God's Salvation
SOURCES OF ETERNAL SALVATION
God's Salvation
SOURCES OF ETERNAL SALVATION
Introduction: The general introduction painted a paradoxical picture. On one hand, we seem to be hopelessly enmeshed in a web of sin and its consequences. This brings despair and anguish.
On the other hand, often we may be aware of blessings in our lives that make it possible for us to peer through the surrounding gloom and visualize a brighter day.
Irony is always present. We see good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people. Some things seem to be unexplainable; others confirm our expectations. The vicissitudes and the uncertainty of our lives through the years produce a sense of ambiguity that makes it impossible to establish an enduring stability. Circumstances shift; health fails; finances are thrown in jeopardy; relationships dissolve. In short, life itself becomes problematic.
How shall we then live? Our individual answer to that question is crucial. Our answer is like a mirror that reflects back to us our perceptions, values, actions, and goals. As one looks at his inner self one may find that his perceptions, values, actions and goals are circumscribed by an arbitrary box in which he has placed himself. The confinement of the box does not allow him to see beyond his self-imposed restrictions. His values are limited. His actions become merely reactions. His goals shimmer and recede like shifting mirages in a desert.
For such a person the priority question may not be “How shall I then live?” – But, “Shall I live at all?” Shakespeare’s “to be or not to be” crux carries a horrifying impact for those “in the box.” The answer lies not in drawing the curtain but in opening the window. In fact, one of the aims of this study is to assist in breaking down the walls of our box by expanding our perceptions, elevating our values, and exerting our actions towards reaching spiritual goals that are breath- taking.
Obviously, one must have goals that are possible. Where shall hope for success come from and upon what shall it be based? The hope that sustains will have to be more than the wishful thinking like that expressed in the statement, “I hope it rains today.” The hope we need must have a firm conviction and be based on a solid foundation. We now consider some reasons why such a hope is justified. We will knock down the walls of our box and see dimensions of reality that have eluded us in the past. This means we are now moving beyond considerations of momentary relief in this world. We are to be examining the salvation that may be had in this age and in eternity.
The Word of God (Bible): God’s Word can be found in Contents. In that in-depth study we considered the indispensable place of the Bible as the only reliable source of which we may turn for information about our salvation. Therefore, we will not belabor the point. However, if you have not yet read and studied this series of lessons, we recommend doing so before proceeding further.
As we now search through the Word of God we will see quickly that it is not in man to direct his own steps (Jeremiah 10:23). He must rely on God’s Word as light for his path (Proverbs 119:105), and his chart for the voyage. This important clue reminds us that the foundation for our salvation originates outside ourselves. When salvation is considered, we find we cannot pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. We must rely on that which has been revealed to us in Scripture, and act accordingly. What do we find in Scripture that solidifies our hope of salvation?
In the Scriptures we find those who received salvation speaking of a hope so strong it was expressed as assurance. Hope is “to long for with the expectation of obtainment.” The “longing” grows out of the attractiveness of that for which we hope; the “expectation” grows out of our trust in the evidence that points to the fulfillment of our hope. For example: The day dawns hot and clear. The weather forecast calls for a high of 98 degrees with no rain. As you prepare to leave your house to go to work you mutter something like “I hope it rains and turns cool.” Wishful thinking. There is no evidence it will rain or turn cool. You do not believe it will rain or turn cool. You left your umbrella and jacket at home. You had uttered a “hope against hope.” This is not like the “hope of salvation” of which we speak.
The Scriptures speak of a “hope of salvation” that has a solid foundation (1 Thessalonians 5:8). There is a very solid basis for our hope, and we should be able and willing to share the reason for it (1 Peter 3:15). The apostle Paul declared that Christ Jesus is our hope (1 Timothy 1:1), and that Christ in us is our hope of glory (Colossians 1:27). This hope was so strong that Paul could say, “... for I know whom I have believed and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day” (2 Timothy 1:12). The “good news” of Jesus was a living reality to Paul. He wrote “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to every one who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16). That is the good news of the gospel. The gospel is the word of truth, which, when received in faith, gives us a hope laid up in heaven (Colossians 1:5).
However, Paul’s concern for the eternal salvation of all men led him to write something further to the Christians in the city of Colossae. “… yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach – if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister” (Colossians 1:22-23).
This dire warning to Christians of the danger of apostasy is made even more sober by what Paul writes to the Christians at Ephesus. He says there was a time when they were “… separate from Christ … having no hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12).
Thus, we conclude that hope of salvation is in Christ and made realistic and sure by our continual submission to him. How gratifying is the encouragement of Jesus when He says to His followers, “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10b).
God the Father: We have already noted in Scripture that God is Savior. God’s motive for offering salvation to us is love. The kind of love of which we speak can scarcely be imagined.
This is true because it lies outside our personal experience. It rests in God. God is love. We cannot possess it or even come close to expressing it apart from a loving relationship with God.
