ANDERSON School of Theology has a January term of study during which classes meet for two and a half hours each day. Generally, students are allowed to take only one course during that term, the professors teach only one. The usual result is total involvement in the subject under consideration. During the 1978 January term, I taught a course on The Life of Salvation during which I submitted each chapter of this book for critical evaluation. The seriousness with which the students did their work was both exasperating and heartwarming. It was exasperating in that I had to work so hard addressing their very pertinent questions; it was heartwarming in that they were so devoutly committed to a biblical perspective. Now that the process is completed, I can hardly imagine doing another book without the give and take of a class of probing, growing seminarians. They were precious.
Near the end of the class, one student suggested that I use 1 John 5:11–12 as the scriptural introduction to the whole book:
And this is the testimony that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who has not the Son of God has not life.
The salvation that we have in Christ is life instead of mere words. It is a way of life instead of a mere moment in life. It is a person instead of a mere once-in-a-while statement of faith. To be in Christ by faith is to be in the life of salvation, which also means to be in the Church. To be in the life of Christ is to be in his Church.
I very much believe that all doctrinal statements which we write are the statements of pilgrims, and not statements of persons who have already arrived in glory. We will be able to write the perfect doctrinal statement only after we enter heaven, but then we will not need it.
It is a foregone conclusion that this book is not the Church's final statement concerning that which Scripture says about salvation, and I hope that it is not my final statement. I am one pilgrim writing to other pilgrims. Those on down the road will have much clearer insight than I have, simply because they will have the benefit of even more of the history of the Holy Spirit's work among the people of God than I have had. The Holy Spirit is continually leading the Church into a more complete understanding of the message of Scripture, and I rejoice to stand under that authority. I willingly seek to be corrected if any portion of what I have said is contrary to or a distortion of the whole biblical counsel of God as it is communicated to us by the dynamic work of the Spirit. My prayer is that the writing of this pilgrim will be helpful to other pilgrims as together we move toward our final home of glory, where our faith shall become perfect sight as well as perfect insight.
Gilbert W. Stafford
Anderson
January, 1979
Chapter 1
General Introduction
Salvation: Past, Present, and Future
SALVATION is what the Bible is all about. Unless the Bible is studied in order to learn about salvation, it is not being studied according to its divinely intended purpose. In 2 Timothy 3:15, Paul reminds Timothy that “the sacred writings … are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” The Bible is God's divine instrument for instructing us unto salvation. It not only tells us about God's salvation, but it also is used by the Holy Spirit to lead us to salvation.
The Bible is the divinely preserved record about God's work of salvation, the divinely inspired message of that salvation, and the divinely used instrument for our salvation.
What Salvation Is
The Greek word, soteria, translated by our English word, salvation, can also be translated “deliverance” and “preservation.” When the Bible speaks of our salvation, it is speaking of our deliverance from the powers of evil as well as our preservation for the purposes of God. This salvation is a past, present, and future reality.
Salvation, Past
The Bible informs us that God's salvation is a reality which is grounded in the past historical event of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God incarnate. According to Luke 2:25–35, when Simeon saw the baby Jesus whom Mary and Joseph had taken to the temple “to present him to the Lord” (v. 22), he took Jesus into his arms and said to God the Father, “mine eyes have seen thy salvation” (v. 30).
Later, during his public ministry when Jesus visited in the home of Zacchaeus, Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house” (Luke 19:9).
Also, in Acts 4:12, Peter refers to the historical event of Jesus Christ when he declares that “there is salvation in no one else.”
Salvation, Present
But God's gift of salvation is also a reality to be experienced in the here and now. In Romans 1:16, Paul says “For I am not ashamed of the gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith.” As the gospel is proclaimed, those persons who come to faith consequently experience the “power of God for salvation.” Paul refers to this again in I Corinthians 1:18: “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
The central purpose of Christian preaching is the proclamation of the gospel, the good news of God's salvation. Christian preaching certainly does include words of judgment but unless those words point to the good news of God's salvation it is not truly Christian in the proper sense. A Christian sermon boldly proclaims what God has done through Christ to bring about our salvation. It is that message and that alone which is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith.
But the responsibility for setting forth the good news of the gospel is more than a matter pertaining to the preaching of sermons. The setting forth of the gospel of salvation is the very essence of the church's life. In fact, the church that ignores this is no longer pleasing to God even though it may have all the external trappings of churchhood. It may be a dedicated corps of churchgoers, a clean-living fellowship of nonsmokers and nondrinkers, a committed society of tithers, a gentle congregation of friendly people, a gathering of persons well informed about religious, moral, and theological issues, a sensitive community of mentally healthy individuals, a disciplined group with tough moral fiber, but if the proclamation of the gospel of salvation is not central to its mission, it does not please God.
