Lesson for January 12, 2022

The Doctrine of Soteriology

Lesson 2

The Three Tenses of Salvation

Salvation means that a person is delivered from his or her past penalty and condemnation of sin. Because we are all born with a sin nature and Adam’s original sin, we arrive in this world spiritually dead. (Romans 3:23, 6:23; 8:1) Because Jesus Christ “became sin” on the Cross and paid the penalty for our sin, God is free to offer to everyone His righteousness and eternal life on the basis of grace. (John 3:16; II Corinthians 5:21) However, a person must use their own volition to decide to believe in Christ for salvation. (John 3:36; Acts 16:30-31)

Salvation means that we have the potential of being delivered in the present from the power of sin. Divine Viewpoint Thinking is the key to overcoming the power of the sin nature. When we begin to think the way God thinks, we will be able to recognize overt and mental attitude sins in our lives. Once these sins are recognized, we can acknowledge, isolate, and forget them. This, of course, can eventually break the power that certain sins have over us. However, we must constantly be on guard.

Divine Viewpoint Thinking can be developed only through the consistent study and application of Bible doctrine. Just knowing Bible doctrine is not enough. Victory over certain sins comes as we use (apply) the doctrine that we have learned. Therefore, it is imperative that we have more than mere academic knowledge of God’s Word. Academic knowledge (gnosis) must be converted to spiritual knowledge (epignosis) by faith.

As Divine Viewpoint Thinking permeates your thinking, Bible doctrine becomes your scale of values, your norms and standards begin to align with God’s, and even your conscience is influenced in a positive way. Thinking divine viewpoint sets up “a standard” by which you can evaluate everything that enters your mind, including temptation to commit personal sin. You have only two choices as a believer when it comes to thinking: Divine Viewpoint or Human Viewpoint. 

Salvation means that a person will be delivered from the future presence of sin in eternity. A result of the imputation of eternal life to us is that we are guaranteed a resurrection body. Theologically we call this Ultimate Sanctification, and it will occur at the Rapture of the Church. This resurrection body is said to be like Christ’s resurrection body. In our resurrection bodies, we will be able to produce only divine good. The imputation of eternal life assures us of an eternal relationship with God. (Philippians 3:21; I Thessalonians 4:13-17; I Corinthians 15:51-57; I John 3:2)

Two Deaths of Christ

Every person is born spiritually dead, which means they have no eternal relationship with God. Even though a person is a creation of God (God alone gives human life at birth), a person becomes a child of God by faith in Jesus Christ at salvation. Being spiritually dead, a person is condemned from birth to the Lake of Fire (Hell) for all eternity, unless they believe in Jesus Christ for salvation. Upon faith in Christ, a person becomes a Christian and receives 40 spiritual assets, which include eternal life, an eternal inheritance, the righteousness of God and many other wonderful things. (Galatians 3:26)

Without an eternal relationship with God, there is no hope for the future. Without an eternal relationship with God, an unbeliever cannot save himself from hell and remains in a state of spiritual darkness all his life. Without a relationship with God, an unbeliever is dominated by Satan’s influence and remains alienated from God and is said to be the enemy of God. For these reasons and many more, an unbeliever is said to be “lost.” (Luke 19:10; Colossians 1:13; Ephesians 2:1-12; John 3:18, 36, 8:44; I John 5:19)

The solution to the human race’s need is salvation through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. The Person and work of Jesus Christ paid the judicial penalty of spiritual death imposed upon the human race by Adam when he sinned in the Garden of Eden. Spiritual death means separation from God. However, the humanity of Jesus Christ died spiritually on the Cross as the payment for the sin of the entire human race, past, present, and future. Therefore, sin is not an issue with regard to salvation. The only issue with regard to salvation is whether or not a person will accept Christ’s payment for their sin by a simple act of faith (belief) in Him as their Savior. ( I Corinthians 15:22)

In eternity-past, God the Father designed a plan for the salvation of mankind and God the Son, Jesus Christ agreed to execute that plan. In order to fulfill that plan, it was necessary for Christ to become a human being, live a sinless life and die on the Cross. The road to the Cross for Jesus included a lot of physical pain and suffering. Prophesied hundreds of years before in the Old Testament, Jesus fulfilled all prophecies regarding His pain and suffering. (Psalm 22; Isaiah 53) Throughout the ordeal of going to the Cross, Jesus Christ remained filled with the Holy Spirit and remained sinless. Because Jesus Christ was born of a virgin therefore had no sin nature, did not have Adam’s original sin imputed to Him, and lived a sinless life, He did not have sin of His own to pay for and was qualified to pay for the sin of the world. On the road to the Cross, Jesus was subjected to six illegal trials, three by the Jewish religious leaders and three by the Romans.