We are told that in the beginning God created humankind. Why? God is love and godly love always seeks to express itself. Godly love was expressed as fatherly love when God created us in His image and called us His offspring. Thus, a familial relationship was established and designed to be idyllic and enduring. However, the relationship was severed when it ceased to be reciprocal. God’s love for Adam and Eve was apparent in His complete provision for them. Their defective love for Him became apparent in their refusal to be submissive to Him. Separation and estrangement followed.
The results were tragic. Sorrow and heartache followed. Hardships and suffering became common. But the history of fallen mankind does not have to be proven. We all live it out every day. We do not merely know the story; we are the story. We have all eaten the forbidden fruit and we know all too well the final day of our earthly existence draws ever nearer. Someone has aptly said that every muffled heartbeat is another drumbeat in our death march to the grave.
All of this sounds so final and fixed – so hopeless. Not necessarily so. God does not cease loving us simply because we have become unlovely. He does not hate us because we are contaminated by sin. He does not yearn for eternal damnation to descend on those who refuse to yield to his loving call. Rather, He is “not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Therefore, God took action to give us hope. In other words, He provided a way for us to return home.
God the Son: “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6). Those who have been moved by the story of Christianity realize that the cross is the central event of the story. However, as appreciative of the story of the cross as we may be, it is doubtful that we can comprehend it fully. Our capacity to love to such an extent fails us. “For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die, but God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:7-8). Here, again, we see love motivating God on our behalf. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him” (John 3:16-17).
In this study, we realize the hope of our salvation is validated by the cross. Two dimensions of the cross are graphically apparent – love and sacrifice. Without God’s love and Jesus’ sacrifice made on our behalf, any talk of our salvation is groundless, wishful thinking. No realistic hope of salvation can be maintained apart from the cross experience of Jesus. This is why the apostle Paul wrote, “For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God … I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 1:18, 2:2).
No love can be surpassed, no sacrifice can be greater, and no power can be stronger than that displayed on the cross of Christ. No hope of salvation can endure except that based on “God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope …” (1 Timothy 1:10). In fact, “… there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven among men, by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
God the Spirit: The phrase “God the Spirit” is a reference to one of the persons of the Trinity. He is intimately involved in our salvation and in helping us maintain our state of well-being. He is pictured in the New Testament as being active in Mary’s conception and giving birth of Jesus. Therefore, Jesus was called “Immanuel,” meaning “God with us” (Cf. Matthew 1:18-23).
Luke also stresses the work and role of God the Spirit in his account of Jesus’ birth. Gabriel, a messenger from God, said to Mary: “Do not be afraid Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus … The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God” (Cf. Luke 1:26-35).
Note that according to God’s favor the Holy Spirit came upon Mary. She conceived. When the child was born, she called this offspring Jesus. Although begotten by the Holy Spirit, conceived and delivered by Mary, the child was also called Son of God, and described as Immanuel. God the Father approved; God the Spirit begot; God the Son was born of Mary and called the Son of God. How could this be? It could not be unless the Holy Spirit was one of the Persons of the Trinity.
All of this is evidence that the Spirit plays a crucial role in our salvation. The child of whom we have been speaking was called Jesus (Savior). Jesus was closely associated with the Spirit during His ministry. The Spirit was present at His baptism (Matthew 3:16), and was with Jesus at His temptation (Matthew 4:1). By the Spirit, Simeon saw Jesus and recognized Him as Savior (Luke 2:25-32). Can we do the same? Absolutely. In fact, there is no other way to fully grasp that Jesus is our Savior except by the Spirit. But how does this occur? The answer requires an examination of God’s providence.
God’s Providence: In the introduction we stressed that God provides for all of us, the just and the unjust alike. Without His constant provisions we would not be able to exist. In that sense He is the Savior of all. However, we also noted that while He saves in a temporal, physical way, the eternal spiritual salvation He provides is available only through His Son to those who surrender to Him. Therefore, God’s ultimate provision, spiritual salvation, is received only through God’s ultimate gift, His Son Jesus Christ.
We are saved by God’s provision in Jesus Christ. Also, by His provision through the Spirit we may understand how our salvation in Jesus becomes a functional reality in our lives.
During His earthly ministry, Jesus spoke often of the Holy Spirit, pointing out the close affiliation He maintained with Him. Examples follow. He said the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him (Luke 4:17-21). He was acting in the power of the Spirit (Luke 4:14). He rejoiced in the Spirit (Luke 10:21). We know by the Holy Spirit that Jesus is our Savior from such statements as the following. Jesus said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63). Jesus also said, “… the things which I heard from Him, these I speak to the world … I speak these things as the Father taught Me” (John 6:26-28). Thus, Jesus taught that the Spirit directed Word of God clothed His message to the world.
This also applied to the message of His apostles. Jesus told them the Spirit of truth would be with them (John 14:17). The Helper, the Holy Spirit, would teach them all things and remind them of what Jesus had taught (John 14:26), and bear witness of Him (John 15:26). Jesus also told His apostles that He and the Father would send them the Spirit of truth who would convict the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment. In all of this, Jesus would be glorified (John 16:14).
