Doctrine of Salvation - 12 November 2017

“So Great a Salvation”

Doctrine of Salvation from Romans 5:1-11

November 12, 2017 (Message at SBC, Sligo RoI)

INTRODUCTION:

This morning marks the 6^th study in our series on the Doctrinal Statement of Sligo Baptist Church. Our purpose is to help us all have a better grasp of what we as a congregation believe about the foundational doctrines of the Christian Faith so that we will be better equipped, as 1 Peter 3:15 puts it, “…to always be ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you.” 

Let me begin by reading for us the declaration concerning the Doctrine of Salvation that is found in our church’s Doctrinal Statement:

“We believe that salvation is a free gift of God found only through faith in the finished work of Jesus on the Cross. It is only by this act of sovereign grace that fallen people can have their broken relationship with God restored. His shed blood is the sole basis for forgiveness of sins. Salvation occurs only when people turn from trust in merit and good behaviour to faith in Jesus as the only sufficient payment for their sins. We believe that at the moment of salvation, the person who has truly believed has the full penalty of his sin forgiven, is credited with the righteousness of Christ, and is declared righteous by God based on the sacrifice of Jesus. Because Jesus can never sin and never die, His sacrifice is eternal. Thus, we believe that all believers are kept eternally secure by the power of God, the indwelling Holy Spirit, and the eternal sacrifice and High Priestly ministry of Jesus. We believe that God has made full provision for believers to overcome their sinful nature and live for Him by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit working through the knowledge of the Bible. Through yielding to these, every believer should grow in maturity, Christ-likeness, and proper social concern as His ambassadors in the world.”

Like all the other topics in this teaching series, the biblical Doctrine of Salvation is too vast to absorb in one sitting or to put into just one study, but this morning we are going to try to at least hit some of the high points.

For me, one of the most helpful handles on this subject is to think of God’s salvation in three time-frames, or time zones. Here’s what I mean. I can accurately declare, “I was saved in 1964,” using the verb in the past tense. I can also accurately say, “I am being saved every day,” which is also true. And I can say, “One day, I will be saved.” Again, that is an accurate statement. For you see, for the Christian salvation is both a point in time past and a present process, as well as a future event. Today we want to look at all three of these time zones.

TRANSITION:

            The correct name for this area of theological study is “Soteriology,” which is a big scary word meaning, “the study of salvation.” It comes from the Greek word, σωτήρ [sōtēr] that means “saviour, deliverer, protector” and λόγος [logos] meaning the “study of” or “word about”. Related is the word σωτηρία [sōtēria] that means “salvation.” But under this broad heading of the Doctrine of Salvation come a host of other sub-topics including: The Divine Decree, Atonement, Grace, Election, Calling, Redemption, Regeneration, Conversion, Repentance, Faith, Justification, Sanctification, Perseverance, Assurance, and Glorification. These are all subjects worthy of our attention and full of meaning for every believer; however, we cannot begin to cover them all today. But in the passage of Scripture I have chosen for us to focus on this morning many of these make an appearance.

            But before we begin I need to steal a little thunder from the study Matthew will be doing next Sunday when he leads us to consider the Doctrine of Man, which is called Anthropology. God originally created man in His own image and free from sin. Adam was created with the divine intention that he should glorify God, enjoy His fellowship, and fulfill His will and purposes in the earth (Genesis 1:26-30; Isaiah 43:7; Colossians 1:16; Revelation 4:11). However, through the temptation of Satan, Adam and Eve transgressed the command of God, falling into sin by a voluntary act of personal disobedience to the revealed will of God (Gen. 2:16-17; 3:1-19; 1 Timothy 2:13-14). Thus, man fell from his original holiness and righteousness. Therefore, his posterity inherits a corrupt nature, wholly opposed to God and His law, and is under condemnation. We refer to this as man’s “Total Depravity.” We all come into this world as fallen, broken sinners, totally incapable of doing anything to save ourselves. That is the starting point for this study of Salvation. All men are sinners by nature, by choice, and by divine pronouncement. Therefore, all men are hopelessly and helplessly lost and need to be “born again” (John 3:3). This salvation is based not on our religious sincerity, good deeds or righteous acts but upon the elective grace of God through faith, apart from any virtue or work on our part, through the instrumentality of the Word of God as applied by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:17-18). Salvation is all of God, “by grace, through faith apart from works, lest any man should boast.” 

