are against the flesh,
for these are opposed to each other, to keep
you from doing the things you want to do.
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are
not under the law.”
The flesh and the
Spirit are at war with one another. They are
mutually exclusive. You either live by the
power of the Holy Spirit which results in
new spiritual attitudes and righteous behavior, or by the flesh
which can only produce sin and
unrighteousness (Gal. 5:22-26; 5:19-21; Rom. 7-8).
Trying to live according to the law
doesn’t help us either. Focusing on the law
only results in death. 1 Corinthians 15:56
says, “The sting of death is sin, and
the power of sin is the law.” When we focus
on the law, all we are focused on is our
performance.
Christ wants us to turn our minds and hearts
over to Him so He can change us from the
inside out. John 15:4-5
says, “Remain in me, and I will remain in
you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it
must remain in the vine. Neither can you
bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am
the vine; you are the branches. If a man
remains in me and I in him, he will bear
much fruit; apart from me you can do
nothing.’” (NIV)
In the New
Testament, Christian growth is spoken of as,
increasing in faith (2 Cor. 10:15);
knowing Christ with increasing intimacy
(Phil. 3:10); increasing in love (1 Thess. 3:12);
and growing in grace (2 Pet. 3:18).
Through it all, holiness and sanctification
remain something we have in Christ as a
present possession.
Growth of
this kind can only happen as we surrender
our lives to Christ through the Spirit’s
indwelling.
Romans 12:1-2
says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in
view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as
living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to
God—this is your spiritual act of worship.
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of
this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind. Then you will be able
to test and approve what God's will is—his
good, pleasing and perfect will.” (NIV)
The apostle Paul
also described growing in Christ in this
way; “But the
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control; against such
things there is no law. And those who belong
to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh
with its passions and desires. If we live by
the Spirit, let us also keep in step with
the Spirit. Let us not become conceited,
provoking one another, envying one another.”
(Galatians 5:22-26).
People need to understand that
our sanctification is already a done deal.
When we talk about the Christian need to
grow in Christ (or progressive
sanctification), we do that from the
position of already being totally
sanctified (Acts 20:32; 26:18;
1 Cor. 6:11). At every step in our Christian
growth process, we can have the assurance
that we are completely sanctified because of
who we are in Christ Jesus.
When we
are truly born-again, Christ gives us an
incorruptible love. Our old self gets
crucified with Christ and we are no longer
slaves to sin, but rather, “slaves of
righteousness.” (Rom. 6:1-14). We will all
stumble and fall at times, but Christ helps
us to our feet and we begin the process of
living for Christ all over again.
The final step in our salvation is our
glorification.
Glorification follows
the believer’s justification and
sanctification. It is the work of God in the
believer’s life to bring them to the
ultimate and perfect stage of
Christlikeness. Romans 8:29-30 says, “For
those whom he foreknew he also predestined
to be conformed to the image of his Son, in
order that he might be the firstborn among
many brothers. And those whom he predestined
he also called, and those whom he called he
also justified, and those whom he justified
he also glorified.”
When we
talk about our glorification, we do that
from the position of already being glorified
in Christ Jesus.
“The
concept of glorification in believers
expresses a future hope as well as a present
reality. To be glorified in Christ means
that the life of a believer is progressively
transformed to reflect the glory of God. At
the second coming of Christ, believers will
share fully in divine glory (2 Thess. 1:10; 2:14).
This future glorification provides
hope and encouragement amidst present
suffering, as noted in 1 Peter 4:14.”
[1]
“The
concept of glorification in the Bible is
multi-faceted, encompassing both the
acknowledgment of God’s glory and the
transformation of believers. Scriptures
consistently highlight that true glory is
found in the Lord, where human
accomplishments pale in contrast to divine
majesty. Through the life, death, and
resurrection of Christ, and the indwelling
of the Holy Spirit, believers participate in
a profound journey toward glorification.
This journey is marked by suffering, hope,
and the eternal promise of sharing in divine
glory. Ultimately, glorification serves as a
reminder of God’s sovereign grace and the
transformative power of faith.”
[2]
Our glorification
includes receiving imperishable, resurrected
bodies at Christ’s return. 1 Corinthians 15:42-43
says, “So is it with the
resurrection of the dead. What is sown is
perishable; what is raised is imperishable.
It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in
glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised
in power.”
Our final glorification is still
future. At that time, all God’s faithful
will be presented to the Lord without any
spot or blemish. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says,
“And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect
the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into
his likeness with ever-increasing glory,
which comes from the Lord, who is the
Spirit.” (NIV) And 1 John 3:2 says,
“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and
what we will be has not yet appeared; but we
know that when he appears we shall be like
him, because we shall see him as he is.”
Once we are glorified we will be with Christ
forever. Philippians 3:20-21 says, “But our
citizenship is in heaven, and from it we
await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who
will transform our lowly body to be like his
glorious body, by the power that enables him
even to subject all things to himself.”
When we are finally glorified, we will
be freed from both physical, and spiritual
defect, and we will never again experience
bodily decay, illness, or death (1 Cor. 15:42-44;
Rev. 21:4). Our
struggle with sin will be over and we will
be with Christ for all eternity.
Our
salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ
alone. No matter
how hard we try, we cannot earn our salvation!
Salvation is given to us as a free gift from
God. No
one can stand before God and boast about
their good deeds. God is the only one who is
righteous, and He alone is worthy of our
praise. Every step in the process of our
salvation is a gift from God. In
Justification, God declares us righteous. In
sanctification, God changes us from within
by His Spirit indwelling us. And in
glorification, God brings us
home to live with Him eternally. Our role in
this process is to believe in
Jesus Christ for our eternal redemption.
When we are saved, we enter into a
lifelong process of becoming more like Jesus
Christ Himself. Our salvation is sure and we
can know with certainty that we are saved
and will be with Christ for eternity. There
is nothing that is able to take this great
salvation away from us.
The Apostle Paul
said, “What then shall we say to these
things? If God is for us, who can be against
us?... For I am sure that neither death nor
life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things
present nor things to come, nor powers, nor
height nor depth, nor anything else in all
creation, will be able to separate us from
the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
(Rom. 8:31, 38, 39)
No matter what
anyone has told you, no matter what your
church teaches, the scriptures assure us
that when we are saved, we can be absolutely
certain that we will be with Jesus when He
comes back again.
God loves us and
wants us to be with Him for eternity. He wants us to accept His free
offer of salvation today!
1 John 5:11-13 says,
“And this is the testimony, that God gave us
eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does
not have the Son of God does not have life.
I write these things to you who believe in
the name of the Son of God that you may know
that you have eternal life.”
Remember, nothing can snatch
us out of God’s hands (John 10:28; Heb. 7:25).
Do you know for certain that
you are saved and will be with Christ for
eternity?
References:
1. See: “Glorification
in the Context of the Bible.”
2.
ibid.
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