Message #5 – Salvation & its Scope Wednesday, November 18 th, 2015

Salvation & its Scope  Soteriology (Gk.  – soteria = salvation )  The Meaning & Scope of Salvation – What is salvation & what does it encompass?  The Source & Parties of Salvation – Who is involved in salvation & what are their roles?  The Means & Motivation of Salvation – How & why is salvation accomplished?  The Process of Salvation – What are the phases of salvation & when are they carried out?  The Security of Salvation – What about doubts & how can we be sure of our salvation?

The Meaning & Scope of Salvation  What is salvation & what does it encompass?  “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation” – Hebrews 2:3  Definition: eternal spiritual deliverance from sin and its consequences  Soteriology, the doctrine of salvation, must be the grandest theme in the Scriptures. It embraces all of time as well as eternity past and future. It relates in one way or another to all of mankind, without exception. It even has ramifications in the sphere of the angels. It is the theme of both the Old and New Testaments. It is personal, national, and cosmic. And it centers on the greatest Person, our Lord Jesus Christ. – Basic Theology, Charles C. Ryrie

The Meaning & Scope of Salvation  What is salvation & what does it encompass?  “O how vile our low estate, since our ransom was so great” – Robert C. Chapman, Hymn #210  Salvation exemplifies:  the absolute ruin and desperate condition of man in his sin  the wondrous grace and power of God to deliver us

The Meaning & Scope of Salvation  What is salvation & what does it encompass?  Salvation encompasses the total work of God in rescuing man  conveys ideas of deliverance, safety, preservation, soundness, restoration  includes such truths as redemption, reconciliation, regeneration, propitiation, repentance, justification, sanctification, glorification

The Source & Parties of Salvation  Who is involved in salvation & what are their roles?  God is the source of salvation  not a reactionary response to our sin but an expression of the Saviourhood of God “…there is no God else beside me, a just God and a Saviour…Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” – Isaiah 45:21-22

The Source & Parties of Salvation  Who is involved in salvation & what are their roles?  The parties of salvation  God is the subject, man is the object  Three persons of the Trinity all have a role  The Father – initiator, planner, administrator  The Son – executor, mediator, conqueror  The Spirit – communicator, regenerator, sanctifier "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" – Isaiah 45:21-22

The Means & Motivation of Salvation  How & why is salvation accomplished? “Salvation is of the Lord.” – Jonah 2:9  Our salvation is accomplished alone  because of God’s great love - Eph 2:4  according to His amazing grace – Eph 2:8  by His mighty power – Eph 1:19, 1Co 1:18 " Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us… " – Titus 3:5

The Means & Motivation of Salvation  How & why is salvation accomplished?  The plan of salvation manifests God’s  love – “God so loved the world…” Jn 3:16  grace – “that…He might show the exceeding riches of His grace” Eph 2:7  holiness – “by His own blood, He entered in once into the holy place” Heb 9:12  power – “we shall live with Him by the power of God toward you” 2Co 13:4  glory – “that we should be to the praise of His glory” Eph 1:12

The Process of Salvation  What are the phases of salvation & when are they carried out?  There are three phases or tenses of salvation.  past – we have been saved, once and for all, from the penalty of sin “Jesus…delivered us from the wrath to come” – 1Th 1:13  present – we are being saved, day by day, from the power of sin “sin shall not have dominion over you” – Rom 6:14  future – we will be saved, when we are with Him and like Him, from the very presence of sin “we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” – 1Jn 3:2

The Security of Salvation  What about doubts and how can we be sure of our salvation?  It is very common for believers to have doubts about their salvation at some point in their Christian life. Doubts can arise due to:  recurring sin / failure  perceived lack of repentance/faith  not having a remarkable “experience”  not knowing exactly “when”, “where” or “how”  difficult passages of Scripture  lack of understanding of doctrine of salvation

The Security of Salvation  What about doubts and how can we be sure of our salvation?  We need to properly distinguish between…  God’s work & our responsibility  Salvation is entirely a work of God  it does not depend upon us  Christ said “It is finished” – Jn 19:30  all the glory goes to God  Our responsibility is to accept what God has done  We need to get our eyes off ourselves & onto the Lord.

The Security of Salvation  What about doubts and how can we be sure of our salvation?  We need to properly distinguish between…  Clear passages & difficult passages  We should interpret difficult passages in the light of clear ones, not the other way around.  We should simply believe the promises that God has clearly given. “God is not the author of confusion, but of peace” – 1Co 14:33

The Security of Salvation  What about doubts and how can we be sure of our salvation?  We need to properly distinguish between…  Positional & practical truth  While we are new creatures in Christ, we still have the old nature within us. “the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other” – Gal 5:17

The Security of Salvation  What about doubts and how can we be sure of our salvation?  We need to properly distinguish between…  Lack of fellowship & lack of life  Sin causes us to grieve the Holy Spirit and we can lose our joy & our fellowship with God but He does not leave us. “Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption ” – Eph 4:30

The Security of Salvation  What about doubts and how can we be sure of our salvation?  We need to properly distinguish between…  Loss of reward & loss of salvation  While we can lose our reward at the judgment seat of Christ, we can never lose our salvation. “If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” – 1Co 3:15

The Security of Salvation  What about doubts and how can we be sure of our salvation?  Some unchangeable truths to remember:  Christ has died, risen, ascended & intercedes for us  A born-again believer is a child of God  Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone  God has forgiven us in Christ; we are accepted in the beloved  Eternal life is life and it is eternal. “I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” –Jn 10:28-29