Salvation-Introduction
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday November 18, 2015
Salvation: Introduction
Lesson # 1
The doctrine of salvation in the Bible is of course an extremely important one and very often misunderstood.
For many Christians salvation is simply understood in relation to justification.
In other words, they only think of it in relation to the sinner receiving eternal salvation through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.
However, the Scriptures teach that it involves much more than this since they teach that it is accomplished in stages.
The first stage occurs at the moment of conversion or in other words, justification.
The second occurs when the Christian is experiencing fellowship with God or in other words, experiencing their sanctification.
The final stage takes place when the Christian receives their resurrection body at the rapture of the church.
The nature of salvation is also misunderstood by Christians today in the sense that when they think of being saved, they think of receiving eternal life and the forgiveness of sins.
They often don’t understand that salvation in the Bible speaks of deliverance.
The Scriptures teach that salvation is deliverance from eternal condemnation.
It is also a deliverance from being condemned by the Law.
Furthermore, it is a deliverance from real spiritual death, the sin nature, personal sins, the devil and his cosmic system.
The Christian’s salvation, i.e. his deliverance is also accomplished in three stages: (1) positional (2) experiential (3) perfective or ultimate.
Like the church age believer’s sanctification, their deliverance from sin, Satan and his cosmic system is accomplished in three stages:
(1) Positional: At the moment the believer exercised faith alone in Christ alone, they were delivered “positionally” from real spiritual death and eternal condemnation, the devil, his cosmic system and the sin nature through the crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session of the Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 19:9; John 4:22; Acts 4:12; 13:26, 47; 16:17; Romans 1:16; 10:1, 10; 11:11; 2 Corinthians 6:2; Ephesians 1:13; Philippians 1:28; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; Hebrews 2:10; 5:9; 6:9; 1 Peter 1:9-10; 2 Peter 3:15; Jude 3; Revelation 7:10).
By “positionally,” I mean that God views the believer as crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with Christ, which was accomplished at the moment of conversion through the Baptism of the Spirit when the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit placed the believer in an eternal union with Christ.
In other words, the “positional” aspect of the believer’s salvation refers to the past action of God saving us from sin, Satan, his cosmic system and eternal condemnation when we trusted in Jesus Christ as our Savior.
The believer’s deliverance positionally sets up the “potential” for him to experience this deliverance in time since this deliverance can only be experienced after salvation through obedience to the teaching of the Word of God.
It also guarantees the believer’s ultimate deliverance at the rapture, which is based upon the sovereign decision of God rather than the volition of the believer.
(2) Experiential: After conversion, the believer can “experience” deliverance from the devil, his cosmic system and the sin nature by appropriating by faith the teaching of the Word of God that he has been crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with Christ.
This constitutes the believer’s spiritual life after being delivered from real spiritual death (2 Corinthians 1:6; 7:10; Romans 6:11-23; 8:1-17; Philippians 2:12; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:5-17; 2 Timothy 2:10; 3:15; Hebrews 2:3, 10; 1 Peter 2:2).
In other words, the “experiential” aspect of salvation is used of the believer’s deliverance from sin, Satan and his cosmic system in the present moment.
2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. (NASB95)
1 Corinthians 1:18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (NASB95)
1 Timothy 4:16 Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you. (NASB95)
In this verse, the verb sozo refers to Timothy experiencing his deliverance from sin and Satan and his cosmic system by obeying Paul’s previous command to continue making it his habit of persevering in exemplifying Christ-like character, which is the direct result of obeying the first command in 1 Timothy 4:16.
Timothy will continue to exemplify Christ-like character by obeying this first command to continue making it his habit of paying attention to himself, i.e. his character and conduct.
Consequently, by obeying these two commands he will experience his deliverance from sin and Satan.
The verb also refers to those who adhere to Timothy’s teaching experiencing their deliverance from sin and Satan as well.
They will experience this deliverance if Timothy obeys the second command in 1 Timothy 4:16 to continue making it his habit of persevering in teaching sound doctrine.
This second command is the direct result of the first command, which called for Timothy to continue making it his habit of paying attention to his teaching.
Thus, if Timothy teaches sound doctrine, his listeners will experience their deliverance from sin and Satan as well.
(3) Perfective: At the resurrection the believer will be delivered “in a perfective sense” and permanently from the devil, his cosmic system and the sin nature when he receives his resurrection body at the rapture of the church, which is imminent (Romans 13:11; 1 Thessalonians 5:8-9; Hebrews 1:14; 9:28; 1 Peter 1:5).
In other words, the “perfective” aspect of salvation is used of the believer’s future deliverance from sin, Satan and his cosmic system (Philippians 3:20-21).
In Hebrews 9:24-28, all three stages of the believer’s salvation are referred to.
Hebrews 9:24 For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us (experiential aspect of the believer’s salvation); 25 nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. (This makes possible the “positional” aspect of salvation) 27 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, 28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him. (This refers to the “future” deliverance of the believer at the rapture). (NASB95)
Warren Wiersbe commenting on Hebrews 9:24-28, writes, “Did you notice that the word ‘appear’ is used three times in Hebrews 9:24–28? These three uses give us a summary of our Lord’s work. He has appeared to put away sin by dying on the cross (Hebrews 9:26). He is appearing now in heaven for us (Hebrews 9:24). One day, He shall appear to take Christians home (Hebrews 9:28). These ‘three tenses of salvation’ are all based on His finished work.”
Just as in the believer’s sanctification, their deliverance positionally sets up the “potential” for them to experience this deliverance in time since this deliverance can only be experienced after conversion through obedience to the teaching of the Word of God through the enabling power of the Spirit.
It also guarantees the believer’s ultimate deliverance at the rapture.
The believer can experience their deliverance from sin, spiritual death, Satan and his cosmic system through the omnipotence of the Spirit by appropriating by faith the teaching of the Word of God that they have been crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with Christ (Romans 6:11-23; 8:1-17; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:5-17).