Systematic Theology--Lesson 7, Salvation (part 1)

The subject we begin today is one that is widely misunderstood these days. That is the subject of salvation. Let me begin by making some very clear statements about salvation. We are not saved by works. Some people think that God keeps some chart on the wall, and every time we do a good deed, He puts a gold star or smiley face next to our name, and if we get enough gold stars and smiley faces He gives us a big blue ribbon and welcomes us into Heaven. That’s not how we are saved. It’s also more than saying a little prayer and asking Jesus into your heart. One very popular “Christian” book says this: “Wherever you are reading this, I invite you to bow your head and quietly whisper the prayer that will change your eternity: ‘Jesus, I believe You and I receive You.’ If you sincerely meant that prayer, congratulations! Welcome to the family of God.” Problem is, the reader of The Purpose-Driven Life is never told which Jesus he’s praying to! Basically, what Rick Warren is saying is, “You don’t have to do anything other than just say this little prayer and ask Jesus into your heart. And He can be any Jesus you want Him to be!” That is NOT SALVATION! Salvation is not a one-time thing that you do it and you get a ticket punched and now I can go on and do whatever I want and I'll still be saved. Over the next couple weeks we’re going to give a clear picture of what salvation is.

First there is The Preparation For Our Salvation. We do not seek to follow God—He comes and finds us. Last week we read from Romans 3, that shows us how crummy we really are. There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God…There is no fear of God before their eyes. The prophet Isaiah saw God Himself seated on a throne, and when he realized just how holy God is, he realized just how dispicable he himself, as a man, really was. Which is what caused him to cry out “Woe is me for I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell among a people of unclean lips. For I have seen the king, YHVH of Hosts” (Isaiah 6:5). And because there is nothing in us that wants to follow God, He has to draw us to Him. If it were up to us we would spend all our years fulfilling our own desires. So, in preparing us, we see that The Whole Trinity Is Involved In Salvation. First, it is The Father’s Choice. Ephesians 1:4-5—He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world…having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. When did He choose us in Him? Before the foundation of the world. Had we been born yet? Had we done any “good works” yet? This choice by the Father is called “election,” and those people He chooses are called the “elect.” 1st Peter 1:2 calls believers elect according to the foreknowledge of God.

Now, some people think that the word “foreknowledge” means that God looked into the future and saw all those people who would believe in Christ, and chose them. That’s not how it happened. We find the same word in Acts 2:22-23, when Peter is preaching the first Christian sermon—“Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested to you by God by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death.” The Cross was not a surprise to God—it was His decision. He determined that Christ would go to the Cross. That word “foreknowledge” can mean that you know something’s going to happen before it happens. But in this case, it literally means “To decide something would happen long before it happens.” It’s not that God looked into His crystal ball and saw that it was going to happen—He determined it was going to happen.

So, as far as the ones He chose. Why did He choose them? Choose us? Ephesians 1:5 says that He predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. Basically, because He wanted to. Now, does that let a person off the hook if they do not believe? Someone will say, “Don’t we have to repent of our sins and believe in Christ?” Of course we do. And this is what is known as an “antinomy.” It comes from two Greek words αντι (anti); and νομος (nomos), which means “law.” Basically, it means “two laws that appear to be against each other.” On the one hand, God chooses those that He will save. But by the same token, that person must repent and believe. These two principles may seem to contradict each other, but they're really two sides to the same coin. Kinda like we are not saved by works, but our good works show that we are saved. Those who come to Him come in repentance and faith--He receives each one. But we cannot come to Christ unless the Father chooses us. John 6:44 and 6:65 are the clearest verses on this matter. “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him…no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.” It was The Father’s Choice.

It was The Son’s Cross. John 12:28—“Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour?’ But for this purpose I came to this hour.” It was determined even before He created the earth. Now, as far as the question of “Who did Jesus die for?” This is not a matter that will determine our salvation, but we do need to have proper understanding of who Jesus went to the cross for, and whose sins He died for. Jesus did not die for ALL the sins of ALL mankind. This doctrine of particular atonement—that Jesus died only for the sins of those people who were chosen by God for salvation—one of the best explanations of this doctrine I found from John Piper, and he explained it like this.

1st John 2:2—He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. “The "whole world" refers to the children of God scattered throughout the whole world. If "the whole world" referred to every individual in the world, we would be forced to say that John is teaching that all people will be saved, which he does not believe. The reason we would be forced to say this is that the term propitiation refers to a real removal of wrath from sinners. When God's wrath against a sinner is propitiated, it is removed from that sinner…Propitiated sins cannot be punished…Therefore if Christ is the propitiation for all the sins of every individual in the world, they cannot be punished, and must be saved.”

