The Word of Truth
Salvation
In our last study we read the
tremendous prophecy in Isaiah 53 concerning the sacrificial work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. God revealed to Isaiah that the Servant of the LORD[1],
the Redeemer, would bear all our sorrows. He would bear the punishment of death
that we deserved to pay for our sins. The Bible says that Christ, “suffered
once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.”[2]
But since Jesus Christ lived a sinless life, loving and obeying God, death could
make no lasting claim upon him.[3]
Therefore God raised Jesus Christ up from the dead.
All of this was done because of love.
The apostle John wrote,
For God so loved the world
that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should
not perish but have
everlasting life.
(John 3:16)
And
Scripture tells us in Romans 10:9, 10,
that if you confess with
your mouth the Lord Jesus and
believe in your heart that
God has raised Him from the
dead, you will be saved. 10
For with the heart one believes
unto righteousness, and with
the mouth confession is made
unto salvation.
Salvation from the power and penalty
of sin is the greatest gift that anyone can ever receive. We are not saved by
our works; we are saved by God’s grace through faith in Christ.[4]
Grace is God’s unmerited loving kindness towards us. It is all that God does
for us motivated solely by His own good will. Grace is all that God is and does
for us which we do not deserve nor could ever earn.
In this study I want to present to you
seven great blessings or benefits that God gives to those of us who place our
faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. The first benefit is the forgiveness of
our sins.
1. Forgiveness
In Him we have redemption
through His blood, the
forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of His grace
(Ephesians 1:7)
God cannot simply forgive our sins
with the wave of His hand. Justice demands that sin be punished. But in mercy
God ordained that another would bear the punishment of our sins. Therefore the
forgiveness of our sins is based upon the sacrificial death of Christ upon the
cross. [5]
This truth is reiterated in the letter to the Colossians.
He has delivered us from the
power of darkness and
conveyed us into the kingdom
of the Son of His love,
14 in whom we
have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sins.
(Colossians 1:13, 14)
Divine forgiveness of sins is the good
news for which so many people yearn. To know that you are forgiven by God
brings a peace and joy to your heart that nothing else can. Our past sins, no
matter what they were, are all washed away. Bridges to the past are burned. The
gates of yesterday are closed. We have the forgiveness of all of our sins past,
present and future.
And you, being dead in your
trespasses and the
uncircumcision of your
flesh, He has made alive
together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,
14 having wiped
out the handwriting of requirements
that was against us, which
was contrary to us.
And He has taken it out of
the way, having nailed it to
the cross.
(Colossians 2:13, 14) [my
emphasis in bold]
Through God’s grace to us in Jesus
Christ we are completely forgiven and freed from al of our sins. This leads to
the second blessing: our being justified.
2. Justified
Justification is the reversal of God’s
condemnation towards us as sinners. When we are justified through God’s grace
and our faith in Christ, God sees us as if we had never sinned. Preaching in
the city of Antioch Paul said,
Therefore let it be known to
you, brethren, that through
this Man is preached to you
the forgiveness of sins;
39 and by Him
everyone who believes is justified from all
things from which you could
not be justified by the law
of Moses.
(Acts 13:38, 39)
No one can keep perfectly the moral
law of Moses. At some point in life, no matter how hard we try, we will sin
against God. But the atoning death of Jesus Christ frees us from the guilt of
our sin. When we are justified God, the Judge of all the earth, declares us not
guilty of any crime against His holy law. And this is not because we have been
morally good, but because Christ already paid the penalty for our sins.
Therefore we will never face God’s wrath upon sin. The Scripture says,
For
when we were still without strength, in due time
Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die; yet
perhaps for a good man someone
would even dare to die. 8
But God demonstrates His own
love toward us, in that while
we were still sinners, Christ
died for us. 9
Much more then, having now been justified
by His blood, we shall be
saved from wrath through Him.
