Our wonderful salvation; how did it all begin?
Welcome back to my blog. We are taking a few weeks to describe what scripture says about our great salvation.
Christians often view their salvation, the decision to accept Christ as their personal Savior by faith, is as simple as crossing the street to reach the other side, but nothing else happens. Further, a person can cross back over to the other side and perhaps not be a Christian again! Nothing could be further from the truth!
Our salvation is part of God’s plan that began before the world was formed and will end when Christ returns. It is full of wonderful safeguards that make it impossible to lose salvation for a true born-again believer.
So, with such great promises let's examine what the Bible states. We will start at the beginning of the salvation process, before time began, until the time of the cross. We then will complete this amazing journey over the next several posts.
The process of salvation (please see figure below):
· The plan of salvation – God’s first step was to create a plan to save man and remove the problem of sin that would be created by Adam and Eve in the garden (Genesis 3:15).
o Because of the sin of Adam and Eve, man fell and became depraved; he was unable to choose God or do good, fleeing from Him (Romans 3:10-12). Therefore, God graciously had to choose, before all-time began, some to come to salvation (Ephesians 1:4,5,11; Romans 8:29-30).
o If God had not chosen, then nobody would have come to saving grace. God has always had to choose throughout the Bible to accomplish his work in the world (Romans 9:7ff).
· Bringing us to salvation –
o Because man would not choose God and did not understand God, the Holy Spirit had to intervene In in those God chose and convict them of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment (John 16:8).
o Further, God had to drag future Christians to Himself to believe (John 6:44). Interestingly, the word used in the Greek (the original language of the New Testament) for ‘drag’ is ελκω (helko), which describes when fishermen cast a net and literally bring fish into their boat. As the fish do not come voluntarily, neither do we! God had to literally force us to saving faith!
· God causes us to believe - Our faith then made Christ’s sacrificial death and His resurrection efficacious for us to our salvation. The content of the gospel can be found here https://teleiosresearch.com/consider-the-gospel/.
Figure: Timeline of salvation
Time course of history
Please note the figure showing the chronological plan of Salvation throughout the Bible. Indeed, the Bible is the story of salvation through our precious savior Christ. God, by His love and wisdom, created this plan, and realized it throughout history and will complete it in the future (Ephesians 1:4-8;10-11).
Today we have discussed the foundation of the plan and how God draws us to himself. Next week we'll discover what happens at the cross.
What a great plan; what a great promise! To God be the glory who has done all the work of salvation and nothing was left to us nor to chance. There is nothing we could have done past, present or in the future to earn eternal life. God did it all; solo fide (only by faith).
Thanks again for joining me and I look forward to seeing you again next time.
William C. Stewart, MD
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Disclaimer - This blog and its content are provided only as information and are intended for visitors 18 and older. No content on the website should be taken as advice or recommendation to any personal or institutional situation. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily either shared or endorsed by Teleios. Both the blog and the contents are subject to change at any time without notice. Although I endeavor to ensure that the blog and the content are current and accurate, it may contain errors. I do not represent that the blog or the content is current, accurate or complete, or appropriate for your specific requirements. I do not accept any liability from any person for the blog, the content or any other information (or the use of such information) I provide. I do not have a seminary degree, but I have trained myself in the scriptures to teach and provide this information. For any specific question, I suggest you contact experts in that field and or do your own research into the scriptures.
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