The Spirit filled message that the apostles of Jesus received was orally delivered to the world under the terms of the “Great Commission” (Matthew 28:18-20) which marked the beginning of the Christian age (Acts 2:1-4). As time passed and the Scriptures took shape, they were penned by men who were Spirit guided. Eventually it could be said that “All Scripture is inspired by God” (2 Timothy 3:16). Thus, the message of salvation, the gospel, was set before the world in its final, complete, perfect form – the Bible. The Scriptures, the Bible, is in its final, complete, perfect form because it is an end product of the Holy Spirit’s work. Therefore, it must not be added to or subtracted from. This applies to the Hebrew Bible – Old Testament (Deuteronomy 4:1-2; Proverbs 3:5-6), as well as the New Testament (1 Corinthians 4:6; Revelation 22:18-19).
The statement and question that sparked this discussion: By the Spirit Simon saw Jesus and recognized Him as Savior (Luke 2:25-32); and, “Can we do the same?” The answer was affirmative for the reasons we have been discussing. The Spirit reveals Jesus to us through the Scriptures. We see Him there through the eye of faith, because “… faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).
Conclusion: As we conclude this segment of our discussion about salvation, we turn to the Scriptures to examine a number of things that are involved. The grand and glorious theme of salvation is filled with delights. One serendipity after another comes to the forefront as we find out what is actually occurring when we walk the way of salvation that is laid out and illustrated in God’s Word. We may be sympathetic with the psalmist of old who said, “My soul languishes for Thy salvation; I wait for Thy word … Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:81, 105). As we continue to examine salvation in light of God’s Word, we will find it to be a many-splendored thing.
Please note the following plan of procedure and some reasons for this particular approach. Instead of ferreting out the ways and means by which we enter into the state of salvation, we will examine first what makes it possible for us to be saved. This approach will bring us face to face with what God has done for us that we could not do for ourselves. This awareness will help us to grasp a richness of life unfamiliar to those not yet saved.
If we are successful in coming to a clear understanding of God’s salvation as set forth utilizing this procedure, we will have arrived at some magnificent insights. We will have found out what salvation really means in view of what God has done for us. We will see it not only as a life- changing experience, but as a realistic, life-sustaining adventure – a constant continuum of victory. In short, we will find our purpose for living, along with the attractiveness and possibility of fulfilling that purpose.
We will probe all of the above in specific detail. We will find God’s salvation is as wide as the cosmos, as deep as the ocean, as high as heaven, and as long as eternity. When this grand vista emerges, there will be no need to attempt to cultivate an appreciation for salvation in the reader’s heart. Gratitude for God’s eternal salvation will be overflowing. Its beauty, majesty, and grandeur will be apparent; and, no doubt, a yearning for it will be deep and moving.
At this point a question from the reader might be: “If the characteristics of salvation are so alluring, why not simply entice others to ‘be saved’ and get it done with?” If one tries that, he may find that neither party ever got out of “the box.” Remember the box? The following illustration may help clarify a point that is extremely important.
As little Toby’s birthday approached, his parents searched for a special present for their beloved pride and joy. The father remembered that he had a longing for a tinker toy set when he was a boy. The mother had always wanted a tricycle as a child. Since they never had their wishes fulfilled, they bought a large tinker toy set and a tricycle for their son. They put them in a large cardboard box. After Toby was asleep, they placed the box in the living room where he would see it. They stayed up late talking about their presents for Toby and how excited and happy he would be with them.
The next morning they peeked into Toby’s room. He was missing. They rushed into the living room. The big box was open and on its side. The tricycle was beside it and the tinker toys were lined up around the box, enclosing it in a circle. Toby was inside the box playing with several small cars he had been given the year before.
Did Toby dislike his new presents? No. He simply did not know anything about them. The big box made an exciting playhouse. His old toys were lots of fun. Why ask for more? He would never know the joys of tricycle riding or creatively building with tinker toys until he was taught and shown. If he had been introduced to his new presents and shown how to use them, he would have been very happy and productive with them. But he would never know their value so long as he stayed in his box.
We hope the point is well-taken. If we are eager to lead people to salvation, we must first get them out of their box. They must see with increased perception. They need to be motivated to know the meaning of salvation. This new awareness will bring them out of their box. They will see the value of what is being offered. They will comprehend the grand scope laid out before them. It will be attractive indeed.
But what will such a comprehension of God’s salvation motivate them to do? As we travel together according to our plan, we will not answer that question hurriedly. We will reach some high peaks. We will peer into the Promised Land, but we will be careful crossing the great divide. We will not have answered the question that the agonizing Saul of Tarsus asked before he became the apostle Paul, “What shall I do, Lord?” (Acts 22:10). We will not ask nor answer that question until we have completed our plan of procedure that leads up to the question. This approach will help us realize there is both agony and ecstasy in “being saved.”
(Basic Bible text: New American Standard Bible. Other translations are so noted)