Christ did not die for the sins of those who would never believe. If He did shed His blood for those sins, then those sins have been forgiven. And if those sins have been forgiven, then those people are saved—even though they never repented from their sins and never believed in Christ as their Savior. But a clear reading of Scripture shows that not all men will be saved. And if all men are not saved, then Jesus did not die for the sins of the unbelievers.

Before the world was created, the names of those chosen by God were written in the Book of Life. Jesus decided, purposed, submitted to the will of the Father, that He would go to the cross to shed His blood for those who were in that Book. Revelation 13:8—All who dwell on the earth will worship [the Beast], whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. In the eyes of God, as far as He is concerned, Christ’s blood was shed before the world was ever created. Those who died before Christ came to earth were still saved by His blood.

Consider those saints who came out of their graves after Christ gave up the ghost and died, Matthew 27:52—And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose. These who had died before the crucifixion were called saints. And how were they saved? Not by keeping the law, but because of their faith to God. And when they died, even though Christ had not come yet, His blood still covered their sins. This brings us to another doctrine of salvation, one that will take us to the end of our time today. The idea of the “penal substitutionary atonement of Christ.” Take out any of those terms, and we detract from what Christ did. The word “penal” refers to “punishment.” Hebrews 10:4-5—it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me. According to the Law of God, there has to be punishment for sins. Who took that wrath? In the Bible, God’s wrath is pictured as a cup. And if it is said that someone “drank the cup,” it means that God poured His wrath upon that person. Revelation 16:19—Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. But Jesus drank the cup of God’s wrath for us. Luke 22:42—“Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” John 18:11—Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?” When did He drink that cup? Mark 15:34—And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which is, being interpreted, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

This is where we get into the “substitutionary” aspect. We were born sinners. We spend our whole lives accumulating an immeasurable debt to God. Who deserved to be punished for our sins? We do! We deserved to bear the wrath of God for our sins. Who should that have been up there, who should have been the one the Father turned His back on? When Jesus cried out “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”, that was the moment when the Father placed all the sins of all the elect upon the head of His dear Son, and He crushed His Son under His wrath. Isaiah 53:10—But YHVH was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief. We were all guilty under God’s Law. We were all guilty of sin, of rebelling against a holy, almighty, perfectly righteous and just God. A holy, almighty, perfectly righteous and just God who would have been perfectly holy, perfectly righteous and perfectly just in damning the whole human race to Hell, and not showing the smallest shred of mercy on any one of us.

But instead, Jesus took that curse we deserved upon Himself. Listen to the love of our Savior for us. Galatians 3:13—Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us. Listen to the love of God the Son for His Father. Philippians 2:5-8—Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider clinging to His equality with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a slave, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross.

“Atonement.” John 1:29—“Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world!” The word atonement means “satisfaction made by giving an equivalent for an injury, or by doing or suffering that which is received in payment for an offense or injury.” Also, “the act of making satisfaction for an offense, by which the guilt is done away, and the obligation of the offended person to punish the crime is canceled.” On the OT Day of Atonement—Yom Kippur—the high priest would go into the Holy of Holies and sprinkle the blood of bulls and goats on the mercy seat—the covering of the Ark of the Covenant. This would make atonement for the sins of the people. This was the only way of making satisfaction for their offenses. The guilt was done away with, and the obligation of God to punish their sins was canceled.

When Jesus was crucified, He was sprinkling the mercy seat—the cross—He made atonement for the elect of God. His blood paid for our sins. This made atonement for the sins of God’s elect. This was and is the only way of making satisfaction for our offenses. Colossians 2:13-14—When you were dead in your transgressions…He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt…against us…He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

Penal.

Substitutionary.

Atonement.

He paid our penalty. He stood in our law place. He gave satisfaction to the God we have offended. As Paul Washer once put it,

“God is holy. His eyes are too pure to look upon sin. His holy Son at that moment bore our sin and the Father turned away from him. But that is not all. For God’s justice to be satisfied his judgment had to be poured out. His wrath, his holy hatred against evil had to be exhausted, extinguished and there was only one way. On that tree Jesus Christ, the Son of God, drank the cup of God’s wrath. All the furious, holy, righteous anger, violent wrath of a righteous God that should have fallen upon his people, fell upon his Son. As Isaiah says, “It pleased YHVH to crush him.” And in crushing him, in pouring out his wrath upon Hm the justice of God was satisfied, the wrath of God was appeased and now God can forgive the wicked and call them righteous because his Son has died for them.”