(Romans 5:6-9)
In love God gave Christ to die for us
not because we were good, but because we were in as bad a state as we could be
and could do nothing on our own behalf. Again the Bible declares,
For we ourselves were also
once foolish, disobedient,
deceived, serving various
lusts and pleasures, living in
malice and envy, hateful and
hating one another.
4 But when the
kindness and the love of God our Savior
toward man appeared, 5 not
by works of righteousness
which we have done, but
according to His mercy He
saved us, through the
washing of regeneration and
renewing of the Holy Spirit,
6 [which] He poured out
on us abundantly through
Jesus Christ our Savior,
7 that having
been justified by His grace we should
become heirs according to
the hope of eternal life.
(Titus 3:4-7)
Whenever anyone repents and places his
or her saving faith in Jesus Christ then God declares that person justified or
free from the guilt of sin. And therefore free from sin we become heirs of
eternal life.
Now, although justification is a
tremendous blessing, it is a blessing of subtraction. It simply removes the
guilt of sin. But there is a companion blessing of being declared righteous.
Our being made righteous is the third benefit of our salvation.
3. Righteous
For He [God] made Him [Christ]
who knew no sin to
be sin for us,
that we might become the righteousness
of God in Him.
(2 Corinthians 5:21)
If Jesus Christ had only offered
himself as a sacrifice for sins, we would be justified and forgiven. And
although our guilt would be removed, we would be like Adam and Eve when they
were first created. We would be guilt free but capable of sin[6]
and having no life long record of obedience to God. For us to have true
fellowship with God we need to live a life of perfect obedience and we cannot
do this. But Jesus Christ lived a life of love and obedience towards God and
now his obedience, his righteousness, is credited to us. We learned in Romans,
Therefore, as through one
man’s offense judgment
came to all men,
resulting in condemnation, even so
through one Man’s righteous act
the free gift came to
all men, resulting in
justification of life. 19 For as by one
man’s disobedience many were
made sinners, so also
by one Man’s obedience many
will be made righteous.
(Romans 5:18, 19)
By God’s grace and mercy towards us
through Christ not only are we forgiven of all of our sins and justified and
cleared of the guilt and penalty of sin, we are made righteous before God. When
God sees you He sees you clothed in the righteous life of Jesus Christ. All of
Christ’s love towards God, all of his faithful obedience is granted to you.
Being made righteous means that God treats us as if we had done the righteous
deeds of Jesus Christ. This brings us to the fourth blessing of salvation: we
are reconciled to God.
4.
Reconciled
For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness
should dwell, 20 and
by Him to reconcile all things to
Himself, by Him, whether
things on earth or things in
heaven, having made peace
through the blood of
His cross. 21 And
you, who once were alienated and
enemies in your mind by
wicked works, yet now He
has reconciled 22
in the body of His flesh through death,
to present you holy, and
blameless, and above reproach
in His sight—
(Colossians 1:19-22)
The Greek word translated “reconciled”
is in an intensive form. And therefore it refers to a total and complete
reconciliation that can never be broken again. There is now nothing that will
ever separate you from the love of God.[7]
You are holy and blameless and without reproach in God’s eyes. Romans 5:1
states that “having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ.” And because we have peace with God we have full and free
access to God.[8]
The fifth blessing of our salvation is redemption.
5. Redemption
Christ has redeemed us from
the curse of the law,
having become a curse for us
(for it is written,
“Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),
14 that the
blessing of Abraham might come upon
the Gentiles in Christ
Jesus, that we might receive
the promise of the Spirit
through faith.
(Galatians 3:13, 14)
The Greek word translated “redeemed”
was often used to speak of buying a slave’s or debtor’s freedom. Once we were
slaves to sin and in debt to God. The law said, “Cursed is everyone who does
not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”[9]
And we couldn’t do all that the law required and so we were in debt to God. But
through his sacrificial death on the cross Christ freed us from both our slavery
to sin and our debt to God.
