1. Preliminary considerations (Jd.3):
1. Mankind stands in need of salvation due to Adam's fall (Rom.5:12-21).
2. Adam's original sin is imputed to his progeny, resulting in spiritual death to all (Rom.3:23; Gal.3:22).
3. While man is born physically alive, he is born spiritually dead, enslaved to the indwelling sinful trend of Adam/old sin nature (STA/OSN; Eph.2:1-3; Rom.3:9; 5:17).
4. This leads to personal sins which form a barrier between man and God's perfect righteousness (+R; Col.2:13,14).
5. Man is completely incapable of redeeming himself (Ps.49:7-9; 146:3; 1Pet.1:18,19).
6. Therefore, God initiated His plan to do for man what man could not do for himself (Act.2:23; Eph.2:8,9).
7. God's attribute of Love explains why He provided a grace solution to man's fallen and sinful condition (Jn.3:16; Rom.5:8; Eph.2:4; 1Jn.3:1; 4:10).
8. In order to redeem the fallen race, God sent into the world a Savior to be a substitute and sacrifice for sin (1Tim.1:15; 1Jn.4:9,10).
9. This perfect man, being actual flesh and blood, had to be without sin and had to be willing to die (Gal.4:4; 1Jn.3:5).
10. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to die in our place so that we could be redeemed from the curse of the Law (the Law, which is God's +R contained in commandments, demands perfection and no one can keep it; hence it is a curse; Gal.3:13).
11. Only Jesus Christ could keep the Law and be so qualified to bear the judgment for our sins in His own body on the Cross (Mt.5:17; 2Cor.5:21; 1Jn.3:5; 1Pet.2:24).
12. This He accomplished some 1,960 years ago, providing a once-for-all-time sacrifice for sins (1Tim.2:6; Heb.9:28).
13. The message of salvation is the gospel, which means "good news" (Rom.1:16; Eph.1;13).
1. Christ died for our sins (1Cor.15:3).
2. Those who believe in Him possess forgiveness and eternal life (Act.2:37-39; 15:7; cp. 10:38; Eph.1:7; 2Tim.1:10).
3. He was raised from the dead, ensuring the believer's victory over the grave via resurrection (1Thess.4:14).
14. Eternal salvation is by grace, i.e., a free gift of God (Rom.3:24; 6:23).
15. Salvation is from God and not of human derivation (1Chr.16:35; Ps.3:8; 24:5; 62:2,5,6; 67:2; 146:3; Isa.12:2,3; 43:11; Ti.3:5; Heb.5:9; Rev.19:1).
16. The Cross is the place where our so great salvation was made possible (Jn.12:32,33; 1Cor.1:18; Col.1:20; 1Pet.2:24).
2. The role of the Godhead in salvation.
1. God the Father sent His Son into the world to be the Savior, thus fulfilling the eternal decree to do so (Jn.5:23,24,30,36,38, plus 22X; Gal.4:4, et al.).
2. God the Son became flesh, and the resultant hypostatic union existed in the incarnation under humiliation, culminating in the execution of the eternal decree to die for sins (Act.2:23; Phil.2:6-8).
3. God the Holy Spirit convicts men of their need, regenerates those who believe, and seals (keeps saved) those who are born again (Jn.16:8-11; 3:5; Eph.1:13,14). He reveals the Son to men (Jn.16:14,15).
3. Various doctrines of salvation briefly explained.
1. Propitiation views the effect of Christ's work on the Cross on the righteousness of God: namely, that God has been propitiated (satisfied) with respect to man's sins (man's sins are no longer a barrier to eternal relationship to God; Rom.3:25a; 1Jn.2:1,2; 4:10).
2. Redemption views mankind as slaves to the STA/OSN, analogous to a slave market, and Christ the free man purchasing their freedom through His blood (Jn.3:36; Rom.6:17,18,22; 8:2; Gal.4:5; 5:1; Col.1:14; Ti.2:14; Heb.9:12,15).
3. Reconciliation sees man's sins as producing hostility between himself and God, and then God removing the hostility through Christ. Man is required to believe to effect the reconciliation (Rom.5:1,10,11; Col.1:21,22; 2Cor.5:18,19).
4. Justification sees man in need of God's perfect Righteousness to be qualified to live in heaven as God's sons forever. Imputation is the corollary doctrine which describes the mechanics of justification (Rom.3:26,28; 4:3,5,9-11; 5:1a; Gal.2:16).
5. Regeneration is the work of God the Holy Spirit toward the one who believes, constituting the individual a son of God through a new birth, and imputing eternal life to the believer (Jn.3; 1Jn.5:1,4).
6. Adoption is God accepting us as His sons and joint-heirs with Christ who formerly were not His children (Gal.4:5; Eph.1:5; Rom.8:15).
7. Unlimited atonement declares that Christ died for all men, including those who reject Him as Savior (1Jn.2:2).
8. Calling views God as extending the invitation to be saved to all, even those who refuse to come (Mt.22:14; Rom.8:30; Gal.1:6; 1Tim.6:12).
9. Election is the process whereby God accepts as His own those He already knew would accept the call to salvation (Mt.22:14; Eph.1:4).
