Paul instructs all believers to take up a protective helmet.
in all these things, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, Ephesians 6:16
Why do we need this piece of armor? Satan continually seeks to erode our confidence in both our salvation and our Savior.
He twists the truth regarding how we get it.
He twists the truth regarding the miraculous nature of God’s work in us.
He twists the truth regarding how we keep it.
He twists the truth regarding His power to save completely those who call on Him.
In order to confidently march against the gates of hell’s fortresses, we must be absolutely secure in what God has done for us and in us. We must trust the armor God provides.
We must trust the God who provides it.
The personal application of this piece of armor has to do with knowing not doing. Much of the New Testament has to do with reminding believers of their great salvation.
2 Pet 1:12-15 Jude 1:3 1 John 5:13
THE CONCEPT OF SALVATION
The noun is translated “deliverance, help, salvation, victory, security”
The verb is translated, “avenge, deliver, preserve, help, save, savior”
It is used to describe rescue from national or individual distress, enemies, sickness and natural disasters like plague or famine. It can describe a rescue from personal distress like worry, fear, confusion, etc. In a spiritual context it describes deliverance from God’s eternal judgment, Satan’s bondage, and sin’s hold. The concept is pretty simple.
It describes the act of rescuing someone from a difficult or desperate situation.
“Save” describes the act of saving.
“Savior” describes the one who rescues.
The word salvation is a broad term used to describe what Jesus did in order to deliver us out of a state of desperation and hopelessness into the hope of eternal life.
It is used in reference to a settled past occurrence -- you have been saved.
It is used in reference to a present unfolding reality -- you are being saved.
It is used in reference to a future hope -- you will be saved completely.
I. THE PLAN OF SALVATION IN ETERNITY PAST
Scripture is clear that God conceived the plan to provide salvation for men even before the foundation of the world in eternity past. Scripture indicates that men were chosen before the foundation of the world. Scripture indicates that Christ was slain before the foundation of the world. It is obvious that these things were planned and decreed according to the purpose of God as the best of all possible plans. It is difficult for time-bound finite creatures to fully comprehend how this all fits together and came about in time and space. There are certain terms related to God’s eternal planning process before anything came into being.
A. The Divine Decree
Any attempt to place a precise order to the various purposes of God is more logical than Biblical. All we know is that God purposed certain events and activities to occur even before time began and various attempts have been made to determine which event occurred in what order. The name attached to this endeavor is called the “Divine Decree”.
For our purpose perhaps it might be called the “Divine Decision.”
1. The decision to create all men and the place for them to live.
2. The decision to permit the fall.
3. The decision to provide salvation sufficient for all men.
4. The decision to choose some from among the fallen and leave the others in their sin.
5. The decision to save the elect through faith in Christ.
There are some specific terms related to God’s activity before time. There are differing interpretations and understanding related to those terms. I offer today my view and only a few related Scriptures.
B. Foreknowledge
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. Rom 8:29-30
Peter, to those who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance. 1Pe 1:2
The term translated foreknew is the Greek word for “experiential knowledge of something or someone” with the preposition “ “pro” in front of it. You end up with the concept of knowing beforehand. Because God knows everything in that he is omniscient, the term seems to refer to something more than a mere cognizance of people and events.
The Romans 8 passage clearly indicates a focus on people who are foreknown rather than faith; a belief held by many. Are we chosen on the basis of “foreknown or foreseen” faith? Foreknowledge appears to describe a selective knowledge which makes one an object of love rather than the mere awareness of a choice or person beforehand.
It is the preparatory act and basis of election.
C. Election
The term used here has to do with choice. Peter indicates that God's choice was based on the foreknowledge.
1Pe 1:2 Eph 1:4 Joh 15:16 Act 13:48 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14
The teaching of election is a difficult, and to some, disturbing teaching. There are certain concepts in Scripture that create tension. We find difficulty trying to resolve that tension.
It is important to remember that a finite mind will not be able to wrap around all divine truth. A balanced understanding of the fact that God chose us can bring confidence and motivate deep humility and gratitude. Election is that phase of God's eternal purpose whereby He certainly and eternally determines by means of unconditional and loving choice who will believe. It is not mere purpose to give salvation to those who may believe, but rather it determines who will believe.
D. Predestination, foreordination
This teaching has suffered a great deal of misunderstanding through the years.
I believe the confusion is to try to extend its scope beyond what Scripture indicates. The term means "to mark off beforehand."
Eph 1:12
I submit that any teaching on predestination should be confined to the destiny of the elect upon their salvation in Christ. At that moment in time, their destiny is predetermined.
They will be conformed to the image of Christ, they will be adopted, they will receive an inheritance, they will live to the praise of His glory.
