What Is Salvation?
We talk a lot about salvation as Christians, but what is it? We believe that salvation is the work of God offered freely to all men and women, and bestowed by grace upon the elect. It is received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, manifested in good works, and brings new spiritual life, the forgiveness of sins, reconciliation to God, the imputation of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and the guarantee that those saved will never perish.
What is Salvation?
As a result of Christ's work on the cross, common grace is given to all persons. This includes the restraint of sin, delay of the judgment of sin, civil government bringing order in society, and natural blessings (2 Thess. 2:6-7; 2 Pet. 3:9; Rom. 13:1-7; Acts 14:16-17). The primary result of the cross, however, was saving grace, salvation which is by grace alone through faith alone in the promises of God alone based on the death of Jesus alone (Eph. 2:8-9).
Though all stand condemned because of sin, separated from God, God chose to extend the blessing of salvation to all who would receive it (Rom. 8:29-30; Eph. 1:4-5; 1 Pet. 1:1-2). The verbal call to conversion goes to all humanity (Acts 1:8; Rom. 10:13-17), God having chosen to use human agency in the process of His salvation. God's prevenient grace enables totally depraved sinners to respond freely to God's invitation to salvation (John 12:32; Rom. 2:4-7; Tit. 2:11). Conversion, the acceptance of God's gracious invitation, is the decisive, conscious act of turning away from sin and self to God in repentance and faith. While both repentance and faith are enabled by God (Acts 11:18; 2 Tim. 2:25; Eph. 2:8; Phil. 1:29; 2 Pet. 1:1), they are acts which sinners do of their own volition (John 1:12; 3:15-18, 36; Acts 2:38; 16:31; Rom. 3:22). Those who repent and believe stand justified, i. e., pronounced acceptable before God (Rom 3:24; Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:4-5). It is a once-for-all act of restoring believers to a right relationship with God based on his grace through Christ's death (Rom 4:22-25; 5:9, 12-21; 2 Cor. 5:21). They experience regeneration, the re-creation of the new person by the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 5:17; Titus 3:5). It is a supernatural, instantaneous, subconscious implanting of spiritual life in the heart of the believer, changing them from death to life, affecting the whole person (John 3:3-8; Eph. 2:4-5; Rom. 6:17-22; Jas. 1:18; 1 Pet. 1:3). Believers have been sanctified or set apart by God for service (Acts 20:32; 1 Cor. 1:2, 30; Heb. 10:10; 13:12). They are adopted into the family of God, receiving the position as son or daughter of God and given the privileges of being in God's family (Jn. 1:12; Gal. 4:1-6; Eph. 1:5; Col. 1:12-14; 3:10-12). Believers are vitally, spiritually, eternally united with Christ by the Holy Spirit which results in a new position of being identified with Christ and a new experience of being able to walk in Christ (Jn. 14:20; Rom. 8:1-4, 10; Gal. 2:20; Col. 1:27).
Because regenerated believers are a new creation in Christ, they are to live a life which is consistent with that reality (Rom. 6:1-23; Gal. 5:22-25; Eph. 4:23-24; 5:8-21). The regenerate heart truly loves God and desires to please Him above all (John 14:15-24; 1 John 4:7-5:3). Although no one can obtain perfection (Gal. 5:16-18; Phil. 3:12-14; 1 John 1:5-10), all can and are to become increasingly Christ-like (Phil. 3:10) by pursuing righteousness through the power of the Spirit, through the appropriation of the Word of Christ, through fellowship with believers, and through prayer. Those who trust in the atoning work of Christ are eternally secure (John 6:37; 10:27-29). Absolutely nothing can separate them from the love of God (Rom. 8:38-39). However ones who reject Jesus reject God's forgiveness itself and are left on their own merits (John 15:6; Gal. 4:9-11; 1 Thess. 3:5; Heb. 6:4-7; 10:26-31). Therefore it is essential that believers persevere in their trust in Jesus (Col. 1:23; Heb. 3:14; 4:14; 2 Pet. 1:10-11). Those whom God justified will also be glorified with Christ in the resurrection (Rom. 8:30; 1 John 3:2).
