Salvation — Introduction
I once heard Salvation referred to as “fire insurance” — that is the permanent change of destination from hell to heaven. Salvation includes the maturation process. Check out, Rom. 5:1–10, Jas. 1:2–8, 1 Pet. 3–7. There is no doubt that Scripture anticipates hard times for Christians to build believers up in Christ. When we accept Jesus as our savior, it is only the beginning:
“From God’s perspective, Salvation includes the total work of God in bringing people from condemnation to justification, from death to eternal life, from alienation to filiation. From the human perspective, it incorporates all of the blessings that being in Christ brings both in this life and the life to come.”[1]
I believe the idea that Salvation is just “fire insurance” is demonic as its source. It is not a cure for our daily ills, nor is Salvation an ATM to solve earthly problems. Some, or all, of our problems, will go unaddressed — especially when we try to serve the Lord. Salvation is an event followed by a process ending in another event with the removal of sin forever. That is the full scope of Salvation. Before we enter the “Saved” state, we lived and acted as the world does. For the sinful nature, we have before being “saved,” Jesus removes the guilt and penalty via His death on the cross. See Luke 7:50; 1 Cor. 1:18; 2 Cor. 2:15; 2 Tim. 1:9, Eph 2:8, Tit 3:5. The present tense releases believers from the power, or dominion, of sin. Faith is still the means for maturation in Christ (John 17:17; Rom. 6:14; 8:2; Gal. 5:16; Phil. 2:12–13, Heb. 7:25). The future tense removes sin from our presence (Rom. 13:11; Eph. 5:25–27; Phil. 1:6; 1 Pet. 1:3–5; 1 John 3:1–2, Rom. 5:9–10).[2,3]
The topic of Salvation includes the following:
“The general doctrine of salvation includes …: substitution, redemption, reconciliation, propitiation, conviction, calling, election, predestination, sovereignty, free will, grace, repentance, faith, regeneration, forgiveness, justification, sanctification, preservation, and glorification.”[4]
We will visit some of these topics in a series about Salvation.
Salvation has always been the Lord’s work! The following clearly show that Salvation belongs to the Lord: Ps. 3:8, Jonah 2:9. Eph. 2:8–10 restates the principle and includes the rationale. If Salvation was to come from us we would have something to brag about, instead we must boast in the Lord[5]. Yet people always try to add to basic elements of Salvation. Scripture is pretty clear about the conditions for our Salvation:
“About 115 passages condition salvation on believing alone, and about 35 simply on faith. There are certain things, however, often added by man to this one and only condition, like the following: believe and repent, believe and be baptized, believe and confess sin, believe and confess Christ publicly, believe and promise a better manner of life, believe and pray for Salvation.”[6]
Duration. There is no salvation offered under grace which stops short of being eternal in its character. This is due to the fact that it proves to be altogether a work of God, and His purpose and power never fail (Phil. 1:6).[7]
Footnotes
1. Ryrie, C. C. (1999). Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth (pp. 318–319). Chicago, IL: Moody Press.
2. Chafer, L. S. (1993). In Systematic theology (Vol. 7, p. 273). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.
3. Ryrie, C. C. (1999). Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth (pp. 318–319). Chicago, IL: Moody Press.
4. Chafer, L. S. (1993). In Systematic theology (Vol. 7, p. 273). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.
5. Chafer, L. S. (1993). In Systematic theology (Vol. 7, p. 273). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.
6. Chafer, L. S. (1993). In Systematic theology (Vol. 7, pp. 273–274). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.
7. Chafer, L. S. (1993). In Systematic theology (Vol. 7, p. 274). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.