Now please turn to Romans 5 and we will begin at verse 1.

MAIN BODY:

Verse 1: “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

• Paul is obviously addressing fellow believers in these verses. The “we” refers to all those who have already come by faith to receive Christ as Saviour and Lord. If you are “in Christ” then all of this applies to you.
• “…since we have been justified by faith…” Here is one of those salvation words: “justified.” “Justification” is the judicial pronouncement of “not guilty” that God declares upon all those who come before Him covered by the blood of Jesus. That blood sacrifice on the Cross of Calvary we refer to as “the Atonement.” On the Cross Jesus shed His blood for all those who would eventually be saved. It was a once-and-for-all sacrifice, never to be repeated. And it was applied to you the moment you believed and received Christ into your life. Paul uses the perfect tense here, which expresses a past action or event, the effects of which continue into the present. Only the genuine Christian can say, “I have been justified.” In that moment you were washed in the blood of Jesus and declared “not guilty” by the Father.
• “Therefore…we have peace with God…through Christ.” What’s the time zone of this phrase? “We have” present tense, “peace with God.” Our peace with God is not something a Christian has to hope for, wish for, or pray for. Paul is not talking about a subjective feeling like peace of mind, but about a new kind of relationship with God. Previously we were His enemies but now we have been drawn near, made to be His friends. In fact, it’s even better than that! We have been adopted and made to be His children! We already have peace with God through what Jesus did for us and what the Father declared about us. He declared us “Not guilty” and in fact, “Innocent of all charges.” That is called “Justification” and it is mind-boggling!

Verse 2: “Through Him [Jesus] we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”   

• We have obtained access because Jesus is the Door to salvation, freedom, mercy and grace! He said, “No one comes to the Father except through Me.” That happened in the past when we trusted in Christ.
• As we, by faith, stepped through the Door we were introduced to the grace of God in a very personal way.
• That grace allows us now to stand and to take a stand.
• Moreover, that grace causes us to exult in the hope of one day in the future seeing the glory of God revealed. In theology terms that is called “Glorification.” I mentioned a few minutes ago that it is perfectly correct to state, “I will be saved,” because when we some day step into God’s presence we will be saved from the presence and power of sin, once and for all. Our salvation will finally be complete!

Verses 3-4: “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,”    

• Because of what happened at Calvary and the Tomb we can Persevere in trials and suffering as we finish our earthly course right up to the day when we step into eternity. Christ gives us His strength to do this. In fact, in the midst of tribulations we can even rejoice, knowing that suffering is not meaningless, but it is part of God’s plan to produce Christ-like character in His children. That process is called “Sanctification.” Romans 8:28-29 tell us that the trials come to “conform us to the image of His Son.” 
• But notice that we exult not “because of” sufferings, but “in them.” There’s a big difference! We’re not masochists who just enjoy pain, but rather, we can rejoice in suffering because we know that life’s trials and tribulations are God’s way of making us strong. As we learn to persevere and rejoice in times of trouble our character is built up and made strong. We become more Christ-like through the things that we suffer.
• Moreover, a hallmark of godly character is faith and hope in God. As we come to know Him and to grow strong in Him, it becomes much easier to trust Him and to have hope when others around us are hopeless.

Verse 5: “…and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”    

• If we hope in something that is an unworthy object, then sooner or later we will be left looking foolish and will be ashamed that we were so gullible as to believe a lie or a scam. History is full of examples of people who put their trust in groups or leaders or doctrines that proved to have feet of clay. They trusted in things that were unworthy and that misplaced “hope” led them to shame, and disappointment, and death. Whereas, having our hope placed securely on God will never leave us disappointed or put us to shame. Never! We’re not talking here about baseless optimism but about unshakable faith in God’s power, character, and proven track-record of keeping His promises.
• Why? Because “God’s love has been [perfect tense] poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been [perfect tense] given to us.” Remember, the perfect tense describes an action or event in the past, the consequences and benefits of which continue into the present. With this in mind, Paul is saying that because God’s love was poured out on us in the past in the person of the Holy Spirit we now have [present tense] God’s love, and we now have [present tense] God’s Holy Spirit. These are both present possessions.

