The Doctrine of Salvation

Tom:

Our topic for this segment, Understanding the Scriptures, is the gospel of salvation and Dave, I think this is wonderful. We’re going to be dealing with this, not just this week but for the weeks to come because it’s such an awesome doctrine. All the aspects of it are just so wonderful because it’s what Christ has done for us. Last week we talked about the gospel, where it came from. Some say today well, this is just an idea of teaching that these people made up who followed Jesus and it’s basically man made, man produced. But we know from scripture that’s not true. 1 Peter:1:20-21 [20] Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, [21] Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
See All... tells us: “He that is Jesus indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world.”

Dave:

That is, foreordained to be the sacrifice for our sins. He is also called the Lamb, slain from before the foundation of the world.

Tom:

So, last week we talked about prophets, how that was a testimony, a testament to how the gospel, the Word of God, had to be exactly that, had to be His Word because of prophesy. These are proofs to that effect, but it’s awesome to consider that the gospel of our salvation was in the mind and the heart of God before creation. What we want to do is to explore as much about the gospel that we can and some very basic things. Before humanity was created, it was in the mind and the heart of God. This wasn’t something he was trying to solve­Oops, we made creation. In Genesis it tells us it is good, it is good, it is very good and then something went awry and now he’s got a problem of how to figure it out. That’s not what the scriptures testify to. The other thing is, what does the gospel do? Now, we want to get into the practical aspect of what God has done for us and how that affects us eternally, temporally. What does the gospel do in terms of our lives?

Dave:

We quoted last week, Ephesians 2: 8,9,10: “For by grace are you saved,...” so it brings me into the grace of God and creates a real gratitude on my part that God would forgive me, that he would save me. “By grace are you saved through faith, and that...” you know, it causes me to believe God, now I am trusting him-- “...and that not of yourselves, it’s a gift of God.” So again, I am very grateful to God because he has given me a gift that I couldn’t pay for. “By grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves is a gift of God--not of works lest any man should boast.” So, I’ve been humbled, I’ve come to realize that there is nothing that I could do and I’m not trying to please God in order to get to heaven. I’m not trying to prove to God, you know...sometimes people when they pray and we don’t really confess our sins and say Lord, I’m sorry I did that but it’s almost like we are thinking, but just give me another chance, Lord, and I’ll show you that’s not the kind of a guy I am, you know. No, I’ve been humbled. It’s by God’s grace and by God’s mercy, it’s a gift that I couldn’t earn it, but it says we are created in Christ Jesus unto good works. “If any man be in Christ... 11 Cor:5:17
See All......he is a new creation. Old things have passed away, all things have become new.” I can remember--Oh my goodness, sixty years, coming up sixty years since I opened my heart to Christ and I can remember like it was yesterday. There was a transformation in my life. I had been--well, I’m almost ashamed to admit it over the radio but--I was kind of a difficult person. I had been in at least a thousand fights, probably more, and this was the summer before I entered high school. I mean, my life was completely changed. I remember when I stood there and let some guy hit me because I just couldn’t, in my heart, it was my fault and I couldn’t double my fists and go after him and the guys that saw that were just absolutely astonished. I remember the night that I was saved, for the first time in my life I wasn’t afraid to die, in fact, I almost wished that I would so I would meet the Lord that I now loved and I had just met. He had come into my heart. So, when we are born again there is a transformation that you can’t escape with—you have new hunger for the Word of God and new understanding of the Word of God and a desire to tell others. It’s a complete transformation when we really meet Jesus.

Tom:

We quoted this last week. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation for all those who believe.” And even the “believe” part of that, I mean, it’s another demonstration of how God has to be involved because if this is something that truly we can’t do, God has to do for us, then even the way in which we receive this has to be so unique that it covers everybody from the youngest, from those with learning deficiencies, those with brain damage, those--it cuts through all that. All they have to do is believe and only God could bring that. One of my favorite examples out of the scriptures is the thief on the cross. What could he do tied to that cross, what could he do?

Dave:

Nailed to that cross!

Tom:

The thief was nailed?

Dave:

Right, I think he was.

Tom:

Do you? Okay.

Dave:

Well yes, that’s what they did, that’s what crucifixion was.

Tom:

But what could he do?

Dave:

Well he certainly had nothing to offer to God. He didn’t even have a life, he couldn’t do any good works, but he could receive as a free gift salvation from Jesus Christ and he apparently understood who Jesus was and that he was dying in his place for his sins.

Tom:

And what does Jesus say to him: “This day...” I mean, the promise of salvation from the lips of our Lord and Savior right then and there. Absolutely incredible. “This day you will be with me in paradise.” The man believed. To me, only God could come up with a solution, not just the solution of salvation in Christ but the method of receiving the solution, to me is miraculous.

Dave:

Not a word about purgatory, by the way.

Tom:

Not a word about baptism, by the way or good deeds, or church attendance or a thing...well I’m going to do better.

Dave:

Right.

Tom:

There is nothing we can do except receive Him.

Dave:

The slate was wiped clean. He was forgiven of his sins because Christ paid that penalty and we have to come back to that and keep coming back to that and we can become very sentimental about the physical sufferings of Christ on the cross. But thousands were crucified, suffered on crosses. That wasn’t what Jesus wept, by the way, and sweat as it were drops of blood in the garden...”Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me.” Thousands were crucified and I’m sure a lot of them gritted their teeth. They wouldn’t give those Roman soldiers that were pounding those nails into their hands and feet, they wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of a whimper. They were going to go down in defiance. Jesus could bear the physical pain, that wasn’t what He was concerned about. It was that He would be made--the Bible says... “that He who knew no sin was made sin for us”...that He would become the very thing that He hated. He would be as though He were sin itself. He would be punished for the sins of the whole world and pay the penalty that His own infinite justice demanded. That’s what His holy soul shrank from and that’s where salvation comes from is through His pain and the penalty. It is not through the physical sufferings that He suffered. And again, we have to get back and hammer at that, because otherwise God can’t be just and forgive us.