And if you call on the
Father, who without partiality
judges according to each
one’s work, conduct
yourselves throughout the
time of your stay here in
fear; 18 knowing
that you were not redeemed with
corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless
conduct received by tradition from your fathers,
19 but with the
precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb
without blemish and without
spot.
(1 Peter 1:17-19)
Our freedom, our redemption was not
purchased with money but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. We have been
liberated from sin’s bondage wit a price more precious than money or animal
sacrifice.
Not with the blood of goats
and calves, but with His
own blood He entered the
Most Holy Place once for all,
having obtained eternal
redemption.
(Hebrews 9:12)
Is there a more glorious phrase than
‘eternal redemption”? Christ’s finished work abides forever before God. And no
failure on my part could ever alter my redemption. We are forever free of sin’s
ultimate power and penalty. The sixth blessing of salvation is our
sanctification.
6.
Sanctification
Paul, called to be an
apostle of Jesus Christ through
the will of God, and
Sosthenes our brother,
2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those
2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those
who are sanctified in Christ
Jesus, called to be saints,
with all who in every place
call on the name of Jesus
Christ our Lord, both theirs
and ours:
(1 Corinthians 1:1, 2)
You and I are sanctified in Christ
Jesus. And the rot idea in the word “sanctified” is to be set apart or to be
made holy. That which is holy or sanctified has been cut off from all other
things. In other words, you and I have been placed in a special position, class
or category and designated by God for a special purpose.
Let’s say you are going to have a
dinner party and in your cupboard you have a set of everyday dishes. But set
apart in your China cabinet you have sanctified dishes; dishes you use only for
the best occasions. In a similar way we are sanctified people; set apart from ordinary
people, not because we are better than anyone else, but because Christ is
better and we are united to him by faith. We are holy ones, set apart unto God.
We are holy ones, set apart unto God and this should motivate us to live wholly
for God.
Do you not know that the
unrighteous will not inherit
the kingdom of God? Do not
be deceived. Neither
fornicators, nor idolaters,
nor adulterers, nor homosexuals,
nor sodomites, 10
nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards,
nor revilers, nor
extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
11 And such were
some of you. But you were washed,
but you were sanctified, but
you were justified in the name
of the Lord Jesus and by the
Spirit of our God.
(1 Corinthians 6:9-11)
Sin’s dominion over you has been
broken. You have been wasjed clean. You are justified, cleared of all guilt due
to sin. Christ’s righteousness is now your righteousness. And you are
sanctified and made holy, destined for everlasting life in the coming kingdom
of God. All of this should have an affect on how we think and live.
When you wake up in the morning and
you look in the mirror remind yourself of who you are in Christ. You are
forgiven. You are justified. You are forever redeemed. You are reconciled and
have peace with God. You are sanctified; set apart unto God for everlasting
life and glory. And finally, you are a child of God.
7. Child of
God
Behold what manner of love
the Father has bestowed
on us, that we should be called
children of God!
Therefore the world does not
know us, because it did
not know Him. 2
Beloved, now we are children of God;
and it has not yet been
revealed what we shall be,
but we know that when He is
revealed, we shall be like
Him, for we shall see Him as
He is.
(1 John 3:1, 2)
The apostle John presents a truth that
is almost to wonderful for him to express. Those who are saved by faith in
Christ, you and me, we are the children of God! The Greek word translated
“children” means a child by natural descent. In other words we are children of
God because God’s life is born within us when we are saved. We have His nature
within us.[10]
The New Testament calls this being born again[11]
or born of God.
Whoever believes that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God
(1 John 5:1a)
Being born of God brings us into a
permanent family relationship with God. We are His children and no longer His
enemies. And He is our father and no longer our Judge. Nothing will ever change
this.
