GOD’S
COMPLETE SALVATION PART I
A. It is according to the righteousness of God. Rom. 1:17a; 3:21-26; 9:30-31
1. God’s righteousness, which is solid and steadfast, is the foundation of His throne (Psa. 89:14) and the base on which His kingdom is built (Rom. 14:17). If there were no righteousness, God Himself would be finished, and we could not exist.
B. It is through God’s fulfilling of all requirements of His righteous law on sinners by Christ’s redemptive death on the cross. Gal. 3:13; I Pet. 2:24; II Cor. 5:21; Heb. 9:12
1. God redeemed the sinners, and this was done judicially. The word "judicial" means "to make lawful". God’s redemption is judicial because every one is condemned by God’s righteousness, and every one, in a sense, has been sentenced by God to death, to perish, according to His righteous law. If God would just forgive us without a righteous procedure, He would become a lawless God.
2. For Him to remain in His righteous and holy position, He has to do something to redeem the sinners judicially. So Christ died on the cross as our replacement. God put all man’s sin upon Christ, considering Him as the unique sinner (Isa. 53:5-6). The one righteous God-man died for the many unrighteous sinners (I Pet. 3:18), so His death is called the vicarious death. Such a vicarious death is judicial.
3. God redeemed us judicially by the blood of Christ. To redeem is to purchase. When you purchase something you have to pay the price. Likewise, God being righteous redeemed us at a cost. The word "redeemed" means to buy back something that originally was yours but has been lost. Redemption, therefore, means to repossess something at a cost. Originally we belong to God, we were His possession. However, we were lost. Because God was not willing to give us up, He paid the price to get us back, repossessing as at a great cost. God purchased us, sinners judicially by paying Christ’s blood as the price on the cross.
C. It was accomplished in the physical realm of Christ’s earthly ministry judicially and objectively by the Christ in the flesh.
A. Forgiveness of the believers’ sins - Luke 24:47; Eph. 1:7.
1. Forgiveness of sins means the removal of the charges of sin against us before God that we may be delivered from the penalty of God’s righteousness (John 3:18). When God forgave us, He delivered us from the penalty of His righteousness and condemned us no longer. In the New Testament the Greek word for "forgiveness" means "causing to leave" and "sending away" (Matt. 12:31; Rom. 4:7; Acts 5:31; 13:8). When God forgives us of our sins, He also causes the sins which we have committed to depart from us. Sin came from Satan. God put all our sins on the Lord Jesus that He might bear them all to suffer God’s punishment for us and cancel the charge against us before Him (Psa. 103:12). Then He gave all our sins back to Satan that He might carry them by himself forever.
2. When God forgives us from our sins, He also forgets our sins (Heb. 8:12). He erases from His memory and remembers them no longer.
B. Washing away the believers’ sins - Heb. 1:3
1. Forgiveness cancels the penalty for sins, washing removes all traces of sin. When God washes us, He causes us to look as if we had never sinned. Man’s sins not only make man a sinner with a charge against him before God, but they also cause him to be become stained and defiled in himself. Hence, man needs not only forgiveness but also washing by Christ’s blood.
C. Justifying the believers - Rom. 3:24-25
1. Justification means that God, according to His righteousness, declares that man is righteous. Because of man’s weakness, no one can be justified before God by works of law (Rom. 3:20; Gal. 2:16). Justification by law needs man to be perfect; a requirement which no one can meet. Thus man is justified by God’s grace through the redemption of Christ (Rom. 3:24; Titus 3:7). This is a gift we all can receive and obtain.
D. Reconciling the believers who were enemies to Himself - Rom. 5:10
1. In God’s eyes man is not only a sinner but also an enemy of God. A sinner needs propitiation and forgiveness of sins but an enemy needs reconciliation. Through the death of Christ we have been reconciled to God.
E. Sanctifying the believers in their position into Himself as His holy people - I Cor. 1:2; Heb. 13:12; 10:29
1. In the Bible both in Hebrew and in Greek sanctification means separation from what is ordinary or common; to be made holy, separated unto God for the fulfillment of His purpose. God and the things pertaining or belonging to God are holy. A piece of gold for example, is not holy itself, but is sanctified when it is placed in the temple (Matt. 23:17), because the temple separates it unto God. Gold is common and is for the world. But once it is offered to God it is separated unto God. Hence, it is sanctified - made holy to God.
2. Once we were far off from God because of sin, but through his redemption Christ has delivered us from sin and has brought us back to God to be separated unto Him forever. By His own blood the Lord found an eternal redemption for us (Heb. 9:12) and has purchased us back to God (I Cor. 6:20; I Pet. 1:18-19). In God’s eyes we were separated, sanctified in position, unto Him, making us distinct from the worldly people. Thus, all believers having been sanctified through the redemption of Christ are called saints (I Cor. 1:2).
F. Thereby qualifying and positioning the believers to enter into the grace of God for the accomplishment of the purpose of God’s salvation.
A. God’s judicial redemption is not the goal but the means, the foundation for His organic salvation (salvation by life).