Since God is absolutely righteous, He must judge sin wherever He finds it. The Bible is very clear that all human beings are born with a sin nature and are spiritually separated from God. We know from Scripture that no one possesses the righteousness necessary to spend eternity with a perfectly righteous God. In other words, God’s righteousness cannot have fellowship with “man’s righteousness.” God is offended (not shocked) by the lack of righteousness and subsequent sinful condition of man. It is this offense and, therefore, God’s “wrath” that must be appeased. God’s “wrath” is an anthropropathism (language of accommodation ascribing to God human emotions that He does not possess) to explain His policy with regard to man’s sin. God is never angry, as we think of anger. (John 3:36; Romans 3:10-12, 23; 6:23; Isaiah 59:2, 64:6)

God’s integrity (holiness) must be satisfied. God’s integrity is made up of His righteousness and His justice. God’s righteousness is the standard or principle of His integrity and must judge sin. The judgment that God pronounced upon sin was spiritual death. Mankind, therefore, comes under the “wrath” and impending judgment of God. (Romans 3:9, 23)

We cannot forget that the other half of God’s integrity is justice. Justice is the function or action of God’s integrity. Therefore, what the righteousness of God condemns, the justice of God judges. In the case of human beings, God’s righteousness and justice must be satisfied (propitiated). Mankind is born physically alive but spiritually dead (separated from God). Under the sentence of spiritual death man is helpless to remedy the situation. (Romans 3:25-26)

Since the sentence that God pronounced on sin is spiritual death, only spiritual death will satisfy the just demands of God’s righteousness. Only one Person in history was qualified to meet this just demand. Jesus Christ literally became the complete satisfaction for the sin of the entire world. Jesus satisfied the perfect righteousness and justice of God on the Cross. (I John 2:1-2, 4:10)

Christ was our substitute on the Cross. The Greek word “huper,” translated “for” in Romans 5:8 is a preposition meaning “on behalf of” or “in place of.” The Greek word for “us” is “ego.” Combined in this passage and others, we see the substitutionary character of propitiation. Jesus Christ judicially became sin “on behalf of us” or “in place of us.” It is the substitutionary spiritual death of Christ that completely satisfied the righteousness and justice of God and provides eternal life for all who believe. (II Corinthians 5:21)

Christ’s sacrifice was complete and eternal. It was complete in that it never has to be repeated. Christ died once for all mankind. Any time a person attempts to secure eternal life by means of good works, the Bible declares that they are, in effect, attempting to crucify Christ again (a blasphemous thought). It was eternal in that the results continue throughout the history of man and forever. God’s righteousness had to be satisfied in order for Him to be fair in giving eternal life and the other spiritual assets to those who believe. 

Christ was a willing substitute. He was not forced by God the Father to become a human and die in our place. Jesus willingly and joyfully fulfilled a plan that was designed in eternity past. This plan of salvation called for the substitutionary spiritual death of Christ, which would propitiate (satisfy) God’s righteous judgment of sin (a judgment carried out by God’s justice).

The penalty for sin (spiritual death) having been met by Christ, God is free to give all 40 spiritual assets to all those who believe in Christ. These 40 assets are transferred to every believer at the moment of salvation. These assets are not seen nor are they felt. The instant a person believes in Christ as Savior all sins of the past are forgiven, he is in fellowship with God and filled with the Holy Spirit. The potential then exists for the believer to execute the Christian Way of Life. (Romans 3:21-25, 6:23)

Christ also died physically on the Cross. After the crowd shouted, “Crucify Him,” Pilate released Jesus to the people to be taken to a hill called Golgotha (place of the skull) and crucified by the Romans. All this was done in fulfillment of prophecy. Psalms 22, written more than 1000 years before Christ, and Isaiah 53 written about 700 years before Christ, give details of the crucifixion. This information could have been revealed to the writers of Scripture only by God the Holy Spirit because crucifixion was not even a known method of punishment at the time. (Matthew 27:33-56; Mark 15:22-32; Luke 23:33-43; John 19:17-24)

The physical death of Christ was necessary so that Christ could be raised from the dead and receive a glorified (resurrection) body. If Christ had not been raised from the dead, then we would never be able to receive a glorified body and live eternally in that body. Therefore, both the spiritual and physical deaths of Christ on the Cross were necessary for our salvation. (I Corinthians 15:12-14)