Salvation, Future
The third dimension of God's salvation has to do with what God will do at the end of world history. First Peter 1:5 refers to “a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” Hebrews 9:28 says that Christ “will appear a second time … to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” And in 1 Thessalonians 5:8 where Paul is speaking of the coming judgment at the end of the age, he urges Christians to put on for a helmet the hope of salvation. In all of these passages, salvation is referred to as a future reality of which those who continue abiding in Christ are absolutely assured. There is no question about it. The faithful shall enjoy the salvation of God in the midst of the cataclysmic events surrounding the end of the age. They have nothing to fear; they have no good reason to feel uncertain about their status before God at the time of that future event; in fact, they can anticipate it with glad assurance. It is within the context of a passage having to do with this future event that I Peter 1:6 declares, “In this you rejoice.”
There is no uneasiness about the future. The Hebrews 9:28 passage, previously quoted, refers to the faithful as “eagerly waiting” for their Savior's return. Here again, there is no sign of uneasiness.
As we have seen, salvation is grounded in the past, made available to us in the present, and is securely promised for the future.
The Purpose of Salvation
But, what is it that we are delivered from and preserved for?
A. Saved from Sin. In John 1:29 John the Baptist testifies concerning Jesus Christ: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” In chapter 7 of this book, what God did in Christ will be discussed more fully. However, at this juncture it is important to point out that for Jesus Christ to be the Lamb of God means that he was the agent for God's salvation of the world. Without Christ, the focus of God's attention would have been on sinful humanity. But, on the basis of the sacrificial work of the eternal Son of God, the focus of God's attention is on salvation from sin instead of the hopelessness of humanity's sinful predicament. God sees us through his love gift of Jesus Christ. The despairing reality is replaced by the reality of Christ.
Matthew 1:21 says that the mission of Jesus was to “save his people from their sins.” The Greek word (hamartia) translated as “sin” in the New Testament literally means “to miss the mark.” This meaning can be seen in Romans 3:23 which connects sin with falling short of the glory of God. Sin is disruption of the divine plan. It is a general, disrupted status (as in Romans 3:23) as well as particular decisions and actions of disruption (as in Matthew 1:21). Christ saves us from the disruption of the divine plan, redirects our lives for the realization of God's purpose, and thus preserves the eternal design.
B. Saved from Being Lost. Jesus Christ came “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). God's salvation is deliverance from spiritual waywardness. The father of the prodigal son rejoicingly says: “This my son … was lost, and is found” (Luke 15:24).
There are many kinds of foreign countries of the soul. There is the foreign country of spiritual disability such as we have pictured in the story of the prodigal son. But there are also the foreign countries of religiosity (Paul was in that one); of empty success (that is where Matthew and Zacchaeus were); of religion devoid of Christ (Cornelius and the Ethiopian eunuch lived there). In whichever foreign country one finds oneself, the mission of our Lord still applies: to seek and to save the lost. One can be spiritually lost not only in the far-off places of spiritual vagrancy but also in the nearby places of zealous religiosity. One can be spiritually lost not only in the deserts of despondency but also in the cities of laughter. God's salvation is for the lost?all the lost.
C. Deliverance from Divine Wrath. The New Testament teaches that God's salvation is deliverance from the wrath of God. First Thessalonians 1:10 refers to “Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” And 5:9 says, “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The wrath of God is not to be understood as God out of control of himself. It is not a madness. Rather, it is to be understood as his absolute devotion to righteousness and his absolute abhorrence of unrighteousness. Because his relationship to that which is good is an absolute yes, his relationship to that which is evil is an absolute no. The wrath of God is the absolute no of God. The absolute no of God is, indeed, a terrifying reality. Revelation 14:10 describes one suffering the wrath of God in these words: “He … shall drink the wine of God's wrath, poured unmixed into the cup of his anger, and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.”
Summary
We have said: that the Bible is the record about, the message of, and the instrument unto salvation; that salvation is the divine deliverance from evil and the divine preservation of good; that God's salvation is grounded in the reality of the incarnate Son of God, is experienced in the here and now subsequent to the proclamation of the gospel, and is assured for the faithful upon the return of the Lord. Christian salvation means that we are delivered from sin, spiritual lostness, and the wrath of God, and it also means that God's purposes are preserved and fulfilled.
For Discussion
Second Corinthians 1:19 says: “For the Son of God, Jesus Christ … was not Yes and No; but in him it is always Yes.” For Jesus Christ to be the Divine Yes means that he is in perfect harmony with the eternal purposes of God. In relation to God's eternal design, there is no No at all in him.
Following are some words which are used many times in this book. They are discussed at greater length in those chapters which are most closely related to their use. However, by using the above Scripture as our clue, it might prove helpful to formulate some short, descriptive statements about these words. By using a Bible concordance, find some passages in the New Testament where these words are used and discuss the adequacy or inadequacy of the following statements:
1. Predestination: God's eternal yes plan for humanity.
2. Sin: Humanity's no to God.
3. Salvation: God's work of dealing with humanity's no so that it becomes yes.
4. Incarnation: The eternal yes-Son in the flesh.
5. Righteousness: The perfect yes of God.
6. Propitiation: God's Gift of humanity's yes to God.
7. Gospel: The Good News of God's yes action.
8. Grace: God's yes action to transform humanity's no.
9. Faith: Humanity's childlike yes to God.
10. Justification: God's grace-filled yes to humanity.
11. Regeneration: The divine creation and development of humanity's yes life.
12. Reconciliation: The yes friendship between God and humanity.
13. Baptism: Humanity's yes of a good conscience toward God.
14. Conversion: The complete change from the no life to the yes life.
15. Sanctification: The earthly perfection of yes people.
16. Holiness: God's yes quality.
17. Glorification: The heavenly perfection of yes people.
Chapter 2
God, the Initiator of Salvation
IS SALVATION initiated by our decision to turn to God or is it initiated by God's work upon us? The Bible gives a very clear answer: salvation is always to be understood as initiated by God. It is never initiated by our decision to turn to God. The movement of God always precedes the movement of humanity, a humanity always incapable of moving toward God without being moved to do so by God himself.
