A Community of Faith - part 7
Being Saved
What does it mean to “be saved?”
It’s a vital question to answer because all of our activities, programs, worship, and everything else a church does centers on the answer to the simple question, “What does it mean to be saved?” It’s akin to the question, “Why do we exist?” What is the point of a church?
Are we here to be a social welfare organization? Are we helping people be saved from poverty, abuse, addiction, or other social ills?
Are we here to be a social club? Are we helping people be saved from boredom or loneliness?
Are we an entertainment venue? We aren’t really saving people so much as telling a good story and uplifting their spirits for week.
I don’t believe very many churches would categorize themselves this way, but I also believe actions speak louder than words. Sometimes churches can get caught in one of these goals as a trap.
Desiring to help the society around them becomes more important than why they feel called to help people in the first place.
Desiring unity in fellowship becomes so important that doctrinal integrity becomes much less important.
Desiring to draw a crowd to hear the Gospel becomes more important than actually telling and living out the Gospel.
It’s not that these things are bad. It’s just that if they become the most important part of church, then the church has failed to uphold its very purpose for existence—to help people understand the answer to the question, “What does it mean to ‘be saved?’”
Today, we are looking at point 4 in the Baptist Faith & Message—Salvation.
One Way to Salvation
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.
As we have already seen when looking at previous points, the way to salvation is found in Jesus Christ. A couple of doctrines are added with this next point. First:
Salvation encompasses the whole person, body and soul.
John received a vision of the end of the age that he recorded in the Book of Revelation. If we turn to the end of the vision, in chapter 21 we read:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Revelation 21:1-4
When John saw the end of the age, he did not see a merely spiritual realm, nor did he see a mere physical realm. The two had become one. He saw “a new heaven and a new earth” in which the holy city comes down from heaven. God dwells with humanity. Heaven and earth are joined visibly and physically. The remaining chapters describe this new state of being for humanity.
If the end goal is total salvation of body and soul, then as we continue to walk with Jesus and mature, then we should not neglect either body or soul. When Paul writes to the Thessalonians about salvation, he reminds them of the charge of keeping the whole self blameless.
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:23
We will return to the idea of sanctification in a bit, but again, notice how God sanctifies, or saves, the whole—spirit, soul, and body.
The second note about salvation is:
Salvation is only found through faith in Jesus Christ.
Jesus was clear on this issue.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:6
By way of analogy, Jesus tells a parable in John 10 about a shepherd and his sheep. The true shepherd goes through the gate, but a thief will climb in another way. The sheep know their shepherd and will follow his voice. He then explains the parable in 10:7-18.
So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me.
John 10:7-14
We are God’s sheep, and only God can call us to Himself. Jesus came, God Incarnate, in order to call out His sheep from this world. The reason salvation is only found in Jesus is because only Jesus is the one who can bring salvation.
So what is salvation? The BFM, along with theologians for the last 2000 years, divides the process of salvation into four parts. Though “being saved” consists of one process that is the work of the Trinity, it is helpful to divide the process in order to understand the nature of what God is doing.
A. Regeneration
A. Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God’s grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace.
Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Savior.
The first step is regeneration which is the initial new birth that occurs when the Holy Spirit reclaims and restores the heart. In John 3:5-8:
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
John 3:5-8
The new birth is one of the Holy Spirit bringing new life into the new believer.
Regeneration is the supernatural act of the Holy Spirit bringing new life into the individual.
It comes alongside repentance. In order for the person to be saved, they must repent from their former way of life. Repentance is “turning away” or “changing the mind.” It is a new way of thinking. Where once we were at odds with God and the proper way of thinking, we now desire to live and think as God designs us to.
When Peter preached at Pentecost after receiving the Holy Spirit, he told them:
And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:38
Repentance is the act that leads to salvation. If we want rebirth, if we want salvation, then we must repent and seek forgiveness of sin. Then we will receive the Holy Spirit and new life.
B. Justification
Justification is God’s gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. Justification brings the believer unto a relationship of peace and favor with God.
Upon our regeneration, we are also justified in light of the work of Christ. Where regeneration describes the spiritual rebirth, justification describes establishing a right relationship between God and man. We have peace with God because our sins are forgiven.
Justification is the act of being reconciled to God.