Since you have purified your
souls in obeying the truth
through the Spirit in
sincere love of the brethren,
love one another fervently
with a pure heart,
23 having been
born again, not of corruptible seed but
incorruptible, through the
word of God which lives and
abides forever
(1 Peter 1:22, 23)
How wonderful it is to know that the
new life implanted within us springs forth from “incorruptible” seed. You will
always be God’s child. And He will always be your Father. And as a child of God
we can grow to be more and more like our Brother Christ and like God our
Father. But even now, as God’s children, as we grow and mature in our faith,
hope and love, we are guaranteed an inheritance that we can never lose.
For as many as are led by
the Spirit of God, these are
sons of God. 15
For you did not receive the spirit of
bondage again to fear, but
you received the Spirit of
adoption by whom we cry out,
“Abba, Father.”
16 The Spirit
Himself bears witness with our spirit that we
are children of God, 17
and if children, then heirs—heirs
of God and joint heirs with
Christ, if indeed we suffer with
Him, that we may also be glorified together.
(Romans 8:14-17)
Being children of God we are heirs of
God; inheriting all that He is and has. And we share this inheritance fully and
jointly with Jesus Christ, because we have received the “Spirit of adoption.”[12]
What does this mean? The answer is that the new birth gives us the nature as
God’s children. Adoption gives us legal status as His heirs. Today when we
speak of adoption we refer to the legal process by which someone becomes a part
of our family forever. But adoption was different during the time of ancient
Rome.
When the apostle Paul wrote these
words, adoption was a legal process by which a child or a slave became
someone’s legal heir. Not all natural born children would inherit their
father’s estate. There was a designated heir. Adoption was the public and legal
ceremony that pointed out who that heir was. Though we are children of God by the
new birth we are also adopted. And it is the gift of the Spirit that publically
sets us forth as heirs of God with all the privileges, honors and inheritance
of sonship. In Revelation 21:7 God proclaims,
He who overcomes shall
inherit all things, and I will be
his God and he shall be My
son.
This is who you are. You are forgiven,
justified, and made the very righteousness of God. You are reconciled to God
and enjoy peace with Him. You are redeemed from the power and penalty of sin.
You are sanctified, made holy and set apart for everlasting life and glory. And
you are a child of God; adopted as His legal heir. This is the word of truth.
[1] In the last half of Isaiah, scholars have identified
four servant songs that describe the accomplishments and suffering of one
called the servant of the Lord (42:1-7 ; 49:1-6 ; 50:4-11 ;
52:13-53:12). Possibly Isaiah 61:1-3 contains yet another servant song.
Although Isaiah sometimes refers to the servant as "Israel, "New
Testament quotations (such as the one recorded in Acts 8:26-35) and allusions (Acts
4:30) clearly relate the ministry of the servant to Jesus Christ. This Servant
is the “Rod from the stem of Jesse” (Isaiah 11:1). Jesse was king David’s
father.
[2] 1 Peter 3:18
[3]
Acts 2:24
[4]
Ephesians 2:8
[5]
This concept of a blood sacrifice for sin begins in Genesis 3 when God made
clothes for Adam and Eve from animal skins that were obviously sacrificed for
their behalf. Then in Leviticus 17: 11 God reveals “For the life of the flesh is
in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for
your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the
soul.” Since the wages of sin is death (Gen. 2:17; Rom. 6:23) life must be
forfeited to pay the penalty for sin. In the Old Testament animal sacrifices
were made but they pointed to the greater sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ
(Heb. 9-10)
[6]
In reality though we are forgiven we are still capable of sinning. But there is
provision for forgiveness: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness (1 John 1:8, 9).”
[7]
Romans 8:38, 39
[8]
Ephesians 2:17; Hebrews 10:19-22
[9]
Galatians 3:10; Deuteronomy 27:26
[10]
2 Peter 1:2-4
[11]
John 3
[12]
The Spirit is the guarantee of our receiving our everlasting inheritance. The
gift of the Spirit is the downpayment of what is to come. 2 Corinthians 5:5;
Ephesians 1:14
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