Tag: salvation

More on Helping Your Kids with Salvation

~ Bob Hayton ~ 3 Comments

A few days ago, I posted on this question: How do we know our children are saved? After that post, I found a few more resources about this issue.

Justin Taylor highlighted a free series of sermons on how children come to Christ. The 6 part sermon series is available for free download.

My friend Jamsco of The Responsible Puppet, has a new blog about parenting: Responsible Father. One of his recent posts addresses this issue head on: Altar Calls for Children: I’m Against Them. As my previous post would let on, I agree with him on this one. Altar calls for children are more dangerous and confusing then helpful.

Finally, I should mention a book I’m working my way through. It’s by Donald Van Dyken, entitled Rediscovering Catechism: The Art of Equipping Covenant Children (2000, P&R publishing). Instilling the facts of the gospel into our children’s hearts is something we can all agree on. After this book, I’ll pick up Shepherding A Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp (1995, Shepherd Press).

As parents, we can’t think more deeply about, or read more widely on this issue. It is the most vital aspect of our Christian parenting. Lord, have mercy — on us, and our children.

Quotes to Note 11: Once Saved, Always Saved?

~ Bob Hayton

I am working on my review of Larry Helyer’s excellent book, The Witness of Jesus, Paul and John: An Exploration in Biblical Theology. I came across a quote that is really good, but doesn’t quite fit into my review.

I’ve explained my take on the well-known phrase “Once Saved, Always Saved”, in one of my most popular posts of all time. Here I’ll quote Larry Helyer’s (Professor of Biblical Studies at Taylor University) thoughts on this issue (he largely agrees with me).

A popular slogan says, “Once saved, always saved.” There is, of course, an element of truth in this: the number of God’s elect is fixed and certain because they are foreknown and predestined from eternity to obtain final salvation (i.e., glorification [see Rom 8:28-30; Eph 1:3-14]). On the other hand, exact knowledge of who the elect are belongs to God alone (cf. Deut 29:29). The individual believer is warned against making premature judgments in this regard (1 Cor. 4:5), simply to make his or her election sure by persistence in faith (Col 1:22-23; cf. 2 Pet 1:10). One need not live in constant anxiety about this, however, since the Spirit witnesses with our spirit, giving assurance that we are the children of God, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Rom 8:14-17). Where the slogan can be misleading is in the tendency to think that some outward show of commitment, such as raising one’s hand, going forward in an evangelistic service, signing a decision card and the like, forever seals one’s eternal destiny, there being nothing capable of altering the unalterable. Such an view ignores the necessity of continuing in faith (Col. 1:23). Paul insists that “the only thing that counts is faith working through love” (Gal 5:6 [my italics]). Decisions not matched by discipleship are deceitful. They presume that one may secure salvation on one’s own terms, and such presumption is precarious.

From The Witness of Jesus, Paul and John by Larry Helyer (IVP Academic)  © 2008, 261-262.

The Gospel’s Work in Believers, Conclusion

~ fundyreformed ~ 1 Comment

Continued from part 2.

We have seen that the Gospel has many purposes for believers beyond initial conversion. It is as much for believers as unbelievers. I’d like to start this final post by quoting Tim Keller once more at some length. (I should mention that the quotes from Keller in this series come from this online article.)

…the gospel is not just for non-Christians, but also for Christians. This means the gospel is not just the A-B-C’s but the A to Z of the Christian life. It is not accurate to think “the gospel” is what saves non-Christians, and then, what matures Christians is trying hard to live according to Biblical principles. It is more accurate to say that we are saved by believing the gospel, and then we are transformed in every part of our mind, heart, and life by believing the gospel more and more deeply as our life goes on.

If we think of the gospel as only pardon or forgiveness of sins, we will trust in God for our past salvation, but will trust in our own present strivings and attainments for our present relationship with God…  the entire Christian life is a life lived (in a continual present progressive) by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Gal. 2:20) …we must continually remind ourselves of our status as legally righteous, adopted children of God.

Applying the Gospel to Yourself

It’s time to get more practical, how can we live in light of the Gospel? How can we apply this Gospel-power, that is at work in us believers, to our lives?

1. Live in the light of what is supremely true.

The only remedy for sin is Christ. We are accepted by God because of His sacrifice. This world is passing away while God’s promises offer hope for eternal life.   The sin we so enjoy offers a false pleasure which offends our God and injures us. Even though we can’t see it, God’s word and the glorious city of Heaven, the New Jerusalem, is more true than the reality we endure each day. We need to live as if we really are citizens of a Heavenly country.

