~ The Process of Salvation ~
Salvation is not a Reward for the Righteous.
It is an available Gift for those who understand their Guilt!
Saved By Grace (actually) ~ “But
God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and
raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in
Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of
His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by
grace you have been saved…” (Ephesians 2:4-8a).
Saved Through Faith (instrumentally) ~ “For
by grace you have been saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works,
lest anyone should boast. For we are His
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10).
Saved By Works (evidentially) ~ “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone
says he has faith but does not have works?
Can faith save him? If a brother
or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them,
‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,’ but you do not give them the things
which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith
by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I
have works.’ Show me your faith without
your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well.
Even the demons believe—and tremble!
But do you want to know, O foolish
man, that faith without works is dead?
Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his
son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works,
and by works faith was made perfect?
And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and
it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. Likewise, was
not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the
messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so
faith without works is dead also” (James
2:14-26).
Saved Through The Figure Of Baptism (confessedly) ~ “For
Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might
bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were
disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah,
while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were
saved through water. There is also an antitype which now saves
us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a
good conscience toward God), through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right
hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him”
(1 Peter 3:18-22). “In those days John
the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, ‘Repent, for
the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’ For
this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: ‘The voice of one
crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths
straight.”’ Now John himself was clothed
in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts
and wild honey. Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went
out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins”
(Matthew 3:1-6).
Saved By His Life (practically) ~ “For
when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good
man someone would even dare to die. But
God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by
His blood, we shall be saved from wrath
through Him. For if when we were
enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more,
having been reconciled, we shall be saved
by His life. And not only that, but
we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now
received the reconciliation” (Romans 5:6-11).
Saved In Hope (prospectively) ~ “For
we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together
until now. Not only that, but we also
who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within
ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we
were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does
one still hope for what he sees? But if
we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance”
(Romans 8:22-25).
Saved At His Coming (eternally) ~ “For
our citizenship is in heaven, from which we
also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our
lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the
working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself” (Philippians
3:20-21).
~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW
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