Predestination is like booking a cruise to the Bahamas. The destination is set and out of our control. The captain of the ship charts the course and takes responsibility that the ship arrives safely at its predetermined destination. Within the confines of the cruise ship however, there are many choices and adventures to be explored by the passengers.
One may stay huddled in the cabin the entire time or one may explore and experience all the activities and opportunities available on the ship.
From the moment we sign on the cruise ship "Heaven" we have many opportunities and adventures to be experienced. The destination has been predetermined by the captain of our salvation and He has taken full responsibility to see that the ship arrives safely.
(He who began a good work in you will complete it. He is both the author and perfecter of our faith). I do not believe that each individual activity in life is "predestined" here.
We are given prompting and choices along the way for which we will either experience the blessings of God or the consequences of our disobedience. But we will ultimately be conformed to the image of His son for which we have been predestined.
II. THE PRUDENCE OF SALVATION
All of this took place even before creation. A short time after being created, just as God had first seen, and fell. Before sin, there was no need for salvation. Because sin entered the world and spread to all men, there is a desperate need. The need for salvation is inseparably linked to the character of God.
A. The Character of God
The holy, righteous perfection of God insists that sin be exposed, identified and judged. God in His holiness cannot simply overlook sin without exacting a penalty. God, by His nature remains separate from sin. Isaiah made clear that it was man's sin that produced a gulf between man and God. This separation is due to the holy character of God.
Therefore if man is to survive, let alone have fellowship with God, God's righteous character must somehow be satisfied without compromising that character by neglecting to deal with the offense.
B. The Corruption of Man
1. Imputed Sin Rom 5:19
Scripture is clear as to the fact that corruptness in man is due to a sinful nature inherited from Adam. Man sins because he is born a sinner. Man is not a sinner because he sins.
2. Inherited sin 1Pe 1:18
3. Intentional sin Rom 3:9-10, 23 Rom 6:23
The results of the fall were total. Man's whole being was marred by sin. Adam passed on a nature that was totally selfish and committed to find life apart from dependence on God.
This rebellion against the authority and plan of God resulted in sins of all kinds against God and man. As a result, death came upon all men in every area of life; physical, spiritual, and psychological. The effects of the fall were total, thus the need for total salvation became unavoidable. God provided the means of salvation for the spirit, soul and body; salvation for the whole person. Restoration from the effects of the fall would exact a great cost. Sin and salvation are parallel themes that run all through the Scriptures.
There is sin and then there are sins. Sins are the result of sin. Behind every act that violates God's law is an attitude that demands independence from God. Ultimately it's that rebellious attitude that brings separation and deserves judgment.
III. THE PROMISE OF SALVATION
From the very moment of temporal judgment, God promised to provide a Savior.
Gen 3:15
All through Biblical history, God made promises and covenants concerning restoration and reconciliation. He made covenants with Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David. These promises continued all through the Old Testament period and promised that there would come a Prophet who would save his people from their sins.
By the time of Christ, anticipation mounted in hope of the entrance of Messiah who would bring deliverance and salvation. In Him, all the prophesies and promises would converge and culminate.
IV. THE PICTURE OF SALVATION
Not only were covenants made, but God designed living illustrations that would foreshadow and pre-illustrate the Salvation that would be accomplished by the coming Savior. These graphic illustrations came in the form of animal sacrifices, Noah and the flood, the Exodus, the Passover, the entire Hebrew Sacrificial system. All that would come about through the person and work of Christ was first pictured in the Old Testament.
Colossians indicates that Christ was the fulfillment of every sacrifice. As tedious as it might be to understand all that is presented in Leviticus and the Old Testament law, in there is direct correlation to a marvelous, wonderful work accomplished in the tabernacle made without hands, in the heavenlies.
V. THE PROVISION OF SALVATION THROUGH CHRIST
A. The Atonement
Theologians employ this all-encompassing term to describe the necessary action to restore relationship between sinful man and a Holy God. The base meaning is the "satisfactory reparation for an offense or injury.” What is most glorious is that God planned for His own satisfaction because man was unwilling and unable to do so. God planned the Atonement in eternity past, accomplished it in history with the unselfish cooperation of His beloved Son and blessed Holy Spirit, and it will be the focus of celebration throughout eternity future. The key passage on this matter is found in Isaiah 53.
Mar 10:45 1Pe 3:18
The issue involved is not only the death or sacrifice but who died. Because of Christ's infinite value and worth, the sacrifice was of infinite value. Christ fully satisfied the demands of God's justice upon sin. His death was primarily directed toward God who is the offended party, not man the offender. It is also to be noted that while His death makes salvation available to all, it does not guarantee all will be saved.
B. Redemption
The Idea of Purchase
"agarazo" This is a grocery store term expressing the idea of paying a price for an object in order to possess it for ones self.