Second Corinthians 5:16–21 is the passage which includes the widely-known reference to our life of salvation as “a new creation” (v. 17). Verse 18 declares: “All this is from God.” And verse 19 reiterates that it was God who was in Christ reconciling the world to himself.
Ephesians 2:4–10 is another passage which clearly sets forth the fact that God is the initiator of our salvation. Verses 4 and 5 say, “God … out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.” The deadness referred to here reminds us of the impossibility of our taking any initiative to bring about our own salvation. The first move had to be God's. The purely divine nature of the initiative, devoid of all human initiative, is emphasized by the parenthetical phrase in verse 5, “by grace you have been saved.” Verse 8 reminds us that this “is not your own doing, it is the gift of God.”
God's salvation, then, is a purely free gift, having nothing at all to do with our own efforts, whether moral, religious, or emotional. You cannot initiate salvation by building up your moral strength; nor by becoming perfectly dedicated to a religious system, no matter how noble; nor by exerting great emotional energies in an effort to break through to God. Salvation is entirely initiated by God “even when we were dead” (v. 5).
Within another context, we are reminded of this divine initiative by the words of 1 John 4:19: “We love, because he first loved us.”
Predestination
This divine initiative is spoken of in Scripture as God's predestination of us. Before we make any human choices regarding our personal destiny, God has already taken the initiative to establish his will for us.
The word which is translated “predestinate” means “to mark off first or beforehand,” or “to preordain.” The idea is that God made a decision regarding our human destiny before it was even possible for us to make our own decisions. According to Romans 8:29, he foreknew us and also predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son. We were marked even before our birth as creatures intended to be conformed to the image of the eternal Son of God.
Does God predestinate everyone to be conformed to the image of his Son, or only some? Even though that question has been discussed in the church for centuries, there still appears to be no common agreement on the horizon. It might be pointed out by some that since Romans 8:30 speaks of those who are justified—and since Scripture is clear that not all are justified—it would follow that not all are predestined unto salvation. However, that argument is not sound since verse 29 also mentions his foreknowledge which as most would agree is foreknowledge not of some persons but of all; Scripture gives no evidence of a limited, divine foreknowledge. God has foreknowledge of the infinity of possibilities. He knows every choice that anyone could possibly make as well as the infinite consequences of each of those choices. And so, even though Scripture gives no evidence that God's foreknowledge is limited to some, it does, on the other hand, give evidence that only some will enjoy God's justification.
The point being stressed here is that in the whole series of what God does, mentioned in Romans 8:29–30 (that is, he foreknew, he predestined, he called, he justified, he glorified), the reference in some cases is definitely to all (he foreknew all) and in others the reference is to some (he justified some). For that reason, there is no textual necessity for insisting that his predestination refers merely to some people rather than to all. Therefore, that decision must be made with the help of other scriptural evidence.
Predestination and Creation
According to biblical revelation, the destiny for which we were created has to do with our being created in the image of God. Genesis 1:27 says that “God created man in his own image.” And, Colossians 1:15 tells us that Jesus Christ is the “image of the invisible God.” Verse 16 goes on to explain that “all things were created through him and for him.” That is precisely where we learn about God's predestination of humanity. The destiny of humanity is found in Christ. Romans 8:29 explicitly says that God predestined “those whom he foreknew”—which includes everyone—“to be conformed to the image of his Son.” Even “before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4), he determined what the nature, purpose, and destiny of humanity would be. Before creation itself, we were chosen for the purposes of God as they are revealed in Jesus Christ. According to Ephesians 1:5, “He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.” (See also Eph. 1:11–12.) God predetermined to create the whole of humanity in his image. He did not create only some to be conformed. Genesis 1:27 speaks of just one type of human being, namely, the one created in the divine image. God did not create some unto salvation and others unto perdition. He predetermined before the foundation of the world that all were to be created in the image of God. This is what predestination is all about.
However, predestination does not imply the predetermination of the choices of the human will but rather the predetermination of what it is that brings about perfect, human fulfillment. There is no biblical evidence that God predetermined that Adam and Eve would sin, but there is ample evidence that he predetermined what it was that would bring about their fulfillment. That predetermination was made before the foundation of the world and is still in effect today. There is no perfect, human fulfillment outside of conformity to the divine image revealed to us in Jesus Christ. We are predestined to live within the confines of that divine decision. It is predetermined that outside of Jesus Christ, there is no possibility for perfect, human fulfillment.
