Statement of Faith

Salvation

The Divine Philosophy
Of all the philosophies which attempt to define the human condition, the divine philosophy as found in the Bible is the only true one. Created man, once in a vital living relationship with God, fell into sin through disobedience and has since been in need of regeneration. Sin had the effect of cutting man off from God, the source of his life, and brought a curse of death upon both man and the rest of God's creation. All evil in the world can be attributed to sin. Sin and death will dominate the human predicament until God's remedy for this condition is implemented. The Bible reveals that God indeed has a plan to regenerate man and transform His creation. In simple terms, this plan is called 'Salvation'.

The Divine Intention: Salvation
There are over 100 references in the New Testament to the theme of 'Salvation'. Let us list and consider some passages of scripture which clearly present salvation as God's intention and remedy for man's fallen condition:

1. "(God) will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." (1Timothy 2:4)
2. "…Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…" (1Timothy 1:15)
3. "For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." (John 3:17)
4. "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." (Mark 16:16)

The Divine Means: Jesus Christ
Throughout the entire Bible, God has carefully defined man's approach to Him and the means whereby man could be restored to fellowship. From the story of Cain and Abel, to the clear doctrines of the New Testament, we can readily conclude that man cannot be received by God nor helped by good works, church attendance or the practice of religion. The cure for all man's ills lies in God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The way is singular, straight and narrow, yet sure and unfailing. Jesus declared, "I am the way, the truth and the life; no man cometh to the Father, but by me." (John 14:6) From the following partial list, we underscore and amplify the divine means of salvation:

1. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8,9)
2. But (when) the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us…" (Titus 3:4,5)
3. "Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)
4. "…if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus (Jesus as Lord), and shalt believe in thine heart that God raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." (Romans 10:9)

Salvation of the Spirit
The Bible describes man as a tri-partite being, composed of spirit, soul and body. (1 Thessalonians 5:23) Each part of man's essential makeup can be impacted by the regenerative work of salvation.

In man's fallen condition, he is described as being 'dead in trespasses and sins' (Ephesians 2:1) Through repentance and receiving Christ as Savior, the old life of sin is put to death and a new life is received. It is the life of Christ, made available through His death and resurrection. This experience is called 'the new birth' or 'being born again'. When properly entered into, this initial act of salvation not only gives one an immediate new standing with God (righteousness), but also impacts the deadness of man's spirit. To summarize, initial salvation (repentance and the forgiveness of sins) accomplishes 2 things, basically:

1. Man receives the gift of eternal life, assuring him that he will spend all eternity in God's presence.
2. Man's spiritual faculties, previously deadened by sin, are now restored.

Let us briefly amplify our second point above: God had said to Adam concerning the forbidden tree, 'in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.' When Adam disobeyed and ate of the tree, he did not (at first) die physically, but spiritually. He was driven out of God's presence and could no longer interact with God with his spiritual faculties. Thus, sin had the effect of bringing spiritual death to man.

In Jesus' discourse with Nicodemus (John 3) he intimated that by virtue of the new birth experience, man could both 'see' and 'enter' the kingdom of God. The new life brought to man by the new birth would enable him (by his quickened spiritual faculties) to enter into the spiritual realm called the kingdom of God. Among man's spiritual faculties are intuition, conscience and capacity for fellowship in the spirit.

This salvation or quickening of the spirit of man is also referred to in the following passages of scripture:

Ephesians 2:1 "And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins."
Ephesians 2:5 "Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ…"

NOTE: We should begin to see that salvation means more than 'getting to heaven' or having our lives blessed of God. The true experience of initial salvation restores man into relationship with God and enables him to receive understanding relative to God's will and purpose for his life. Too many of God's people who claim to be saved remain in a state of ignorance with respect to the grand and glorious eternal purpose.