He went into the Most Holy Place in the Heavens with His own blood, satisfied the debt we owed, and made us acceptable to a perfectly holy, perfectly righteous, perfectly just God. It was not a surprise to the Father. Acts 2:22-23—“Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death.” Let’s look at some words in this passage. “Determined” literally means “that which has been determined, appointed, decreed.” It was determined long before that Christ would go to the Cross. “Purpose”—means “to will deliberately, have a purpose, be minded (to do something).” And “Foreknowledge” literally means, “To decide something would happen long before it happens.” God determined, appointed, decreed, decided long before it happened, that Jesus Christ His Son would cover Himself in filthy flesh, reveal Himself through miracles and wonders, be nailed to a cross, and shed His own blood to satisfy the debt that we owed—otherwise, none would be saved.

It was not a surprise to the Father. It was not a surprise to Christ. When Judas betrays Christ, and he comes into the Garden at Gethsemane with a bunch of Roman soldiers. What does Jesus do? Is He surprised? There He is, standing there talking to His disciples, and along comes a bunch of soldiers with swords and clubs and torches. Does Jesus shout out “Hey, here come the Romans! Everybody, run! Hide! Judas, what do you think you're doing?” Mark 14:49— “Every day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me; but this has taken place to fulfill the Scriptures.” Christ came to fulfill the Scriptures that said He would save His people from their sins. Next week we will look at Matthew 1:21, which says that very thing.

Verse by verse through Ephesians (2:8-2:10)

Ephesians 2:8-10—

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

We saw last time that we were dead. That word "dead means "dead." We were, by nature, dead. There was nothing we could do to restore our spirits to be reconciled to God. But the Holy Spirit quickened us, made us alive to God. Now, we're going to look at this salvation that comes about, not because of any meritorious effort on our part, but by God reaching down and being gracious enough to give us such a great gift, and we will see the means by which we are saved. You know, we Baptists have these first two verses stamped on our foreheads before we join a church. But we need to understand why these verses are so important in the life of a believer.

First, let's look at verse 8. For by grace you have been saved through faith… Let's look at some words. Grace. Boy, if I had a nickel for every time someone used this word to mean something it doesn’t. We use words like "graceful" to mean "elegant, refined, stylish, polished." Physical characteristics. We use it to describe swans and gymnasts and figure skaters. Friend this is a word that belongs to God. And if we do not take the time and spend the effort to understand His grace then our lives in Christ will be one long struggle of trying to measure up to a standard that can never be met in our flesh. What did we read in chapter 1? Why did He choose us? Well, He chose the entire body of believers in order for them to show the world the love of Christ and the glory of God. The first part of Ephesians 1:4 tells us that.

But why did He choose YOU? Specifically? Individually? There's that word "grace." Chapter 1, verse 6. The good pleasure of His will. Because that's how He wanted it. He wanted you, He chose you, He set you apart for His use, so that you could show off His glory to your circle of friends and family. I don’t always agree with Thayer's Lexicon. He was a bit of a Unitarian. But he did get this one right. Listen to how he defines "grace"—The New Testament writers use charis (charis) pre-eminently of that kindness by which God bestows favors even upon the ill-deserving, and grants to sinners the pardon of their offences, and bids them accept of eternal salvation through Christ.

He goes on to describe the grace of Christ—through pity for sinful men Christ left His state of blessedness with God in Heaven, and voluntarily underwent the hardships and miseries of human life, and by His sufferings and death procured salvation for mankind.

Grace is the reason that you—if you have grown from the Vine, if you have Jesus as your Shepherd, if you fear God and His judgment, if you have indeed given your life over to Christ, and if you are a radically different person now than you were before, if you can forgive those who wrong you, if you see your life not just as a few years on a rotting planet, but as a chance to glorify God in the presence of men—can say that God has saved you. And that's the next thing I want us to look at.

By grace you have been saved… No translation does this verse justice. The NKJV and NASB come closest. A literal rendering of this verse would say, …by grace you are having been saved… The verb form of eimi (eimi, "to be") in this verse is second plural present. It means "You all are being." The present in Greek is not so much something that is happening at this very moment. It denotes something that continues to happen. Like in Ephesians 5:18, but be filled with the Holy Spirit is best read as but be being filled with the Holy Spirit. Something is happening, and is continuing to happen.