Romans 8:29–30
In the light of this discussion, let us look again at Romans 8:29. “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.” The scripture does not mean that God predetermines our choice but that it is only when we chose to be conformed to the divine image, that perfect, human fulfillment is possible.
Now to look at verse 30 in the light of this: “And those whom he predestined he also called.” As we have already seen, all are predestined in terms of what it is that makes perfect, human fulfillment possible. But just as all are thusly predestined, even so, all fall short of that image. (See Rom. 3:23.) Therefore, all need to be called. Notice that it is God who issues the call. Salvation is possible only on the basis of the call of God. Preachers are instruments of that call, and Christian witnessing is connected with it, but in the last analysis the call to salvation is the call from God himself. Unless God is calling through the preaching and witnessing, they are but empty exercises.
However, we must hasten to say that preaching and witnessing are crucially important. Romans 10:14 poses the rhetorical question, “And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher?” Preachers and Christian witnesses are part of the divine plan for God's salvation. Immediately preceding his ascension, Jesus said to his faithful community: “You shall be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). But the fact still remains that they were merely instruments of the divine call. The call that reaches to the depths of our being is the call of God himself coming to us through his agents.
Faith
Does everyone who is called respond in faith? The biblical evidence evokes a no to this question. When Jesus issued a call to the ruler mentioned in Luke 18:18–23, saying “Come, follow me,” the ruler “became sad.” Mark 10:22 says that “his countenance fell, and he went away sorrowful.” Also, we have the tragic spectacle of Judas Iscariot becoming a traitor to the one who had called him.
These two instances remind us that not all who are called are justified. It is necessary to receive the call of God before one can experience the justification of God, but the call does not in and of itself lead to the experience of justification. According to Romans 3:28 and 5:1 persons experience the justification of God by faith alone. A faith response to the call of God guarantees the experience of God's justification. It is the bridge between the call of God and the human experience of justification.
Mid-Chapter Summary
Romans 8:30 concludes the series of God's salvation activities by saying, “And those whom he justified he also glorified.” In later chapters we shall discuss both justification and glorification in fuller detail. At this point, however, two matters are being stressed. First, it is God who initiates all of the salvation work: Even as it is God who foreknows and predestines, even so it is God who calls, justifies, and glorifies. And this whole salvation work is not in the least degree humanly initiated. The second matter being stressed here is that whereas all are predestinated, not all are justified. It is the negative exercise of the human will that frustrates the creation of faith thus keeping one from experiencing the justification of God.
The Human Capacity to Say Yes and No
The human will is created by God in such a way that it has to say its own original yes and no even as God himself says his own original yes and no. In Genesis 1, we find God saying his own original yes to his creation. He saw that it was good. His yes belonged to himself, and to himself alone—that is what is meant by calling it original.
God also said an original no, as for instance in Genesis 2:17, “Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.” In verse 18, we find another original no, “It is not good that the man should be alone.”
Adam and Eve, created in the image of God, were given this same capacity to say an original yes and no. Their yes and no were not predetermined by God, but belonged to them alone. The consequences of their yes and no were predetermined but not the yes or no itself.
Genesis 3 is the record of Adam's and Eve's tragic, original no to the purposes of God. As members of Adam's posterity that original no is also our no. That no does not belong to the divine nature but rather to sinful, human nature. It is original with us to say no to both God's yes and no. God did not make us do it. He made us so that we could do it, and we did. We ourselves are totally responsible for having uttered no to his yes and to his no. This contrary yes and no which marks our humanity has become “second nature” to us. God created us with the capacity to say yes and no which are harmonious with God's yes and no. However, our “second nature” is the all-pervasive human fact that we say yes and no which are contrary to God's will. And so, Paul in Ephesians 4:22–24 tells us to “Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
It is only by the greatest of human effort that we are able to say a yes to his yes and a no with his no. But even when we do muster enough effort to do so, our yes is polluted with Adam's no and our no is polluted with his yes. Paul describes this awful human predicament in Romans 7. In verse 24, he cries out “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Jesus Christ is the deliverer. He is our salvation. Jesus Christ has said a harmonious yes to both God's yes and no. It is only through faith in him that we are able to participate in his undefiled and harmonious yes to God's yes and no.
But, in order for that faith to be created in us, we must say an original yes to the call of God. It is a yes that belongs to no one else. It is originally ours. That original yes is the occasion for the divine creation of faith in us. This yes is devoid of self-confidence, self-trust, and self-sufficiency. It is the yes of human insufficiency. It is a yes that is sure of having heard the call of God. It is a yes which God in his great mercy evokes from us without ever transgressing that capacity which he has granted us to say an original yes or no. When we say yes, it is because it has been divinely evoked from us, yet it is not God's yes, but our own trusting yes. However, we also have the capacity to say an original no. That no makes God's already accomplished justification void for our own experience.
Our childlike yes to the call of God becomes the occasion for God's creation of faith in the graveyard of the soul. And when he creates faith in us, God's justification becomes real to our own individual experience. But, we are not saved by our yes, only by God's yes. From start to finish, God is the initiator of our salvation. Even the human capacity to say a childlike, trusting yes to the call of God is itself the gift of God.