Salvation of the Soul
As explained above, initial salvation is the salvation of the spirit. The salvation of the soul follows and is progressive in nature. The soul is composed of the will, the intellect, the emotions and the affections. No doubt, the Lord was referring to the salvation of the soul when he said to Peter, "…when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." (Luke 22:32) The following scriptures have to do with the salvation of the soul:

1. 1 Peter 1:9 "Receiving the end (ultimate) of our faith, even the salvation of your souls." (Notice the salvation of the soul is the end or ultimate objective of our faith.) (Italics are mine.)
2. James 1:21 "…receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls." (The context, which begins with verse 18 shows that this scripture addresses believers.)
3. Hebrews 10:39 "But we (believers) are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul." (italics are mine)

God's ultimate for man is a life governed by His Holy Spirit. In such a fully redeemed state, man's spirit is in subjection to the Holy Spirit and the soul is in subjection to both the Holy Spirit and man's spirit. The salvation of the soul means that our lives will no longer be governed by our emotions (feelings), our own will (impulsive or natural inclinations), our intellect (calculated decisions) or our affections (ties to earthly things).

God does not destroy the soul, but saves the soul and uses it as a means of expressing his life to the outside world. The salvation of the soul is progressive and is dependent on the believer allowing the work of the cross to take place. The believer must learn to discern whether his thoughts and 'leadings' are coming from the soul or from the spirit. All that comes from the soul must be laid aside (crucified). "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." (Romans 8:14)

Salvation of the Body
Since the last enemy to be destroyed is death, the salvation of the body is dependent on that which will take place at the return of the Lord. Although we believe in 'divine healing' and miracles, they in themselves cannot address the mortal condition of the human body. In the present order, the 'outer man' (the body) continues to 'perish', that is, deteriorate and decay. (2 Corinthians 4:16)

Note the following scriptures concerning the salvation of the body:

1. 2 Corinthians 5:2,4 "For in this (earthly tabernacle) we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven….for we that are in this tabernacle do groan…that mortality might be swallowed up of life."
2. Romans 8:23 "…ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit. …groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, (that is) the redemption of our body."
3. 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 "…we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed , in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,…for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality."

We rejoice in the completeness and thoroughness of God's salvation. Our whole spirit, soul and body can rest in hope of receiving the blessing of God's full provision. Returning to 1 Thessalonians 5:23, 24 we find:

"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. FAITHFUL IS HE THAT HATH CALLED YOU, WHO ALSO WILL DO IT."

An Exhortation to Diligence
Let not the believer become careless or apathetic in his Christian walk. I regret the widespread presentation of a simplistic gospel which focuses on 'getting to heaven', 'being blessed' and becoming 'eternally secure'. In many Christian circles, a spiritual climate and environment is being produced which is not in alignment with the prevailing tone of New Testament scriptures.

In the revelation of the Apostle Paul's heart as we have it in Philippians 3, we find a man who has not stopped with initial salvation, years of ministry, abundant revelation or many accomplishments. At a late time in his life, he is still crying out 'to know Christ and be found in Him', 'to know Him in the power of the resurrection', 'to attain unto the first resurrection', 'to apprehend that for which he was apprehended', and 'to become perfected'. In 1 Corinthians 9:27, he acknowledges the possibility of being cast away from God's full purpose.

Likewise, the Apostle Peter admonishes, "…give diligence to make your calling and election sure, for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall." (2 Peter 1:10)

Let us consider the following possible scenarios in the Christian life:

1. A believer can remain carnal and immature. (1 Corinthians 3:1-3; Hebrews 5:12,13)
2. A believer can be deceived. (Matthew 24:4,5,11)
3. A believer can fall from grace.(Galatians 5:4; Hebrews 6:4-6; 2 Peter 2:20,21)
4. A believer can fall short of appropriating God's full purpose. (Hebrews 2:3; Hebrews 4:1; Hebrews 10:38,39; Hebrews 12:15)

The way we should relate to our salvation and walk as Christians is summarized most excellently in Paul's admonition to the Philippians. We find the following in Philippians 2:12, taken from the Amplified version of the Bible:

"Therefore, my dear ones, as you have always obeyed…work out (cultivate, carry out to the goal and fully complete) your own salvation with reverence and awe and trembling (self-distrust, with serious caution, tenderness of conscience, watchfulness against temptation, timidly shrinking from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ)."