The word "saved" here is in the perfect tense. It means that something happened at a point in the past, and its effects are still being seen. Somebody may say, "I learned all about the Civil War" as if the past tense is the proper tense. However, this is one place where the perfect tense should be used. "I have learned all about the Civil War." They learned about the War Between the States at a point in the past. They read about it, studied it, memorized names and dates and battles. But it is not like it happened, and nothing resulted from it. The effects of those actions are still being seen, in that the person still has that knowledge.

We don’t use the perfect tense much these days. To us, everything is either past or present or future. Which is one of the many reasons God did not use English to bring His written word into this world. But in Greek, tense is very important.

You have been saved. The tense is perfect, the voice is passive. It was something that happened to you. It was not something you did. Paul does not say, "You saved yourselves." For one thing, that would be foolish. You cannot save yourself. It would be interesting to go through the New Testament and do a study of the times the passive voice is used when talking about us. How many times God works on us and in us and yet we attribute it to ourselves.

So what Paul is saying is this: at a point in the past—it may have been yesterday, it may have been ten years ago—God saved you. He did it, you experienced it passively, and you had it done to you. No action was taken on your part. You did not initiate it—God did. It's happening right now, it took place in the past, and the effects are still being seen. By grace you are continually in the state of having been saved.

What saved you? God. How did God save you? By grace you have been saved through faith. By believing in Christ Jesus as your Lord and your Savior. The cry of the Philippian jailer still rings out from voices across the globe. And the answer is still the same. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!" (Acts 16:29-31). But what is faith? What does it mean to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? Does it simply believe He existed and died and rose, and nothing more? Yes…and no. Yes, you must believe that He lived, died and rose again. But that is not the full measure of faith. Have you not read the words of James? Even the demons fear, and tremble. (James 2:19). Satan knows Jesus lived, died and rose. Does that mean he's saved? So then, what is faith?

Faith in Christ means looking at yourself as God sees you. That you are a fallen human, a sinful creature. It means you understand that you have been living a life that is not pleasing to God, no matter how many good and charitable deeds you may have done. It means stripping away all of your human righteousness and looking at the sinful things you have done in your life for what they are—sins against the holiness and righteousness of God. Then you realize that there is no way that you could ever do anything to erase the stain of sin on your own. You see yourself as Lady Macbeth—always trying to wash the crimson from your flesh.

But, just like Lady Macbeth, you realize that you cannot wash off that stain. You cry out to God for mercy. You call upon the name of Jesus Christ to be your Savior. You submit to Him and call Him Lord. Some people will tell you that you need to "Make Him the Lord of your life." Friend, He already is the Lord of everything! He does not wait for you to make Him Lord. He already is! The only thing we can do is to admit it—to ourselves, to Him, to others. We turn over our lives to Him, we praise Him for bringing our dead spirit to life, we turn our back on our sins, we crucify our old self with Christ, and the life we live in the flesh we live by faith in the Son of God, who loved us and gave Himself for us (Galatians 2:20). By grace you have been saved through faith.

…and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God… Did you ever think that even the faith you would need to believe would have to be given to you by God? It's true my friend. Before we can admit that we are sinful; before we can call on Jesus as Lord, we must first have a fear of Him. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who delights greatly in His commandments (Psalm 112:1). There's just one problem. We don’t have that fear. It's not part of our programming. It's not something we are born with. …there is no fear of God before their eyes (Romans 3:18). So, in order to fear God so that we can see ourselves for who we are and call upon Jesus as Lord, we need to fear Him. But there is nothing inside of us that fears Him. So, we're stuck, right? Wrong. The faith you need is given to you by God.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved

Newton did not just throw that in there because it had a nice ring to it. He wrote truth out of a heart that had once been cold and dead to God. But after it had seen His mighty hand move in a way that he never would have believed possible before, he realized that God is one to be feared, respected, revered and awed above all. Or do you suppose the storm that caused his boat to nearly sink was just the result of air currents and cold fronts? How was it that the prophet Jonah was brought to repentance? Why did the apostles awaken Jesus as He slept on the boat? Do you think these storms were accidents, random occurrences, or fortunate coincidences? How do you explain a miserable, wretched slave trader being saved from a storm at sea that very nearly sunk his boat? Would that not cause one to fear the mighty hand of God?

This faith that is given to us by God comes with the added bonus of repentance. 2nd Timothy 2:24-25—And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God perhaps will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth… [Emphasis mine]

Yes, it is God who grants repentance. For [t]he Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (2nd Peter 3:9). But, alas, how to reconcile these two verses? He does not wish for any to perish, but all to come to repentance, yet they cannot repent unless God grants it to them. It does seem to be a bit of a quandary. Until you carefully consider the words used. He is longsuffering toward us. So many people want to apply this promise to every single person in the world. They say that God wants every single person to come to repentance.