For Discussion
Some key, biblical references in this chapter are:
Ephesians 1:4–5
Ephesians 2:4–10
Romans 8:29–30
Colossians 1:15–16
Study these passages in some Bible commentaries. Discuss the extent to which your study confirms or contradicts the emphases in this chapter.
Chapter 3
Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Life of Salvation
WHEN Simeon took the baby Jesus up into his arms he blessed God and said, “Mine eyes have seen thy salvation” (Luke 2:30).
The apostle Paul in Colossians 1:19–20 expands on this fact that Jesus Christ was the incarnate life of salvation: “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”
God's salvation was not given to us in the form of a literary communication but in the form of a person. The salvation message was not merely imparted, but incarnated. That message was not merely an “it” but a “he.” The message of salvation (the “it”) was not merely brought by a messenger. On the contrary, the messenger of salvation was himself the message of salvation. John 1:14 says “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”
Jesus and His Doctrine
The message of salvation was and is a life of salvation in that it includes the whole life of Jesus Christ. God did not communicate his gift of salvation merely through sentences, paragraphs, and doctrinal statements. Rather, he communicated his salvation through the incarnate life of the eternal Son of God. But does that mean, then, that words, sentences, and paragraphs are unimportant? Certainly not! Jesus' life and ministry included sermons, parables, instructions, and commandments. His ministry was a ministry not only of action but of doctrine as well. (See the King James rendering of Matt. 7:28, 22:33; Mark 1:22; Luke 4:32; John 7:16, 17.) The Gospel accounts are thorough proof that Jesus did not have a speechless life and ministry. He explained his mission, clarified the divine will, and spoke words of forgiveness, healing, and restoration. “He taught … as one who had authority” (Matt. 7:29). And what authority it was! In John 12:48–50, Jesus himself tells us: “He who rejects me and does not receive my sayings has a judge; the word that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own authority; the Father who sent me has himself given me commandment what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has bidden me.”
Is Doctrine Unimportant?
With all of this in view, it is a misconception to view the teachings of Jesus as unimportant. Nevertheless, some Christians do have a very low estimate of his doctrines. They claim that the only thing which is really important is to feel the warm presence of Jesus Christ. As long as they are feeling his presence they are satisfied. They could not care less about the study of Scripture, and even resist those who encourage them to think about Christian truths. In fact, they may even be suspicious of anyone who does think carefully about the Christian faith. They do not want to get into any discussions about Christian truths, but want only the warm sensation of the presence of Jesus Christ. Such attitudes, which are very widespread today, are to be viewed with tremendous alarm.
The Christian fellowship in many quarters is little more than a gathering of people getting together for the purpose of comparing their warm feelings of the presence of Christ. They compare their individual sensations of Christ. Those who dare to think carefully about Christian truths are usually not welcome in such gatherings.
Is Doctrine Everything?
There is yet another equally alarming misconception. There are those within the Church who place such a heavy emphasis on the biblical statements of Christian truths that one easily gets the impression that salvation is only a matter of giving assent to those statements. Those statements are endlessly refined, polished, defended and expanded. Assent to them is too often divorced from any personal encounter with the living Lord Jesus Christ. That also is a deplorable development.
Doctrinal statements may be ever so biblically based but they can never be an adequate substitute for the living Lord himself.
Solving the Problem
What have been described here are two distortions of the Christian faith. In both cases, the person of Christ is divorced from the doctrines which he communicates. In the first distortion, allegiance is focused on the person without his doctrine. In the second, it is focused on his doctrine without the person, and, in fact, Christ himself is reduced to little more than another doctrinal statement alongside many other statements of Christian truth.
Happily, these two dilemmas can be overcome by a return to the biblical way of viewing Christ and his doctrines. The biblical way of viewing Jesus Christ is not merely as a living presence but also as one who is identifiable through the words of Scripture. Throughout the Gospel accounts, reference is made to the words of Hebrew Scripture (our Old Testament) as a means of identifying Jesus. For instance, Luke 4 tells about Jesus going to the synagogue in Nazareth and reading from Isaiah. After reading a passage which identified his ministry, he said to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (v. 21). The obvious purpose was to identify who he was.
That is precisely the role of Scripture in regard to the living Lord. Scripture identifies him. In the instance just cited, those in the synagogue that day were encountered by a person who was identifiable through the study of Scripture.
And so in the same way, the living Christ continues to be a person identified by Scripture. To be encountered by the living Christ is to be encountered by a presence identifiable through the study of Scripture. His presence is never divorced from biblical truths. To ignore what Scripture says would be like the members of the synagogue at Nazareth desiring Jesus' presence at their meeting but not allowing him to proclaim scriptural truth to them. On the other hand, to emphasize biblical truth statements at the expense of personal encounter with the living Christ would be like the members of the synagogue at Nazareth reading Scripture, formulating a statement about Jesus, and being satisfied with reading that statement instead of seeking his actual presence in the meeting.
The Nature of Our Salvation
The point of this whole discussion is to stress that God's salvation is not only an incarnate person but a person with divine doctrine which calls for thoughtful consideration. Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Life of Salvation, is both the heart-transforming power of regeneration and the mind-orienting agent of revelation. Our salvation is both regenerational and revelational.