In 2 Corinthians, Paul explains how the work of Christ reconciles us to God, and then that work is passed on to us who share in Christ’s salvation.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:17-21
Notice how Paul ties all of the previous points together. If we are in Christ, we are a new creation—new birth. All of it is a work of God who reconciled us to Himself through Christ. God no longer counts our trespasses, our sin, against us, because Christ has paid the price for our sins.
Christians become ambassadors for Christ imploring others to be reconciled as well. And no one is reconciled based on their righteousness. Again, verse 21, “He became sin, who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Justification is possible because of Jesus’ righteousness, not our own.
Now, that last clause brings up the question “How can we become the righteousness of God?” The answer is through the process of sanctification.
C. Sanctification
Sanctification is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God’s purposes, and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual maturity through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerate person’s life.
Before we turn away from 2 Corinthians, take a look at chapter 6.
Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
2 Corinthians 6:1
How could someone receive the grace of God in vain? That happens when someone hears the Good News of salvation, but they fail to respond to the invitation of reconciliation. Paul continues in the first part of chapter 6 telling them the invitation is wide open. Paul and his co-workers have been open and honest in their dealings and message. In verse 12 he says his heart is wide open, and he only asks that they open their hearts to the truth.
Then, in verse 14, he makes a statement that, unfortunately, has been relegated to dating advice to teenagers. You’ll notice Paul has not mentioned dating at all. We read:
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,
“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.Therefore go out from their midst,
and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.”2 Corinthians 6:14-18
The problem with the Corinthians is that, even though they have heard the message of Christ, they are trying to play both sides—pagan and Christian. Paul says this cannot be. There is no partnership between righteousness and lawlessness, or light and dark, and certainly not Christ and the devil.
The promise of God to make His dwelling with people is for His people. Those who reject the offer of salvation will not receive any inheritance in the new Creation, therefore, Christians should not partner themselves with those who are in God’s wrath. And far from just dating, Paul is saying to separate ourselves wholly.
Sanctification is the process by which Christians become more like Christ and less like the world.
If this is the promise we have, then Paul has a simple implication which comes in chapter 7.
Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
2 Corinthians 7:1
If the point of our salvation is to cleanse ourselves from the sin in this world, then we should continue to remove sin from our lives. This process does not end until our glorification.
D. Glorification
Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed.
Glorification is one aspect of salvation that many Christians do not think much about. They certainly think about heaven, I’m sure, but have you thought about what we will be like? Not what you’ll see, but what your body will be like?
Jesus gives a brief picture in Matthew 13.
Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
Matthew 13:43
This phrasing sounds very similar to what Peter, James, and John see on the mountain at the Transfiguration. In Matthew 17, we read:
And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.
Matthew 17:1-2
And also in Revelation 1:12-16:
Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
Revelation 1:12-16
Of course, we can’t read too much into this description as describing what we will be like, simply because John is describing Jesus. But, Paul tells us we will be changed into something more than what we are.
I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
1 Corinthians 15:50-53
Our glorified state will be something recognizable to what we are now, and yet immortal, imperishable, and incorruptible.
Whatever we will look like, we can rest assure the glory that we have will only be because of Jesus Christ. We will be reflecting the glory that we receive from Him because He paid the price for our sin, and He made the Way for salvation.
As we close this look at salvation, I want to leave you with the same advice Paul gives at the end of this chapter.
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
1 Corinthians 15:58
As we continue the work God has given us. Remember you do not labor in vain. Be steadfast and immovable in the work He has given you. Now, this work may look a little different for each of us, but the work will fall into these tasks.
First, get rid of the sin that so easily entangles us. Whatever malice, immorality, or the myriad of other self-destructive attitudes and actions that sin takes on, get rid of it. We cannot be what God wants us to be if we remain in our sin.
Second, open your mouth wide to speak of the Good News of salvation. It is a gift of God, and so no matter who you are or who you are speaking to, be confident to proclaim Jesus is Lord.
Third, patiently endure whatever this life will throw at you. Jesus never promised us an easy ride. In fact, He was pretty clear that this world will try to steal our joy and our confidence. But take heart, because He has already overcome this world.
But if you have not received the salvation that God freely gives to us through His Son, then today is the day of your salvation. Repent, turn away, from sin and this world, and turn towards the One who loves you and will transform you.