But that is not what the apostle Peter tells us. He is longsuffering toward His chosen, His elect, and does not want any of His elect to perish, but for all of His elect to come to repentance. Now that we understand what that verse says, in that it does not speak of some type of universal salvation (but rather gives added credence to the doctrine of the limited atonement), we can go on with our study of the words of Paul to the Ephesians.

It is the fear of God that leads us to repentance. For without that fear, we would go through our lives, merrily and blissfully unaware of His impending judgment upon us. We would hear the words of truth. We would know that this is the God who brought Israel out of Egypt with His mighty hand. We would know that He is the God who delivered Goliath into David's hands. We would know He is the God who brought down the mighty walls of Jericho, and who caused Nebuchadnezzar to eat grass like an ox, and who delivered Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah from the flames of the fiery furnace—to the point they did not even carry the stench of the smoke—and yet we would think of Him as some daft old uncle who will look the other way when we impugn His name and stand in opposition to His righteousness.

It is this fear, leading to repentance, which creates in us the faith to believe on the Son of God unto our salvation. For without that fear, without that repentance, we would be continually and perpetually an enemy of the government of God, and thus an enemy of God Himself. For as these words of our Lord tell us—which words were recorded by that apostle whom Jesus loved—"He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." [Emphasis mine] Remember the words in bold, my friend. For these will be my answer to you if you should ask, "What about those who have never heard the gospel?" Do you think that one who has never heard will have a chance to hear when they stand before God? At the risk of sounding froward, that is absurd my friend! What do you think, that if one, while standing before the throne, will be asked, "My Son Jesus Christ died on the cross and shed His blood for your sins. Do you believe this?" Would that soul, sensing some doom would come to them, answer in the negative? Consider the rich man.

There he was, in the fires of torment. Lifting up his eyes to heaven. If he had had the chance to repent and escape such a fate before he had to enter into it, would he not have accepted it? Seeing as how he wished for one to go back and warn his brothers? But ah, my friend, as even the patriarch Abraham said, "…neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead." (Luke 16:19-31. And one did rise from the dead. Yet Israel is still not convinced.) And why did they not believe? Because they were not His sheep (John 10:26). And why were they not His sheep? Because they did not believe (John 6:36). And they did not believe because they had not faith from God to believe. Faith is the gift of God.

…not of works, lest any man should boast. The skeptic says, "See, there's a contradiction! This says we are not saved by works, but James says we are saved by works! These two cancel each other out!" The Papist will tell you that we are saved by faith—at the first—but that we keep ourselves saved by our works. Neither of these adequately explains what is going on here. Although I wouldn’t say they're not in the same neighborhood. I would say they're not even in the same galaxy.

It was because of this verse—along with Romans 3:20—Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law—that Martin Luther asked the young men he mentored to "Throw Jimmy in the oven." Luther did not particularly care for James' epistle. He did not consider it to be inspired of God. He thought that it preached a doctrine of salvation by works. It was only later in his life he repented, and saw it as the other side of the coin in the faith/works conversation. That said, are we saved by works? After all James did say that,

What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? (James 2:14).

And

But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? (James 2:20).

Ah, but friend! Again we go back to the question, "What is faith?" Is it simply believing in facts? No. Go read the answer above and come back. You see? A "faith" that is nothing more than acknowledging the veracity of certain facts is not faith—that is, it is not a faith that profits any. For if that faith is simply knowledge and acknowledgment, then Satan and his demons have so much more faith that any of the greatest saints! For these have seen God first hand, and know His awesome power and might! Revelation 12:9—So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And, as if to expound on the vision of the apostle whom Jesus loved, James tells us—just before he warns us that faith without works is dead—that You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!

Do you tremble before God? If you do, then you are one of those God is searching for. For He told the prophet "But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word." (Isaiah 66:2). But, is it enough to know He is God? Is it enough to even tremble at His presence? What must we do?

Believe. Was this not the answer from Paul to the jailer? Believe that you are a sinner. Believe that God will judge. Believe that He is eternally righteous and eternally holy. Believe that there is nothing you can do to earn His favor, or cover your sins, or dwell in the house of the LORD. Listen to the words of the Psalmist:

Psalm 5:4—For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with You.
Psalm 15:1-5—LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart; he who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend; in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he honors those who fear the LORD; he who swears to his own hurt and does not change; He who does not put out his money at usury, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.