We are reminded of his regenerational power in the words of 2 Corinthians 5:17, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” And we are reminded of his revelational work in Luke 2:32 where Simeon calls God's salvation, “a light for revelation.”
To participate by faith in Jesus Christ is to be the beneficiary of his revelation as well as his regeneration. Revelation implies the use of the mind, and therefore it is biblically sound to insist that salvation is a matter of both the head and the heart. Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Life of Salvation, is a person of both head and heart. For us to enter into that life of salvation is for us to enter into a life that renews the heart and enlightens the mind. John 1:4 combines them beautifully: “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” In Christ there is life for the heart and light for the mind. The life is not separate from the light, for the life is the light.
The Uniqueness of God's Salvation
Those of us who have been brought up under the influence of Christianity may not appreciate the uniqueness of God's salvation. Every religion in the world has some plan of salvation. It may consist of a scheme of self-improvement or of an escape from reality. It may consist of the performance of certain rites, or the development of particular disciplines or thinking techniques. Each of these plans consists of humanity's attempt to arrive at a state, status, or condition of salvation, and is an impersonal goal toward which people move.
But God's salvation is altogether different. It is not impersonal but personal. God's salvation is not a goal out yonder to be striven for but a reality in the here and now to be accepted. His salvation is not a divine system but the divine life incarnate.
The incarnation of our Lord was a historical event marked off by particular dates on the calendar. There was a particular date when he was conceived, another particular date when he was born, another when he was crucified, another when he was raised, and yet another when “he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9). Our salvation consists of that historical life lived on the earth from one day on the calendar to another. It is a historical reality to which we can point. In fact, the very calendar which we use witnesses to the historical nature of our salvation in that the incarnate life of Christ is the determinative factor for the way we number our years.
The Importance of Remembering the Incarnation
First, remembering the Incarnation reminds us that our salvation is not a generalized, philosophical, speculative idea about being saved. Neither is it some universal principle like the principle of gravity or the principle of centrifugal force which some profound thinker has discovered and expounded. If salvation were nothing more than a universal principle, we would need only a discoverer and expounder of the principle. In that case, we would have been at the mercy of human insight.
But the fact that God's salvation is a historical Incarnation reminds us that we are not at the mercy of the ingenuity of human insight, but rather at the mercy of a gracious God who has intervened in human affairs. Our salvation was a once and for all time intervention. The Incarnation had never taken place before nor will it ever take place again. It is unrepeatable.
There is a widespread view today that there have been and will continue to be a whole series of special, divine persons through whom God reveals himself and effects salvation. In this view, Jesus is one among many of these special, divine persons.
But this is absolutely contrary to the biblical understanding of Jesus Christ. Perhaps we need to look again at John 3:16–18. Verse 16 says that God gave “his only Son.” Verse 18 says “he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” Jesus Christ is not one among many sons of God, but the only Son.
The second reason why it is important to remember that our salvation was in the form of an incarnate life is that it reminds the Church that it is rooted in a historical event. The Church is in historical continuity with that unique event of Jesus Christ. The Church is not a dreamy ideal but a historical reality. It is very easy to shy away from the Church as a historical reality and begin focusing one's energies on dreaming about the ideal church. The more one dreams about the ideal church the less one wants to be involved in the Church as a historical reality. It is much more pleasant to fantasize about the ideal church than it is to rub lives in the historical Church. Remembering that the salvation of God came to earth in the historically observable life of Christ reminds us that his salvation work continues on earth through the historically observable Church.
We shall discuss baptism and the Lord's Supper in a later chapter. However, it is important to say at this point that baptism and the Lord's Supper remind us of the incarnational nature of our salvation. They remind us of this in that both involve material elements: water, bread, the fruit of the vine. These are not ideas. These are touchable, material elements of the natural order.
And so, just as we are baptized into the material element of water, even so God's salvation was incarnate in human flesh. Just as the water of our baptism is touchable and confined to a particular time and place, even so Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Life of Salvation was touchable and confined to a particular time and place. The fact that the converted person is baptized once reminds us of the unrepeatableness of the incarnate life of Jesus Christ.
Also, the elements of the Lord's Supper are material realities. As we partake of the Lord's Supper time and time again, we are reminded that the salvation which was given in the unique, unrepeatable life of Jesus Christ is nevertheless continued throughout history in anticipation of the final consummation at the end of the age. The Church is the fellowship of that continued salvation. Even as the incarnation of our salvation was rooted in history and the natural order, even so the continuous work of salvation is rooted in history and the natural order. Baptism reminds us of the unrepeatable incarnation of our salvation, while the Lord's Supper reminds us of the continuing work of salvation, and both remind us that our salvation is not merely an idea but a divine person who has intervened in the natural order and historical process.
For Discussion
In the section The Nature of Our Salvation it was stressed that Jesus Christ is the heart-transforming power of regeneration as well as the mind-orienting agent of revelation. Salvation includes both the renewal of the heart and the enlightenment of the mind. Are both the heart and mind dimensions of salvation stressed in your church? In what ways are the two dimensions lifted up? Are there any signs that one is being stressed at the expense of the other?