10. Foreknowledge is God's Omniscience, through which He knew from eternity past all those who would believe (Rom.8:29).
11. Predestination means that God foreknew those who would believe, and these He predestined to be in the image of His Son. He did not cause them to believe and exclude others (Rom.8:29,30; Eph.1:5,11; 1Pet1:1,2).
4. Man's part in his salvation is to simply believe that God the Father sent God the Son to be the Savior (Jn.6:29).
1. The mechanics of salvation is to believe in God the Son (Gen.15:6; Isa.28:16; Jn.1:7,12; 3:15-18,36; 20:31; Act.16:31; Rom.3:22; 4:3; 10:9; 1Cor.1:21; Gal.3:26; 1Jn.3:23; 5:13, et al.).
2. When repentance is used in a salvation context, it refers only to the change in one's thinking that occurs when a person rejects their previous ideas for the truth (Mk.1:15).
3. Abraham is the pattern for all who believe for salvation (Rom.4:3,11,12).
4. Those under the Law (like David) were saved by faith (Rom.4:6-8).
5. Salvation is not by works (Jn.1:13).
1. Salvation is not by any system of law or works, including the perfect system of righteousness given by God, the Mosaic Law (Rom.3:20; Gal.2:16; 3:11; Eph.2:8,9; Ti.3:5).
2. Salvation is not through ritual, including the Lord's Table or water baptism (Rom.4:10-14; 1Cor.1:17; 1Pet.3:21; Heb.10:1-4).
3. If there were a system of works that could produce God's perfect righteousness in man, salvation would be by works, nullifying the need for the Cross (Gal.3:21).
4. If salvation were by works, man could boast; but salvation by grace negates boasting (Rom.3:27-30).
5. Finally, man cannot add anything to faith in Christ. This would be another gospel (Gal.1:6,7).
6. Salvation is eternal at the point of faith in Christ and cannot be forfeited under any circumstances whatsoever; we call this eternal security (God can deny rewards in heaven, but not eternal life).
1. As seen in the use of the adjective "eternal", describing our salvation (Jn.3:36; 4:14; 5:24; 10:28; 1Tim.1:16; 1Jn3:15; 5:11, et al.).
2. As seen in the "bread of life" and "water of life" metaphors (Jn.4:13,14; 6:32-35, 47-58).
3. As seen in the Good Shepherd metaphor (Jn.10:28,29).
4. As seen in the new birth analogy to physical birth (Jn.3:3-6; 1Pet.1:23).
5. As seen in direct statements like Rom.8:35-39 and 1Pet.1:5.
6. As seen in the sealing ministry of the Holy Spirit (Eph.1:13; 4:30).
7. Applications of the doctrine to believers.
1. Confidence with respect to one's salvation is based on:
1. Practicing righteousness and keeping the royal imperatives (1Jn.2:3,5,29).
2. Loving the brethren (1Jn.3:10,14).
3. Learning Bible Doctrine (1Jn.2:27; 3:24).
2. The responsibility to bear witness is for all believers regardless of niche or gift (Isa.52:7; Ti.2:10).
3. The challenge of one's salvation is to lay hold of those things that accompany our salvation adjustment to the justice of God (SAJG) through growth (Heb.6:9; 1Pet.2:2).
4. The promise associated with our salvation is eternal life in a resurrection body (Jn.5:20-29; 11:24-27; Rom.8:23).
8. Who can be saved?
1. Christ, the Savior of all men, died for all men so that all can be saved (Jn.3:17; 4:42; Rom.10:13; 1Tim.4:10; Ti.2:11; 1Jn.2:2).
2. It is God's desire that all be saved (1Tim.2:4).
3. However, the vast majority of mankind will not be saved due to negative volition (Mt.7:13,14).
4. None will perish who would otherwise believe if given an opportunity (Jn.17:2).
5. Those who populate heaven constitute a great multitude (Heb.2:10; 12:23; 1Cor.10:33).
9. The consequences of failing to believe in Christ.
1. The unbeliever renders himself unworthy of salvation (Act.13:46).
2. He is already under judgment (Jn.3:18,36; cp. Rom.8:1).
3. He is guilty of the unpardonable sin (Mt.12:31; Mk.3:28,29; Lk.12:10).
4. He will die in his sins (Jn.8:24).
5. He will enter into eternal torment at physical death and experience the second death (Mt.18:8; 25:41,46; 2Thess.1:9; Jd.7).
6. All unbelievers will be raised in the last resurrection, judged, and cast into the Lake of Fire (Jn.5:29; Rev.20:11-15).
10. The word salvation means deliverance. Other uses of this word, other than Phase One deliverance, must be recognized in Scripture.
1. Temporal deliverance (Ps.18:48; 37:39; 38:22; Dan.6:27; 1Cor.10:13; 1Tim.1:20; 2Tim.4:17).
2. Deliverance from loss at the Bema Seat (Phil.2:12; 1Tim.4:16).
3. The Rapture, which is the deliverance of the body (Rom.13:11; 1Thess.5:9).
11. No one can have a relationship with God apart from Jesus Christ, His Son (Mt.10:40; Jn.5:23; 8:19; 13:20; 15:21; 16:3; 17:3).

Rev.21:6,7 "And He said to me, 'It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.'"

© Copyright 1998, Maranatha Church, Inc.