That, my friend, is the goal of faith. And if the words of that second Psalm describe you, then you will do well. But only if you do so in Christ.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. This last verse and we will be finished. If we are not saved by works, then what is their purpose? If we do not go about earning stripes or merit badges for our good behavior, then are works really necessary? No…and yes.

Let me draw the distinction. We who are in Christ were created to do good works. We were chosen by God, before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before Him (Ephesians 1:4), according to the good pleasure of His will (Ephesians 1:5), and to the praise of the glory of His grace (Ephesians 1:6). Now we see that we were indeed created in Christ. To be His workmanship (Ephesians 2:10). That He puts up with our disobedience until we come to repentance (2nd Peter 3:9)—which repentance was given to us by God (2nd Timothy 2:24-25), that we might have faith in the Son of God (John 3:16) when we were enemies of God (Romans 5:10) and were alienated from Him (Colossians 1:21), having no fear of Him (Romans 3:18)—but He has made us alive who were once dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). Now we are to let our light shine before men (Matthew 5:16), and do the good works we were made for. Not that they keep us saved. But they are the result of our being saved.

We are His workmanship. You know what that word poiema (poiema) literally means? Achievement! We are His crowning achievement!

To the praise and glory of His grace!

James White on limited atonement

I must say that I have never heard the doctrine of "limited atonement" explained better than this (H/T: Rhett's Rants):

Christ's atoning death is clearly connected with His advocacy before the Father. Therefore, we can see the following truths:

1) It is impossible that the Son would not intercede for everyone for whom He died. If Christ dies as their Substitute, how could He not present His sacrifice in their stead before the Father? Can we really believe that Christ would die for someone that He did not intend to save?

2) It is impossible that anyone for whom the Son did not die could receive Christ's intercession. If Christ did not die in behalf of a certain individual, how could Christ intercede for that individual, since He would have no grounds upon which to seek the Father's mercy?

3) It is impossible that anyone for whom the Son intercedes could be lost. Can we imagine the Son pleading before the Father, presenting His perfect atonement in behalf of an individual that He wishes to save, and the Father rejecting the Son's intercession? The Father always hears the Son (John 11:42). Would He not hear the Son's pleas in behalf of all that the Son desires to save?

Furthermore, if we believe that Christ can intercede for someone that the Father will not save, then we must believe either 1) that there is dissension in the Godhead, the Father desiring one thing, the Son another, or 2) that the Father is incapable of doing what the Son desires Him to do. Both positions are utterly impossible.

That Christ does not act as High Priest for all men is clearly seen in His "High Priestly Prayer" in John 17. The Lord clearly distinguishes between the "world" and those who are His throughout the prayer, and verse 9 makes our point very strongly:

I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.

When Christ prays to the Father, He does not pray for the "world" but for those that have been given to Him by the Father (John 6:37).

For Whom Did Christ Die?

There are a number of Scriptures that teach us that the scope of Christ's death was limited to the elect. Here are a few of them:

Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28).

The "many" for whom Christ died are the elect of God, just as Isaiah had said long before,

By his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53:11)

The Lord Jesus made it clear that His death was for His people when He spoke of the Shepherd and the sheep:

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep....just as the Father knows me and I know the Father---and I lay down my life for the sheep (John 10:11, 15).

The good Shepherd lays down His life in behalf of the sheep. Are all men the sheep of Christ? Certainly not, for most men do not know Christ, and Christ says that His sheep know Him (John 10:14). Further, Jesus specifically told the Jews who did not believe in Him, "but you do not believe because you are not my sheep" (John 10:26). Note that in contrast with the idea that we believe and therefore make ourselves Christ's sheep, Jesus says that they do not believe because they are not His sheep! Whether one is of Christ's sheep is the Father's decision (John 6:37, John 8:47), not the sheep's!

[All emphases mine]

You can read the whole thing at Alpha Omega Ministries.

John Piper on the Five Points of Calvinism (Limited Atonement--part 2)

There are many Scriptures which say that the death of Christ was designed for the salvation of God's people, not for every individual. For example:

John 10:15, "I lay down my life for the sheep." The sheep of Christ are those whom the Father draws to the Son. "You do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep." Notice: being a sheep enables you to become a believer, not vice versa. So the sheep for whom Christ dies are the ones chosen by the Father to give to the Son.