1Co 6:20 Rev 5:9
"exagarazo" This is an intensified form indicating that the purchased possession in not subject to resale. Gal 3:13 Gal 4:5
The idea of release from bondage
"lutroo" The concept expressed in this term communicated the idea of rescuing or liberating a person or thing from some hostile power which has him in its possession.
Tit 2:14 1Pe 1:18
"lutron" This is the price paid to effect someone's rescue of deliverance. Heb 9:12
"antilutron" This is the remedy. 1Ti 2:6
"apolutrosis" To be set free or pardoned. A ransom paid with resultant deliverance.
Rom 8:23 Eph 1:7 Eph 4:30
There are three aspects of the redemption process. We have been redeemed from the penalty of sin, we are being redeemed from the power of sin and we will be redeemed from the very presence of sin. We have been purchased for possession and set free from slavery by the payment of a price. We have been rescued from the kingdom of darkness and transferred into the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. We have been set free from the bondage of sin.
The Cost of Redemption
The payment for our release from bondage was costly. It cost the life blood of God's spotless lamb. 1Pe 1:19
The Results of Redemption
Because of the price paid, God is now free to pour out His blessing on those who come to Him by faith without compromising His own holiness and justice. He is just and may now be the justifies of those who believe.
C. Propitiation
This doctrine relates to the satisfaction of the righteous character of God so that man need not come under the condemning judgment for sin. Christ became the satisfaction for sin on man's behalf so that the righteous character of God was freed to relate to man out of love rather than condemnation. This act was not the appeasement of a reluctant vengeful God but the complete satisfaction of a just and holy God who is perfect in all his dealings.
While demanding complete satisfaction of His righteousness, it is the same God, who because of His love for the lost, sent His own Son to be that propitiation. The result of
Christ's sacrifice set God free to forgive sins, bestow righteousness, bestow all grace. These are all of the things provided by God on the basis of His good pleasure and love so that man might be restored to relationship with Him and be to the praise of His glory. Even though this provision has been made for all men, it is up to man to receive, possess and appropriate by faith what has been provided.
VI. THE POSSESSION OF SALVATION BY MEN
What is involved in the application of the atonement in time and space?
A. Calling
There is a call heard by the elect to which they respond and find new life in Christ.
And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. Rom 8:30
B. Repentance
Although it is clear that one is saved by faith alone, repentance is a part of the believing process. The word itself indicates a change of direction or change of thinking.
In coming to God, there is also a turning from that which is not God. This is a change of heart that continues even after initial conversion.
1Th 1:10 Act 2:38
C. Faith
Faith is the positive heart response to the Gospel which embraces the truth and acts upon it. Faith or belief involves more than a mere mental assent to a teaching or creed. Saving faith involves an action that stems from the very core of my being. Faith encompasses the intellect, emotions and will. It could also be seen as knowledge, assent and appropriation.
Faith is a gift from God and is based upon the word of God.
Eph 2:9 Joh 1:12-13
VII. THE PRODUCT (RESULT) OF SALVATION
A. Justification
Justification deals with a remission of punishment as well as a restoration to favor.
It is a legal declaration of innocence. Justification takes place on the basis of faith in Christ which brings effective identification with His death and resurrection.
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2Co 5:21
The results of Justification are well summarized in Romans 5:1-5, 9
B. Regeneration
The result of effective faith in Christ is regeneration by the Holy Spirit.
Tit 3:7 Joh 3:3 Eph 2:10
This concept was the subject of discussion between Jesus and Nicodemus in John three. In this passage Jesus clearly spelled out the necessity of a rebirth if one would enter the kingdom of God. In reply Jesus declared,
Regeneration is the spiritual quickening of a dead spirit toward God. It is establishment of a new creation.
Regeneration is not a reformation. Man does not need reformation, he needs total renewal and regeneration.
C. Reconciliation
The concept of reconciliation relates to the need for a change in relationship.
Man was estranged from God, in need of reconciliation, because of the offense.
On a human plane there is usually some sort of compromise involved in the reconciliation process. In relation to God, there can be no compromise of character and thus He had to provide a work in man to bring him up to His level. Because of the price paid, union with an estranged God is restored and man enters into all of the blessing of a new restored union.
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 2Co 5:18-20
D. Adoption
Because of the work of the cross, God was free to adopt us as His very own children.
For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. Rom 8:15-17
So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. Gal 4:3-7
In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will - to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. Eph 1:5-6
Adoption is the act of God which places the believer in his family and frees him from all other relationships. All of the legal rights of a natural son became a reality at the time of adoption.