A Gift Freely Given
The Universal Offer of Salvation
God's grace refers to the unmerited favor that he bestows upon people. God bestows some aspects of this unmerited favor on man universally. God, seeking to draw everyone to himself (John 12:32) and not wanting anyone to perish (1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Pet. 3:9), has made his grace available to everyone through Christ's atoning sacrifice (Tit. 2:11) and has invited everyone to respond in faith to his offer (Matt. 28:18-20; Rom. 10:13-17). But man being sinfully depraved (Rom. 3:10-18) is unable to respond to God's offer (Rom. 8:7) unless God draws him to Himself (John 6:44). So God is continually at work convicting people of their sins (John 16:8) and trying to lead them to repentance (Rom. 2:4).
The Particular Application of Salvation
Salvation is received by means of God's unmerited favor alone, received by faith alone, and based on the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ alone (Acts 4:12; Eph. 2:8-9). It is therefore never conditioned on any work of man (Rom. 3:24; Eph. 2:8-9).
From all eternity God has elected some people both for service and for salvation. God has sovereignly elected for his service both groups (Deut. 7:6; Hab. 1:6) and individuals (Isa. 45:1) solely on the basis of his divine will (Job 42:2; Dan. 4:35). God has also sovereignly and graciously elected Christ (Luke 9:35; 23:35) and the entire group which is united to him by faith (Eph. 1:4; 3:17) for both salvation (Eph. 1:3-14) and service (Eph. 2:10) on the basis of his divine will (Eph. 1:11) and foreknowledge (1 Pet. 1:1-2). At least some of the individuals in this group have been elected for salvation on the basis of his divine will alone (Gen. 12:1-3; Gal. 1:15). Though God does elect some to eternal life, it can never be said that he elects others to eternal death since he does not want that any to perish (2 Pet. 3:9) and since he himself cannot cause others to sin (Jas. 1:13).
God draws some people into a relationship with himself by means of his effectual call that irresistibly accomplishes salvation (Acts 9:1-20). To others God extends a call that is resistible (Matt. 22:1-14) though at times effectual (Acts 2:38-41).
Though many of the various aspects of salvation cannot be distinguished chronologically, some logical ordering is possible. The first part of salvation is that of conversion which comes about through faith and repentance. Faith is the response of the individual where he understands (Acts 28:26-27) and believes (Acts 16:31) the Gospel and trusts in God (Luke 12:28). Repentance is the recognition of personal sinfulness and the decision to turn from sin to God (Acts 2:38; 3:19). Though man should be unable to respond to the offer of salvation, through God's gracious work (John 12:32; Rom. 2:4; Tit. 2:11) he is able to respond with faith and repentance (Mark 1:15). Both of these are necessary for conversion (Acts 20:21; Heb. 6:1) and as they are predicated on God's merciful acts, they are both a part of the gracious gift of salvation (Eph. 2:8-9).
Concurrent with conversion is the believer's union with Christ. All believers have been united with Christ through the baptism of the Spirit (Ro. 6:3; Gal. 3:27) and are therefore partakers in the benefits of his death, resurrection, and glorification (Rom. 6:1-14; Eph. 2:4-10). Having been united with Christ, the believer is regenerated by God (Tit. 3:5; John 3:1-8). This means that his entire person (1 Thess. 5:23) has been made into a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17) who is spiritually alive to God (Col. 2:13) and has begun the process of being conformed to Christ's image (Rom. 8:29). He is also justified or declared righteous before God (1 Cor. 6:11) through his participation in the righteousness of Christ (2 Cor. 5:21). With the obstacle of sin removed, the believer is also reconciled to God (Rom. 5:10) and adopted into God's family (Eph. 1:5) sharing in Christ's sonship (Gal. 4:4-5) and eventual inheritance (Col. 1:12).
The process of being remade in the image of Christ, having begun at regeneration, is continued in sanctification is (Rom. 8:29). Sanctification points both to the fact that a believer is already righteous with regard to their standing before God (1 Cor. 1:30; Heb. 10:10, 14) and yet still needs to grow in respect to experiential righteousness (Rom. 6:19; 2 Tim. 2:21) since he is not yet free from all sin (1 John 1:8) and will not be during this life (1 John 1:8-10; Rom. 6:12-14). Our sanctification is possible because of our union with Christ (1 Cor. 1:2) and is accomplished through the agency of the Spirit (Rom. 15:16; Gal. 5:22-23). The Spirit empowers the believer (Luke 24:49; Eph. 3:16) and transforms the inner character of the person (Gal. 5:22-23) renewing it in the image of God (Col. 3:10). In response to this work of the Spirit, the believer is called to love God (Mark 12:30) by deepening our love relationship with him through the disciplines (Eph. 6:18; 1 Pet. 2:2) and expressing that love in faithful obedience (John 14:21). As with regeneration, sanctification should be understood to affect the entire person (Rom. 8:23; 1 Pet. 1:9; 1 Thess. 5:23).