In John 17:6,9,19 Jesus prays, "I have manifested Thy name to the men whom Thou gavest me out of the world; Thine they were, and Thou gavest them to me...I am praying for them; I am not praying for the world but for those whom Thou hast given me, for they are thine...And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth." The consecration in view here is the death of Jesus which he is about to undergo. His death and his intercession us uniquely for his disciples, not for the world in general.

John 11:51-52, "[Caiaphas] being high priest that year prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad." There are children of God scattered throughout the world. These are the sheep. These are the ones the Father will draw to the Son. Jesus died to gather these people into one. The point is the same as John 10:15-16, "I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice." Christ died for his sheep, that is, for the children of God.

Revelation 5:9, "Worthy art Thou to take the scroll and to open its seals, for Thou wast slain and by Thy blood didst ransom men for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation." In accordance with John 10:16 John does not say that the death of Christ ransomed all men but that it ransomed men from all the tribes of the world.

This is the way we understand texts like 1 John 2:2 which says, "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world." This does not mean that Christ died with the intention to appease the wrath of God for every person in the world, but that the "sheep," "the children of God" scattered throughout the whole world, "from every tongue and tribe and people and nation" are intended by the propitiation of Christ. In fact the grammatical parallel between John 11:51-52 and 1 John 2:2 is so close it is difficult to escape the conviction that the same thing is intended by John in both verses.

John 11:51-52, "He prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad."

1 John 2:2, "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world."

The "whole world" refers to the children of God scattered throughout the whole world.

If "the whole world" referred to every individual in the world, we would be forced to say that John is teaching that all people will be saved, which he does not believe (Revelation 14:9-11). The reason we would be forced to say this is that the term propitiation refers to a real removal of wrath from sinners. When God's wrath against a sinner is propitiated, it is removed from that sinner. And the result is that all God's power now flows in the service of his mercy, with the result that nothing can stop him from saving that sinner.

Propitiated sins cannot be punished. Otherwise propitiation loses its meaning. Therefore if Christ is the propitiation for all the sins of every individual in the world, they cannot be punished, and must be saved. But John does not believe in such universalism (John 5:29). Therefore it is very unlikely that 1 John 2:2 teaches that Jesus is the propitiation of every person in the world.

Mark 10:45, in accord with Revelation 5:9,does not say that Jesus came to ransom all men. It says, "For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Similarly in Matthew 26:28 Jesus says, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."

Hebrews 9:28, "So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him." (See also 13:20; Isaiah 53:11-12.)

One of the clearest passages on the intention of the death of Christ is Ephesians 5:25-27. Here Paul not only says that the intended beneficiary of the death of Christ is the Church, but also that the intended effect of the death of Christ is the sanctification and glorification of the church. This is the truth we want very much to preserve: that the cross was not intended to give all men the opportunity to save themselves, but was intended to actually save the church.

Paul says, "Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the church to himself in splendor."

Similarly in Titus 2:14 Paul describes the purpose of Christ's death like this: "He gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds." If Paul were an Arminian would he not have said, "He gave himself to redeem all men from iniquity and purify all men for himself"? But Paul says that the design of the atonement is to purify for Christ a people out from the world. This is just what John said in John 10:15; 11:51f; and Revelation 5:9.

One of the most crucial texts on this issue is Romans 8:32. It is one of the most precious promises for God's people in all the Bible. Paul says, "He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him?"

The crucial thing to see here is how Paul bases the certainty of our inheritance on the death of Christ. He says, "God will most certainly give you all things because he did not spare his own Son but gave him up for you." What becomes of this precious argument if Christ is given for those who do not in fact receive all things but instead are lost? The argument vanishes.

If God gave his own Son for unbelievers who in the end are lost, then he cannot say that the giving of the Son guarantees "all things" for the those for whom he died. But this is what he does say! If God gave his Son for you, then he most certainly will give you all things. The structure of Paul's thought here is simply destroyed by introducing the idea that Christ died for all men in the same way.

We can conclude this section with the following summary argument. Which of these statements is true?

1. Christ died for some of the sins of all men.

2. Christ died for all the sins of some men.

3. Christ died for all the sins of all men.

No one says that the first is true, for then all would be lost because of the sins that Christ did not die for. The only way to be saved from sin is for Christ to cover it with his blood.

The third statement is what the Arminians would say. Christ died for all the sins of all men. But then why are not all saved? They answer, Because some do not believe. But is this unbelief not one of the sins for which Christ died? If they say yes, then why is it not covered by the blood of Jesus and all unbelievers saved? If they say no (unbelief is not a sin that Christ has died for) then they must say that men can be saved without having all their sins atoned for by Jesus, or they must join us in affirming statement number two: Christ died for all the sins of some men. That is, he died for the unbelief of the elect so that God's punitive wrath is appeased toward them and his grace is free to draw them irresistibly out of darkness into his marvelous light.
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By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: http://www.desiringgod.org/. Email: mail@desiringGod.org. Toll Free: 1.888.346.4700.