E. Sanctification
It is the will of God that each believer should be filled with the Holy Spirit and be sanctified wholly, being separated from sin and the world and fully dedicated tot he will of God, thereby receiving power for holy living and effective service. Every family has a distinctiveness about them that distinguishes them from other families. These distinctions may be physical, cultural, behavioral, or emotional. Not only families but people groups exhibit certain common characteristics we call cultural distinctions. If we are aware of these distinctions, we can easily identify a particular person out of a group of others simply by certain distinctiveness. Every person born into Adam exhibits certain distinctions inherited from Adam that can be readily identified.
When we are born into the family of God, there are certain distinctions that should identify us as members of Christ and distinguish us from Adam's line.
Romans 5 clearly declares fact and fruit of our new identity in Christ. The principle and process by which we begin to actually demonstrate that special distinction is the core of this doctrine we call "sanctification".
Both the Old and New Testament terms related to this truth bear the same general thought or idea. The basic concept of the words is, "to be set apart for special use."
The English words translated from the original languages include: saint, sanctify, sanctification, holy, holiness. The word is applied both to people and things.
Items to be used in the tabernacle and later the temple were sanctified in that they were utensils and objects set aside only and specially for worship. Anything set aside and designated for a particular or special use was considered "sanctified." The priests were to go through distinctive cleansing rituals because they were specially designated people.
It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 1Th 4:3
In one sense, sanctification is a separation from all that is contrary to God's Word. In another sense there is a special relationship of total dedication to God's special use.
Definition
Sanctification is a term which describes the process by which God applies the work of Christ to the life of the Christian in order to bring about his complete transformation from the likeness of Adam into the likeness of Jesus Christ.
When we talk about holiness, purification, obedience, Christlikeness, we are talking about the same thing. Sanctification is the process by which our spirit, soul and body undergoes a transformation from the life found in Adam to the life found in Jesus Christ who is our life and our sanctification. Sanctification describes the truth of the Trinity's work in the believer to bring about the full redemption from Spirit to body into the glorious heritage provided by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Saints by Calling (Positional)
Regeneration and sanctification of the spirit provide the necessary foundation and frame work for God to complete his work of restoration in my whole being. We are now, however, faced with a renewed, (sanctified) spirit in an unrenewed body and an unrenewed soul (mind, will, emotions). This sets up a horrendous inner conflict.
There is an aspect of sanctification (making holy) that takes place instantaneously at salvation through our identification with Christ's death and resurrection that is actual, not just positional. It is so real, that God is pleased to know us not as sinners but as saints in spite of a resident sinfulness lingering in our members. Paul addressed those in the Corinthian church as SAINTS.
To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ - their Lord and ours: 1Co 1:2
Saints by Conduct (Progressive)
The writer of Hebrews quoted earlier indicated the instantaneous, once-for-all, aspect of sanctification. He also, in that same chapter indicates the existence of a progressive or continual aspect to sanctification.
But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. Heb 10:14
On the basis of a sanctified, indwelt spirit, God can accomplish the work of soul sanctification. This is a process completed on the basis of the work of Christ in conjunction with the cooperative response of the believer to the leading and filling of the Holy Spirit. This aspect of sanctification is a process whereby our position becomes our practice. It is the transformation of the soul by means of the renewing of the mind.
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. Rom 12:2
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 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. 2Co 3:17-18
Saints by Covenant (Pinnacle)
God has promised that He will complete the work of redemption and Christlikeness that He began at salvation.
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Phi 1:6
Full sanctification or glorification is the hope of our calling. We long in our soul for that perfection, and our body, too, longs for its full redemption at the coming of Christ.
Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. Rom 8:23
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Phi 3:20-21
As in most of the work of salvation, we find the involvement of the complete Trinity. There is also a human side of this process; a part that man does play in the sanctification process.
The Father Sanctifies
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1Th 5:23
The Father's part in the sanctification process includes protection from the evil one, engrafting truth into the soul. It is that engrafted truth that transforms the heart of His children and brings discipline into their life. The Father is the one who will see to it that the work is completed for the Son at His coming.
The Son Sanctifies
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. Eph 5:25-27
Through the redemptive work of Christ, we find the basis of sanctification both positionally and progressively. It was on the basis of His sacrifice that we can find the purity and cleansing necessary for relationship with a Holy God.
The Holy Spirit Sanctifies
who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance. 1Pe 1:2
I have written you quite boldly on some points, as if to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Rom 15:16
Our part in sanctification is the same as our part in salvation.
We are perfected as we trust in the promises of God to do what we can't do.
VIII. The pinnacle of salvation
The glorified state is when all that has been declared mine by position will become a reality by possession. My practice will exactly correspond with my position. I will be completed in Christ in all aspects of my being; spirit, soul and body. We will experience the full salvation and redemption story. It is a longing that churns in the heart of every child of God.
that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. Romans 8:21-23
There is the story of salvation.
To the unsaved I proclaim this truth.
"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." John 3:36
"And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12