For this point, I like to think of Abraham as described in Hebrews 11. He was living for a heavenly city, which He didn’t physically see. He was living in light of a glorious inheritance which he only could hope for, not truly experience in this life. He is our pattern, we are citizens of a Heavenly Kingdom on a pilgrimage through this life. We need to live in light of what is supremely true.

2. Become what you are.

John Piper explains this point well (in When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight for Joy):

One of the ways the Bible talks about our action in relation to our standing in Christ is to command us to become what we are. For example, using Old Testament ceremonial language Paul says, “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened” (1 Cor. 5:7). In other words, become what you are. You are unleavened (sinless in Christ); therefore become unleavened (sinless in practice). You have already died with Christ (Rom. 6:5-6); therefore “consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 6:11). You have already been made alive together with Christ (Eph. 2:5); therefore, “seek the things that are above” (Col. 3:1). You are already holy in Christ (Col. 3:12); therefore “be holy in all your conduct” (1 Pet. 1:15). You already are the light of the world in Christ (Matt. 5:14); therefore, “let your light shine” (Matt. 5:16).

3. Keep your Indicatives and Imperatives straight.

This is basically a reiteration of the point above. You’ll have to forgive me but I get excited about this: something about saying indicative and imperative together so appeals to the intellectual in me!… The indicative is the statement about what you are in Christ, the imperative is the commands for what we should do. To put it another way: Indicative is Be, and Imperative is Do. In the New Testament, every Do is firmly rooted in a Be. Ephesians and Romans split nicely into two sections Eph 1-3 builds the basis for the commands in 4-6. Romans 1-11 builds the gospel basis for the commands in 12-16. Other books, like 1 Peter, intersperse commands and statements together. Titus 2 illustrates this well, the commands for how to live in vs. 1-10 are connected to the Gospel reality in vs. 11-14 by the word “for” (gar). Because we’ve been forgiven and given the Spirit, we will want to obey God’s commands, not to gain favor with Him, but because He has so blessed us.

4. Preach the Gospel to yourself.

Perhaps the best way to let the Gospel impact you day to day is to constantly remind yourself of the truth of the Gospel. I have a lot of quotes on this point, but they have really helped me and perhaps we can share with one another how to practically live out this point better.

D. Martin Lloyd Jones used to use the phrase “preach the gospel to yourself” often. Piper gives a few insightful quotes from Jones’ most famous book Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cures. Jones is commenting on Ps. 42:5: “Why art you cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance” (KJV).

Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take these thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them but they are talking to you, they bring back the problems of yesterday, etc. Somebody is talking. Who is talking to you? Your self is talking to you. Now this man’s treatment [in Psalm 42] was this: instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself. “Why art thou cast down, O my soul?” he asks. His soul had been depressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says, “Self, listen for a moment, I will speak to you. The main art in the matter of spiritual living is to know how to handle yourself. You have to take yourself in hand, you have to address yourself, preach to yourself, question yourself…. You must turn on yourself, upbraid yourself, condemn yourself, exhort yourself, and say to yourself: “Hope thou in God” instead of muttering in this depressed, unhappy way, and then you must go on to remind yourself of God, Who God is, and what God has done, and what God has pledged Himself to do. Then having done, that, end on this great note: defy yourself, and defy other people, and defy the devil and the whole world, and say with this man: “I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance, who is also the health of my countenance and my God.”

We need to encourage our own self to believe the Gospel on a daily basis. Jerry Bridges has much to say on this topic. From The Discipline of Grace:

…preaching the gospel to ourselves every day reminds us that we are indeed sinners in need of God’s grace….It helps us to consciously renounce any confidence in our own goodness as a means of meriting God’s blessing on our lives. Perhaps more importantly, though, preaching the gospel to ourselves every day gives us hope, joy, and courage. The good news that our sins are forgiven because of Christ’s death fills our hearts with joy, gives us courage to face the day, and offers us hope that God’s favor will rest upon us, not because we are good, but because we are in Christ.

These three posts have now come to an end, but life goes on and our need for the Gospel’s power will always remain. I pray we all are encouraged and spurred on to let the Gospel transform us. How are you doing that now? And does anything in these posts ring true for you? Please continue the conversation in the comments.

The Gospel’s Work in Believers, Part 2

~ fundyreformed ~ 10 Comments

Continued from part 1.

So, in the gospel, as unbelievers we found acceptance through Christ and forgiveness from sin. But as believers, don’t we rely on that acceptance as we work out our salvation? Don’t we need to be constantly challenged to obey more and be more faithful to God? Does our spiritual life depend in some sense on our own efforts and our obedience to Christ? Yes and No. Let’s look at what the Bible says about the Gospel’s work in believers more closely.