Being a Christian is a matter of both believing what Scripture teaches about Jesus Christ and experiencing his regenerational presence in one's heart. What can your church do to improve its evangelism and educational ministries so that these two dimensions are more adequately maintained?
Chapter 4
“The Holy Spirit, the Dynamic Leader unto Salvation”
IT WAS pointed out in chapter 2 that God initiates our salvation, and in chapter 3 that Jesus Christ is our salvation. But how are we brought to salvation?
Scripture teaches us that the Holy Spirit brings us to Jesus Christ. As we shall see in the course of this chapter, there are two different respects in which the Holy Spirit leads us. First, he brings us to the experience of faith in the salvation work of Jesus Christ, and second, he builds us up “to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13).
Salvation is not merely a moment of experience, but a life of experience. The Holy Spirit leads us into the life of Christ and then it is his will to lead us into the fullness of the life of Christ. Let us consider both of these works.
First Work of the Holy Spirit
First, he introduces us into the saving life of Jesus Christ. Notice that we have referred to our introduction into his life instead of an introduction to his life. There is a significant difference between the two. To be introduced to Christ does not necessarily mean that we have actually entered into his saving life. Any person might introduce you to the person of Christ.
That person can tell you about His saving life, and can give information about His life, but he cannot introduce you into that saving life. Only the Holy Spirit can do that.
In John 6:44, Jesus says, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” But does that not contradict what has already been said in this chapter about the Holy Spirit leading us to Christ? Not at all, for the simple reason that the Father works through the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the Father's agent in the world. Whatever the Holy Spirit does is the Father's will and for that reason can also be spoken of as the work of the Father. Therefore, while it is true that this passage speaks of the Father drawing people to the saving life of Jesus Christ, it is equally true that the Father does this through the agency of the Holy Spirit. Notice what John 15:26 says about the Holy Spirit, referred to as the Counselor:
He “proceeds from the Father,” and bears witness to Jesus Christ. This same verse calls him the “Counselor.” In the King James Version we find the word Comforter instead of Counselor. The Greek word which can be translated either way means “one who is able to give help.” And so, we have two elements of the work of the Holy Spirit mentioned in this verse: he bears witness to Christ and is our helper. John 16:8–11 goes on to explain the particularities of his work of helping us to come to Christ.
Let us look more closely at this latter passage. We are told that the Holy Spirit “will convince the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment; of sin, because they do not believe in me; of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”
What does this passage mean by the use of the word convince? The King James Version translates the same Greek word, “reprove.” The New International Version translates it, “he will convict the world of guilt.” The Expanded Translation uses the word convict. The idea is that the work of the Holy Spirit is that of rebuking the world with the intention of bringing it under conviction. This is what is meant by “he will convince the world” in John 16:8.
But of what will he convince the world?
A. The Holy Spirit Convinces of Sin. He will convince the world “of sin, because they do not believe in me [Jesus].” The sin of unbelief is the basic sin. It was the essence of Adam's and Eve's sin. They did not believe God. In Genesis 2:17, God explicitly told Adam: “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.” And, it is also evident from Genesis 3:2–3 that Eve was fully aware of this command. Nevertheless, they believed the lie of the serpent instead of the Word of God.
In Jesus Christ the Word became flesh (John 1:14). He was placed in the midst of the garden of sin for our salvation just as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil had been placed in the Garden of Eden. In the same way that the tree in the Garden of Eden revealed whether Adam and Eve would believe God, even so Jesus Christ in our midst reveals our sin of unbelief. He is here in the midst of our world of sin, doing his work of convincing us of the sin of unbelief. He works upon our minds, hearts, consciences so that we will become aware of our great need of the grace of God. He does so for the purpose of bringing us to repentance for sin, and faith in the incarnate Word of God. He moves upon us and strives with us.
B. The Holy Spirit Convinces of Righteousness. He convinces us of the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ who alone can save us. Since our Lord has ascended from earth to heaven, we are unable to see his righteousness in the flesh. Nevertheless, the Holy Spirit points us to that perfect righteousness for which we were made but from which we fell.
C. The Holy Spirit Convinces of Judgment. The Scripture passage tells us that the Spirit will convince the world “of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” Jesus Christ has already brought judgment on the ruler of this world, Satan. He is defeated because of the salvation life of Jesus Christ. Jesus said to his disciples in Luke 10:18, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” Of course, Satan is still at work, but he is at work as an already judged ruler. He is an exasperated tyrant who is wild with frustration during this interim between his judgment and the final execution of that judgment.
It is no wonder that the Church from its very beginning has made its confession of faith in these glorious words, “Jesus is Lord.” The Church knows that her Lord is the victor over all of the powers of evil. Sin has been overcome, death conquered, and the grave robbed. Jesus is not only victor over sin, death, and the grave but also over Satan. John 16:11 says that “the ruler of this world is judged.” The New English Bible translates it, “the Prince of this world stands condemned.”
It was with great confidence that Paul encouraged the Christians in Romans 16:20 by saying that “the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” He was able to say that because he knew that Satan had already been judged, condemned.
