Salvation is a work of God for man, not a work of man for God. Therefore, it is perfect and complete and will not be revoked or rescinded because of a failure on the part of mankind. There is no salvation mentioned in the Bible which isn’t secure. There is no record of anyone being saved more than once. There are various warnings, but they are directed to circumstances other than a believer losing their salvation.
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The subject of salvation should always begin with sin because that is the reason we need salvation. We don’t become sinners when we commit our first sin, we are born sinners. That traces back to the Original Sin committed by Adam in the Garden of Eden. Adam’s sin resulted in the fall of mankind. His sin is imputed to all his posterity. To impute means to officially attribute or designate something to someone else’s record or account. In the Bible, sin and righteousness are imputed.
Adam was the original man and all have come from him, even Eve who was formed from his side. God spoke directly to Adam and gave him some responsibilities and warned him not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When he disobeyed and ate it, he sinned. That sin is imputed to every descendent of Adam. It doesn’t end there though. Not only is the guilt of that sin imputed to each of us, but the sin nature is transmitted from generation to generation. For example, Adam and Eve bore children. Those children inherited their sin nature. The following generations inherited it from their parents and so on through all the generations to present day. Because of the sin nature, we are born sinners and then when we come of age and know right from wrong, we sin. We sin because that is the fruit of the sin nature we’ve received. So sin has us condemned 3 ways. Any one of these ways would be enough to require salvation through Christ, but it’s enlightening to see how extensive the debt has become:
- The original sin is imputed to each of us.
- The sin nature is inherited from our parents.
- Personal sins we commit.
Fortunately we have good news in the Gospel. The entire sin debt of mankind was imputed to Christ as he died on the cross. Christ was not a son of Adam so he was the only qualified candidate to be an innocent sacrifice for mankind. Because of his resurrection and ascension, we know that God was propitiatied (satisfied) with the sacrifice of Christ for the sin of the world and Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. His righteousness is authentic. For those who place their faith in the sufficiency of the death and resurrection of Christ as the only way to be made right with God, there is hope. The hope is found in the fact that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to those who believe. When we speak of being saved, we are saying that our sin is forgiven, removed, and not a problem any longer. But more than that we are simultaneously saying that we have received the imputed righteousness of Christ. That miraculous transaction is complete the moment we believe and are saved. That won’t ever be reversed. We also receive a new divine nature (cf. 2 Peter 1:4).
The Three Major Imputations Revealed in Scripture
1) Adam’s sin was imputed to all of mankind (cf. Romans 5:12).
2) The sin of mankind was imputed to Christ as He died on the cross (cf. Romans 5:19, 2 Corinthians 5:21).
3) The righteousness of Christ is imputed to those who believe the Gospel (cf. Romans 4:5, 4:25, 5:19).
The Three Phases of Salvation
A. Justification
B. Sanctification
C. Glorification
A. Justification is the act of God declaring one to be righteous. This happens the moment an individual believes and professes Christ to be their Savior. It occurs at the moment of conversion and is in essence the birth of a new believer. From that point on, they are declared by God to be justified. Justification happens in an instant and that verdict will never change (cf. Romans 8:33-34). From that point on it is a historical fact. Next, the process of Sanctification begins.
B. Sanctification is the process of being made holy. It can be broken down into three distinct phases as well.
- Positional Sanctification happens at the moment of salvation at the same time as justification. When God declares an individual to be justified, their position changes from being a sinner to becoming a saint. Though technically their position changes in an instant, the process of learning to become holy takes a lifetime. It is similar to how we were physically born in a moment and then we mature into adults and engage in various activities until the day we die. So also once the spiritual change of position happens, the lifelong process of Experiential Sanctification begins.
- Experiential Sanctification refers to choices and actions of a believer in their daily life. The greatest motivation to change from our normal sinful practices to the new life of holiness is that we have been declared to be righteous. This is a process that is never completed on earth and oftentimes becomes a great struggle. Many of the warnings in Scripture are directed towards this phase of sanctification to motivate believers to press on towards a life of holiness by confessing their failures and relying on the Holy Spirit for the power to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. The process continues until the day we die. Once we transition to heaven, the next phase of sanctification begins.
- Ultimate Sanctification occurs only when we have died and received our new glorified bodies. At that point we won’t have the desire or ability to sin any longer. We will be truly holy! So the three phases of sanctification result in making us holy and fit to be in God’s presence. It begins at the moment of conversion with Positional Sanctification, extends through the journey of our life on earth by the means of Experiential Sanctification and results with us in heaven as Ultimately Sanctified. Sanctification is a process that makes us holy. It is a work of God in the life of the believer.
C. Glorification occurs upon our arrival in heaven and we receive our new glorified bodies. These bodies will be similar to Christ’s post resurrection body when he appeared to his disciples at various times. We won’t have the desire or ability to sin and we will be involved in some divinely appointed service for the Lord along with all the risen saints and holy angels.
The Gospel Reveals the Love of God for Mankind
The Apostle Paul wrote the letter to the Romans which explains much of the Gospel in clear, straightforward terms. He stresses the significance of Adam’s sin which is imputed to each of us along with the righteousness of Christ which is imputed to those who believe the Gospel. The pithy saying of “Once Saved, Always Saved” is based much on all the Apostles’ teachings in the New Testament. The doctrine of Salvation by Grace fully explains the work of God in salvation as being complete. It is based on the preordained plan of the Father, the finished work of the Son in his death and resurrection, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit in guiding the believer into a life of holiness. There is no way that it will fail. If nothing else, salvation of men magnifies the grace and glory of God. We are all equally undeserving. We all must depend on the work of God to welcome us into his presence as glorified saints who were saved by grace by the blood of the lamb. Our salvation doesn’t depend on our works, it depends on the love of God and the imputed righteousness of Christ.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:28-39
“In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.“
Philippians 1:4-6
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New International Version (NIV)
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