The Gospel and the Believer

1. Spiritual growth comes by hearing the Gospel and believing.

Galatians 2:19-3:5 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain? if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?

Just as we initially receive the Spirit when we are converted by hearing (the gospel) with faith (Vs. 2). Even so, our continued life in the Spirit comes by hearing (the gospel) with faith (Vs. 5). We cannot live our spiritual lives by fleshly effort (vs. 3, 2:20, cf. Col. 2:20-3:4).

2. All of life is to be lived in accordance to the Gospel.

Gal. 2:14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all,….

Paul challenged Peter that his conduct was not measuring up to the gospel, implying that our conduct needs to measure up to the gospel. Paul could have scolded Peter for displaying the sin of racial prejudice. He could have called him to the carpet for disobeying the command to love his neighbor. Instead, Paul pointed out how Peter had failed to live in accordance with the gospel. The gospel has claims on us and requires we live in light of it as we make decisions in all of life.

3. Holiness, and proving that one has a genuine faith, depends on not shifting from the hope of the gospel.

Col. 1:21-23 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has not been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I Paul, became a minister.

Holiness and growth in godliness depend on keeping close to the gospel. Proving that one is indeed reconciled, that they have a genuine faith is manifested by how they continue in believing the gospel.

4. Strength is supplied to us by the gospel.

Rom. 16:25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith.

Strength is from the gospel, which is further described as the “preaching of Jesus Christ”. This preaching brings about the obedience of faith. So strength to obey and persevere in faith comes from the revelation of Christ in the gospel.

5. The Gospel is the very Power that Saves us.

Rom. 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (literally = everyone [presently/continually] believing), to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, The righteous shall live by faith.

In one sense we are already saved from having believed the gospel, but in a very real sense we are not yet ultimately saved. When the New Testament uses the term saved or salvation, it often refers to the point in time when we are glorified in heaven, when we actually arrive there. Often Scripture speaks of salvation as in a sense a work in progress, it’s not yet complete. This is reflected well in how the ESV translates the meaning of the Greek tenses for the word sowzo (saved) in the following passages.

1 Cor. 1:17-18 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

1 Cor. 15:1-2 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you””unless you believed in vain.

Salvation depends on us “holding fast to the word … preached” . When this doesn’t happen, it reveals that the individual has “believed in vain” . They have a faith like that described in Luke 8, they “believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away” (see also 1 Jn. 2:19). True saving, genuine faith endures to the end and doesn’t fail. What supplies us with that kind of faith is a holding on to the Gospel. The Gospel has a power by which it saves us.

To conclude this point: we have seen the Gospel has many purposes for believers beyond initial conversion. It is as much for believers as unbelievers. We’ll explore some practical ways we can avail ourselves of the power of the Gospel in our Christian life, in the third and final post in this series.

For more on the idea of “being saved”, check out posts in my topic on perseverance, especially My 219 Epiphany.

Vern Poythress on the Christocentricity of Scripture

~ fundyreformed ~ 6 Comments

Dr. Vern Poythress of Westminster Seminary is an ardent advocate of Redemptive Historical interpretation. He recently contributed History of Salvation notes for the forthcoming ESV Study Bible. Crossway just released his article, Overview of the Bible: Survey of the History of Salvation, included at the front of the ESV Study Bible. I’d encourage everyone to read that brief article (3 1/2 pdf pages). Succinctly yet powerfully, Poythress covers the whole gamut of how the Bible works together as a whole in recording the History of Salvation, and highlighting the glory of Jesus Christ, our Savior.

The ESV Study Bible blog, points out a recent interview of Vern Poythress at the Beginning with Moses blog. I’ve read the first two parts, but the third is due on Monday. The questions and answers there are also worth your time. I especially like how Poythress concludes the second interview post:

It is not fashionable nowadays, but I confess that I do believe that every passage, and even every word, of the OT reflects Christ.

I’d encourage you to check out what Poythress says in connection with this claim. The whole of Scripture really is Christo-centric. Poythress’ notes are one of the main reasons I’m so excited about the new ESV Study Bible, by the way. In treating the Bible academically, we run the risk of forgetting that it is a living Book. We need to think when we read it, yes. But we also need to listen to the Holy Spirit. We can easily miss the forest for the trees, and Vern’s Salvation History notes will remind us of the major themes of Scripture as we battle over the meaning of each individual passage therein.

One last note: Poythress has many articles and even book available online for free at the website he jointly shares with his friend John Frame. Check out www.frame-poythress.org for some great, freely available, Christ-centered resources.