Mid-Chapter Summary
As we have seen, John 16:8–11 informs us that the Holy Spirit is at work in the world today convincing it of sin; convincing it that Jesus Christ is its perfect salvation, and that Satan is already judged and condemned to absolute defeat.
How easily we forget about this crucial work of the Holy Spirit. We try to convict people of their sins. We try to convince them of Jesus Christ. We try to prove that Satan is a condemned ruler. But that is not our task. Our task is to be witnesses (John 15:27), preachers (Rom. 10:14), and disciplers (Matt. 28:19–20). It is the work of the Holy Spirit—not ours—to convict, convince, and prove.
The Holy Spirit as Witness
Earlier in this chapter we referred to the words of Jesus in John 15:26: “He [the Holy Spirit] will bear witness to me.” But he speaks of his disciples also as witnesses and indicates what it is that makes them important as witnesses, namely, “because you have been with me from the beginning” (v. 27). If this is what makes the disciples important as witnesses how much more important is the witness work of the Holy Spirit, since he has been with the Son from all eternity. Hebrews 9:14 speaks of the “eternal Spirit.” The eternal Spirit who has been with the Son from all eternity is the eternal and therefore perfect witness to him in the world.
And so, one major function of the Holy Spirit is to introduce us into the saving life of Jesus Christ. By bearing witness, convicting, convincing, and proving, he leads us into the life of salvation.
Second Work of the Holy Spirit
His second major function is to lead us into the fullness of Jesus Christ. Later in this book, greater consideration will be given to the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit, but at this point our purpose is to draw attention to how that work fits into the whole of his activity.
That the Holy, Spirit leads us into the saving life of Jesus Christ can be diagrammed like this:
INCORPORATION INTO CHRIST
(picture---not included here)
Notice in the diagram that the sinner who enters into the life of Christ is no longer referred to as sinner but as believer. It should also be noted that the believer is completely in the whole life of Christ. He or she is not partially in and partially out, but wholly in Christ as a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). The believer is forgiven, justified, and reconciled.
That the Holy Spirit leads believers into the fullness of the saving life of Jesus Christ can be diagrammed like this:
THE BAPTIZING WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
(picture---not included here)
In this diagram, the multiple-directional arrows stand for the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. The Holy Spirit does something to the believer, within the believer, and with the believer. That which is done to the believer is indicated by the downward arrow (divine power comes); that which is done within the believer is indicated by the outwardly expanding arrows (he or she is opened for growing up into the fullness of Christ); and that which is done with the believer is indicated by the arrows pointing to the left and to the right (he or she is sanctified for the divine mission in the world.)
All of this is the life of salvation. The will of God is that we shall enter into the life of salvation and then grow up into its fullness. There is no scriptural evidence whatsoever that indicates that the will of God is anything less than that we grow up into the fullness of Christ. This is one reason why it is so important for us to think of salvation as the life of salvation rather than as a mere momentary experience of salvation. The Holy Spirit does not lead us merely to experiences of salvation but to the lifelong pilgrimage of salvation. Of course, there are identifiable moments such as Paul had on the Road to Damascus and such as John Wesley had at the Aldersgate Bible study; or such as many Christians' public altar experiences. Those are precious moments which should in no sense be treated lightly. But the important concern being treated here is this: that the Holy Spirit led Paul, John Wesley, and us to much, much more than a momentary experience of salvation. Rather, he leads us into the life of salvation. The identifiable moment of experience is in no sense disconnected from the whole life into which we are led. It is not an experience which is separated from the rest of life. Rather, it is an entrance into new life for the rest of our lives.
As a pastor who often does counseling at public altars during camp meetings and youth camps, I have become very much aware of a widespread misconception about salvation. I have seen young people especially, come forward once each evening for a whole week for a salvation experience. They were seeking a Damascus Road experience each night. I am afraid that they misconceived of salvation in terms of a single experience with a beginning and an ending. When the experience was over, they stood in need of another one. It was as though they were hooked on salvation experiences. Somewhere along the line we pastors and teachers had failed to introduce them to the biblical concept of the lifelong pilgrimage of salvation. They needed to be taught that the Holy Spirit leads us not only into the life of Christ but also into the fullness of the life of Christ. Because they were not being instructed regarding the continuing work of the Holy Spirit, they felt stagnated and consequently continued trying to re-enter the life of Christ rather than being led into his fullness. They sought a dynamism in their lives, but instead of experiencing the dynamism of growth, they sought the dynamism of re-entry, which, of course, finally leads to spiritual and emotional turmoil.
Transition Statement
In these last three chapters, we have shown that God initiates our salvation, that Jesus Christ is our salvation, and that the Holy Spirit leads us into the salvation life of Christ and then on into the fullness of that salvation life. In these chapters the primary focus has been on God. In the next two chapters the focus will be on what happens in the life of the individual believer.
For Discussion
It is never possible to do a perfect job of diagramming Christian truth, simply because it is more profound and complex than any diagram can ever be. However, diagrams do help us to get a mental picture of some divine realities. How would your diagrams differ from the author's regarding what the Bible says abut the double work of the Holy Spirit, first of all, as he leads us into the life of salvation, and then, into the fullness of that life?
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