A Look At Salvation Part 5

"Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world."
(John 17:24)


This last blog on the phases of salvation we will talk about the final phase, our glorification in heaven. God has elected us, Christ has justified us, and the Spirit has regenerated us. We still live in a body that is sinful and God cannot accept this body in heaven and therefore we need to be glorified.
So this phase of our salvation concerns the resurrection. The time when Jesus returns and calls our sleeping bodies from the grave, changes us and reunites those bodies with our spirit and makes us fit for eternity. And He presents us holy and undefiled before the throne of God. Where we will dwell with Christ forever.
(2 Corinthians 4:14) "knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into His presence." That was the Apostle Paul's hope, that he would one day be counted worthy to be with the Lord in glory. And that is our hope as well as believers in Christ.
According to (Romans 8:23) our bodies must be redeemed "And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies." See Paul was still waiting for a certain aspect of adoption, he was waiting for the fifth phase of salvation the "final phase". It is called the final phase because it is the last aspect of salvation that must be preformed. That is the redemption of our body, when our bodies will be redeemed from corruption and redeemed from sin and glorified in God's presence. We can follow this process to glorification in (Romans 8:30)  "And those whom He predestined (Eternal phase) He also called (Vital phase), and those whom He called He also justified (Legal Phase), and those whom He justified He also glorified (Final phase) ."
In (1 Thessalonians 5:23) " Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."  God has yet the final phase of salvation to preform in which He redeems our bodies from sin and glorifies it, then we will be fully fit to be in God's presence in body, soul, and spirit for eternity!
Every child of God will end up in heaven, everyone predetermined to be there, will be there.
Praise God we have a successful Savior (John 6:37-39) "All that the Father gives me WILL come to me, and whoever comes to me I will NEVER cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.  And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should LOSE NOTHING of all that he has given me, but RAISE it up on the LAST DAY."
(Philippians 1:6) "I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is fully assured that God who starts a good work in us will be faithful to complete that work when the great Day of the Lord comes at the return of Christ.
I don't know about you but I am looking forward to that time when the Lord comes back and raises us from the sleeping dust and changes this body to live with Christ in eternity with our redeemed bodies.
    "As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness;    when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness." (Psalm 17:15)

A Look At Salvation Part 4

 

^"Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers."
(1 Timothy 4:16)

As we continue to look into salvation, today we will look into the fourth phase of salvation the practical phase. The practical phase is where we must hear the preaching of the gospel, what God is requiring of us, and where we must actively obey Him. The practical phase is the result of the first three phases. By nature man has no interest in God, he is an enemy of God according to (Romans 8:7-8) " For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.  Those who are in the flesh cannot please God." and man neither understands God nor seeks after Him according to (Psalm 14:2). But after God has elected a man, and after Christ has died for that man, and after the Holy Spirit has given that man a new nature, that man is now able to obey and please God. And that is that man's duty in the practical phase of salvation.
By believing the gospel man is able to be saved from error. What makes the difference between the man who is error and a man who is serving God in truth? The difference is he hasn't been taught yet or he hasn't obeyed. By the gospel coming to that man in truth he is able to see the error of his way, and be able to be converted from that error and worship God in truth.
Look at Philippians 2, here we can see this phase more clearly. God first works salvation in a man thru the first three phases. And then we must work that salvation out by doing those things that are pleasing to God. (Philippians 2:12-13) Paul says, "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." Notice the two salvation found in these two verses. First we are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, but we are to work out that salvation because God worked in us both to will and do for His good pleasure. God has elected men, Christ has justified men, and the Holy Spirit has regenerated men in order that they would will and do of God's good pleasure. God has created all things for His pleasure according to (Revelation 4:11) "..you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created." And he wants us now to work that salvation out.
God has worked in us the new man, the inner man, it is now our duty to work that man out by willing and doing those things that are pleasing to God.
If we are in false doctrine and are believing a false concept of God or worshiping a false God or practicing things that God hates and has not required of us in the church, then we are not pleasing to God.
Therefore the gospel comes along and tells us what we must do to please God. How would you ever think of baptism if it wasn't for the gospel that commanded you to be baptized (Matthew 28:19) "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." God might have elected you, Christ might have justified you, and the Holy Spirit might have regenerated you. But until you hear the gospel how do you know enough to be baptized and to answer God with a good conscience as 1 Peter 3:21 commands you? "Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ."(1 Pt. 3:21). You only know about baptism by the preaching of the gospel and by obedience to that gospel. It is your duty to hear and to believe the gospel. You can be saved from error and false doctrine. You can be saved from judgment.
Think about the church in Corinth, in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 there were people in that church who abused the Lord's supper by treating it as a carnal feast. We read that some of those Corinthians were weak, some were sick, and even some had even died as a result of God's judgment for abusing the Lord's supper. Now if the gospel comes to them the gospel can tell them what they are doing wrong and by obeying that gospel and correcting that behavior they can be saved from God's judgment.
That is the purpose of the gospel, that we can be saved from despair, we can be saved from fear, also we can be saved from false bondage to false systems of religion. For instance, there are many who are in bondage from a system of salvation by works. That their eternal salvation in heaven depends on how much they give, how faithfully they attend, whether they observe and keep all the sacraments of the church. That's bondage! When you are dependent on these things to be saved, that is a form of bondage. You are held under the control of a group of men who come up with a bunch of rules that you must keep. The gospel comes along and tell men, NO salvation is based on God's election, it's based upon Christ's death on the Cross, and it's based on the Spirit's regeneration. When you hear that message of the gospel you have been saved from the bondage of men. You have been saved from the fear of death as Hebrews chapter 2:15 describes it, "deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery."
This phase of salvation is also called conversion. The gospel comes  to men and saves them from behaviors that are not pleasing to God to that behavior that is pleasing to God. This is working out our salvation with fear and trembling. Conversion comes in all kinds of different degrees among God's elect. Some men are converted to great degree like the Apostle Paul was. Other men are not converted very much at all such as Lot, Abraham's nephew. 2 Peter 2 tells us Lot was a righteous, yet when we read about Lot in Genesis we see Lot was not converted as much as Abraham was. Abraham and Lot will both be in heaven and the reason for it is God the Father elected them equally, Christ died for them equally, and the Holy Spirit regenerated them equally. Because God preformed the first three phases of salvation on them equally they shall both be with God in heaven. It is just here in this world they didn't escape God's judgments equally.
To the degree we are converted we enjoy more peace. We enjoy more fellowship with God. We do not lose our eternal salvation by not being converted fully. But we sure do lose some of the benefits God has for us in this world.
Remember the Prodigal Son did not lose his sonship by going and spending his fathers inheritance on unrighteous living in Luke 15. He lost fellowship with his father, and that is what happens to us when we are not converted. When the gospel comes to us and we decide to return to our father, that doesn't make us sons, that just allows us the privilege of enjoying our sonship.
The gospel is not meant to get people into heaven. The gospel does not save men from hell into heaven. The preaching of the gospel saves men to the understanding that God wants them to have, so they might receive His blessings of peace, prosperity, and fellowship here in this world. That they might be delivered from His judgment by behaving in a way that is pleasing to Him.
A couple of other passages that this phase of salvation works itself out is in the book of Acts chapter 8 with the Ethiopian eunuch and also the story of Cornelius the Centurion in Acts chapter 10.