Once a person has entered into this new life with God, there need be no fear of condemnation or loss of salvation (Rom. 8:1) because God’s power and promises are unfailing (Rom. 8:28-30, 38-39). We can have confidence therefore that all those who have been saved will ultimately be glorified (Rom. 8:17, 30) and share in the intimate love relationship of the Trinity (John 17:20-26).
Who Can Receive Salvation?
Election is the action of God by which He chose unconditionally and certainly, before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4-5; Rev. 13:8), those who would believe (Acts 13:48) and be saved (Rom. 8:29-30). This choice is not related to any foreseen merit or anticipated response, but is based solely upon the sovereign and gracious will of God (Eph. 2:4-9; 1 Tim. 1:15-16; Titus 3:4-7). The non-elect are those who are justly permitted to continue in their sin and rebellion against God (Acts 13:46; John 3:17-18), the penalty of which is eternal death (2 Thess. 1:8-9).
God calls to all people to receive Christ and enter into salvation (John 1:12; 3:16; Rom. 10:13-17; Titus 2:11-14). This general call is accompanied in the lives of the elect by the Spirit's irresistible, effectual call (Matt. 22:14; 1 Cor. 1:23-24) in order that they will be drawn to Christ, resulting in salvation (John 6:44; Rom. 1:6-7; 8:28-30).
Those efficaciously called are then regenerated by the Holy Spirit (1 Pet. 1:23), a gracious and supernatural act renewing them (Thus 3:5-7), imparting to them spiritual life (John 3:3-6; 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 2:4-6; Col. 2:13) and enabling them to respond to God in faith (Acts 11:18; 1 Cor. 2:14; Eph. 2:1; Phil. 1:29). Conversion is man's participation in this divine work (John 1:12-13; 6:37) in which he responds with repentance and faith (Acts 20:21). Repentance is that act by which a man turns away from sin and self (Acts 8:22) and toward God as the focus of his love and trust (Acts 2:38; 1 Thess. 1:9). Faith is a confidence in the gospel of Jesus Christ as the only means of salvation and personally trusting Christ as Savior (Acts 16:31; Rom. 10:9-10; 1 Cor. 15:10.At this point the sinner is justified, in which his sins are placed on Christ (John 1:29; Rom. 3:24-26), and the righteousness of Christ is imputed to him (Rom. 5:18-19; 2 Cor. 5:21). Justification is in no way merited by man (Rom. 5:1-2; Gal. 2:16; Titus 3:5), but is a declaration by God that the sinner is righteous (Rom. 4:1-5) and thereby freed from the penalty of sin (Rom. 8:1), united with Christ (Eph. 2:5), and an made heir of the kingdom of God (Rom. 8:16-17).
Those who have been set apart by God unto salvation (1 Cor. 1:2) are progressively sanctified by the Holy Spirit (1 Pet. 1:2), in cooperation with their own will (Phil. 2:12-17; Heb. 12:14; 1 Pet. 1:14-16), from sin and unto good works (Rom. 6:4-8; 8:12-14). This growing conformity into the image of Christ will never be finished in this life, but will continue until the believer finally stands complete before Christ (Gal. 5:16-18; Eph. 5:26-27; Phil. 3:12-14). Because salvation is the work of God, genuine believers cannot lose their salvation but is held eternally secure by the power of God (John 6:37; 10:27-29; Rom. 8:29-30; Phil. 1:6; 1 Pet. 1:3-5).
The elect will walk as children of God (John 3:36) persevering in their faith until their final glorification at the appearing of Christ (Heb. 9:27-28) at which they will be totally and finally redeemed - conformed to the image of Christ in complete holiness (Rom. 8:29-30; Col. 1:19-22; 1 John 3:2) and transformed with glorious, new bodies (1 Cor. 15:49-53; Phil. 3:20-21).