Verses 6-8: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly [i.e. His Atonement, past tense]. ⁷ For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— ⁸ but God shows [present tense] His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us [past tense].”     

• 1 Peter 3:18 tells us, “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the Just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.” At the Cross Jesus said, “It is finished!” He had completed the work of Redemption through the shedding of His blood on the Cross. He did all that while we were still weak because of our slavery to sin. He did all that while we were still His enemies.
• Notice, “…at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” God’s timing is impeccable, always perfect. Paul expresses it this way in Galatians 4:4-5, “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” Jesus came at just the right time in human history to carry out the work of Redemption.
• In verse 7 while contemplating this scenario Paul admits his amazement that anyone would do such a thing. He can imagine a person possibly giving up his life to save a really good person, but he cannot fathom that anyone would do that for a sinner like him.
• But look closely at verse 8: “But God shows [present tense] His love for us…” People often misquote this verse. It is true that the sacrifice took place in the past, but God continues in this present time to show it to people. The Cross still stands, and God is constantly pointing us back to it. The blood of Jesus continues to cleanse sinners of all unrighteousness. God is continuing to demonstrate His love for lost people.

Verse 9: “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God.”     

• So now we live in a state of having already been justified by Christ’s blood. This is the sphere of grace in which we live and move and have our being. Justification is the air that we breathe, the medium in which we live. If you have come to Him by faith you are “in Christ” and in Him there is no more condemnation (Romans 8:1), just grace and mercy.
• And because of what we have in Christ and who we are in Christ, we “shall be [future tense] saved by Him from the wrath of God.” Again, that is the future aspect of Glorification. And don’t kid yourself; the wrath of God is coming! One of these days God will rend the heavens and descend with His holy angels and the Day of Grace will be over; the Day of Reckoning will have begun. Judgement Day will come and only those who are “in Christ” will be able to stand on that day. I Thessalonians 1:9-10 puts it this way: “For they themselves [i.e. the believers in Macedonia and Achaia] report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from Heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.” But even better than just surviving that day, Paul tells us up in verse 2 that we can look forward with hope and joyful expectancy to that day when the glory and majesty of God will be revealed. The Day of Judgement holds no fear for the true child of God because our sins were taken care of back at the Cross.  

Verse 10: “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son [And we were!], much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life.”     

• This, in both Greek and English is what is called a 1^st Class Conditional Statement. It could just as well be translated, “Even though while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son…” There is no element of doubt or negativity here even though it uses the word “if.” Notice that even though there was enmity between Man and God because of Man’s sin, God was never at war with us. In fact, He took the initiative to reconcile us to Himself through the blood of Jesus. That can only be explained by His love for us.
• Notice, too, that this verse crosses all three time-zones:
• In the past, though we were warring against Him, God reconciled us to Himself through the death of His Son, Jesus.
• Now, in the present, having been reconciled to the Father with that as our present reality…
• In the future we shall be saved by Christ’s life. The resurrected Christ is alive today and He continually intercedes for us, and we will be eternally saved because He lives to keep us. Hebrews 7:25 tells us: “Therefore He [Jesus] is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” Our Assurance of salvation rests securely on the foundation of God’s promise and Christ’s sacrifice.

Verse 11: “More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”     

• “More than that…” as if it were not enough that we have already received so much, God gives us yet more.
• “…we have now received reconciliation.” As is the case with justification, Reconciliation is a present reality for the Christian, and it gives us great cause for rejoicing.

CONCLUSION:

Since the Day of Pentecost Christians have gathered on the first day of the week for worship in honor of the Resurrection of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Every Sunday we come together to commemorate the empty tomb and the Risen Christ and to give thanks and praise to God for “so great a salvation.”

If you have never taken that step to believe on Him as your Saviour and your Lord I would urge you not to put it off. In 2 Corinthians 6:2 we read, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” I beg you, trust in Christ today, while there is yet time.