John Piper on the Five Points of Calvinism (Limited Atonement--part 1)

Part 5 in the journey through one of the best explanations of Calvinism this side of C. H. Spurgeon. If John Piper isn't one of your favorite Christian writers, he should be.

Limited Atonement

The atonement is the work of God in Christ on the cross whereby he canceled the debt of our sin, appeased his holy wrath against us, and won for us all the benefits of salvation. The death of Christ was necessary because God would not show a just regard for his glory if he swept sins under the rug with no recompense.

Romans 3:25-26 says that God "put Christ forward as a propitiation by his blood...This was to demonstrate God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies those who have faith in Jesus."

In other words the death of Christ was necessary to vindicate the righteousness of God in justifying the ungodly by faith. It would be unrighteous to forgive sinners as though their sin were insignificant, when in fact it is an infinite insult against the value of God's glory. Therefore Jesus bears the curse, which was due to our sin, so that we can be justified and the righteousness of God can be vindicated.

The term "limited atonement" addresses the question, "For whom did Christ die?" But behind the question of the extent of the atonement lies the equally important question about the nature of the atonement. What did Christ actually achieve on the cross for those for whom he died?

If you say that he died for every human being in the same way, then you have to define the nature of the atonement very differently than you would if you believed that Christ only died for those who actually believe. In the first case you would believe that the death of Christ did not actually save anybody; it only made all men savable. It did not actually remove God's punitive wrath from anyone, but instead created a place where people could come and find mercy—IF they could accomplish their own new birth and bring themselves to faith without the irresistible grace of God.

For if Christ died for all men in the same way then he did not purchase regenerating grace for those who are saved. They must regenerate themselves and bring themselves to faith. Then and only then do they become partakers of the benefits of the cross.

In other words if you believe that Christ died for all men in the same way, then the benefits of the cross cannot include the mercy by which we are brought to faith, because then all men would be brought to faith, but they aren't. But if the mercy by which we are brought to faith (irresistible grace) is not part of what Christ purchased on the cross, then we are left to save ourselves from the bondage of sin, the hardness of heart, the blindness of corruption, and the wrath of God.

Therefore it becomes evident that it is not the Calvinist who limits the atonement. It is the Arminian, because he denies that the atoning death of Christ accomplishes what we most desperately need—namely, salvation from the condition of deadness and hardness and blindness under the wrath of God. The Arminian limits the nature and value and effectiveness of the atonement so that he can say that it was accomplished even for those who die in unbelief and are condemned. In order to say that Christ died for all men in the same way, the Arminian must limit the atonement to a powerless opportunity for men to save themselves from their terrible plight of depravity.

On the other hand we do not limit the power and effectiveness of the atonement. We simply say that in the cross God had in view the actual redemption of his children. And we affirm that when Christ died for these, he did not just create the opportunity for them to save themselves, but really purchased for them all that was necessary to get them saved, including the grace of regeneration and the gift of faith.

We do not deny that all men are the intended beneficiaries of the cross in some sense. 1 Timothy 4:10 says that Christ is "the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe." What we deny is that all men are intended as the beneficiaries of the death of Christ in the same way. All of God's mercy toward unbelievers—from the rising sun (Matthew 5:45) to the worldwide preaching of the gospel (John 3:16)—is made possible because of the cross.

This is the implication of Romans 3:25 where the cross is presented as the basis of God's righteousness in passing over sins. Every breath that an unbeliever takes is an act of God's mercy withholding judgment (Romans 2:4). Every time the gospel is preached to unbelievers it is the mercy of God that gives this opportunity for salvation.

Whence does this mercy flow to sinners? How is God just to withhold judgment from sinners who deserve to be immediately cast into hell? The answer is that Christ's death so clearly demonstrates God's just abhorrence of sin that he is free to treat the world with mercy without compromising his righteousness. In this sense Christ is the savior of all men.

But he is especially the Savior of those who believe. He did not die for all men in the same sense. The intention of the death of Christ for the children of God was that it purchase far more than the rising sun and the opportunity to be saved. The death of Christ actually saves from ALL evil those for whom Christ died "especially."
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By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: http://www.desiringgod.org/. Email: mail@desiringGod.org. Toll Free: 1.888.346.4700.