Foundations of Faith
BLESSINGS OF SALVATION (I)
In recent issues of GROWING we have presented the basis of salvation, namely, atonement, or the sufferings and death of Christ for our sins. We have presented the way of salvation, or what we must do to be saved, namely, “repent [that is, accept that we deserve God’s judgment because of our sins] and believe [that is, place our full dependence on Christ’s sacrificial work on the cross for eternal salvation].” We have presented the three aspects of salvation, namely, salvation from (1) the penalty of sin (already accomplished), (2), the power of sin (present and ongoing), and (3) the presence of sin (when we get to heaven).
In this and the next 2-3 issues we shall present from Scripture some of the blessings of salvation.
“Through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins” (Acts 13:38). “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered” (Rom. 4:7). To forgive the sins of another means literally, in the Bible, to send or put them away. “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psa. 103:12).
To forgive a debt means to cancel it or to free the debtor from obligation to pay for it. To forgive (or pardon) a prisoner means to free that person from part or all of the penalty imposed on him by the courts. When God forgives our sins He delivers us from the penalty deserved by our sins, namely, the lake of fire. (See Assignment 10)
Many people I talk to have been taught that God forgives our sins. But few of them have thought about how a holy God (Nov93) who hates sin (Psa. 5:4,5; 45:7) can forgive our sins and remain true to His own character. God can rightfully deliver us from sin’s penalty because the Lord Jesus Christ, His perfect, holy, sinless Son, has suffered that penalty as our Substitute.
How many of our sins were forgiven when we received Christ as our Saviour? “God … [has] forgiven you all trespasses” (Col. 2:13). Yes, all of our sins-past, present, and future-have been forgiven if we are saved. Remember that all of our sins were still future when Jesus died for them.
In the Bible, the words “remission” and “pardon” mean the same as “forgiveness.”
“[We are] justified freely by His grace … by faith … by His blood” (Rom. 3:24,28; 5:1,9). The criminal who is forgiven (or pardoned) has been found guilty by a court of law but is set free before serving all of his sentence. The criminal who is justified has gone to court only to learn that he has been found not guilty.
When God justifies a person, He pronounces him or her “not guilty” or cleared of every sin charged against that person. “Oh, so I am not so bad after all!” one might respond when learning of his/her justification. No, that is not the point at all. God “justifies the ungodly” (Rom. 4:5). This is an act of incredible grace and mercy by God to sinners; it is a further blessing added to that of our being forgiven. God justifies us to take away our fear of Himself and His judgment. He justifies us that we might “have peace with [Him]” (Rom. 5:1). (See Assignment 11)
An easy way of remembering the meaning of the word “justified” is using it like this:”Just as if I’d never sinned.”
Running the Race
PROCLAIMING THE GOSPEL OF SALVATION (II)
By studying the several sermons recorded in the Book of Acts, we find that they are adapted to the particular audience. When Peter, Stephen, and Paul preached to the Jews, they frequently quoted from and referred to the Jews’ own Scriptures, the Old Testament (Acts 2:17-21,25-28,34,35; 3:13, 18,21-25; 4:11; 7:2-50; 13:17-22,33-36,39-41). When Paul preached to the Gentile idol worshipers, his sermon contrasted the true Creator-God with their false gods (Acts 14:15-17; 17:22-31); also, rather than quoting from the Old Testament, unfamiliar to most Gentiles, he quoted from one of their own poets (Acts 17:28).
I recently talked with an inmate at the City Jail who had read parts of the New Testament and parts of the Koran (the Muslim holy book, Mar93), and was considering taking up the Islamic religion. Having previously done my homework, I told him that the Koran placed honor on Jesus Christ as a great Prophet, but denied that He was coequal with God and claimed that Jesus went straight to heaven without being crucified. The inmate indicated that I had spoken accurately of the Koran. Then I told him what the Bible teaches about Jesus-His being the Creator-God who came down from heaven for the express purpose of being crucified and punished by God for our sins. The inmate, realizing that he had sinned much in his lifetime, immediately saw that it was the Jesus of the Bible whom he needed and he expressed a desire to be saved right then and there.
The point of all this is that it helps to know where people are coming from and what their thoughts are concerning God and Jesus Christ and their own sin when we are trying to show them the way of salvation.
A prominent evangelist once said that if he had 60 minutes in which to present the gospel to a group of people, he would spend 55 trying to convince them of their need of a Saviour, and the remaining five minutes telling them of the work of Christ on their behalf. In the apostle Peter’s first sermon to the Jews, 15 verses are devoted to his seeking to convince the Jews of their sin of crucifying Christ. When they became convinced and asked what they should do, in one verse he told them how to be saved (Acts 2:22-38). On the other hand, when the Philippian jailer, already convicted of his great need, came to Paul and Silas asking, “What must I do to be saved?” Paul got right to the point and answered him in one short sentence (Acts 16:31).
Assignment 10: Write out two verses in Luke 7: one that speaks of forgiving a debt and one that speaks of forgiving sins.
Assignment 11: (a) Write out two verses in Galatians 3: one about being justified by the law and one about being justified by faith. (b) From what you have learned about the meaning of being justified, what would be required for one to be justified by the law?