The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is studying salvation. Salvation is deliverance from danger or suffering. To save is to deliver or protect. The word carries the idea of victory, health, or preservation. Sometimes, the Bible uses the words saved or salvation to refer to temporal, physical deliverance more often, the word “salvation” concerns an eternal, spiritual deliverance.
Salvation can be and has been defined in many ways. Among them, four stand out as the most comprehensive and functional.
First, salvation can be defined as the deliverance from the power, penalty, and presence of sin. To receive salvation is to receive God’s mercy and His grace.
Second, salvation can be described as a finished work, an on-going work, and a work to come. It is a finished work because Christ died once to bear the sins of humanity. “It is finished,”
Third It is an on-going work because He is continuously conforming us to His image and working to maintain our relationship with Him.
This session starts with the email thread that came from one of my blog posts of several years ago. I don't remember the title of that post, but I do remember writing that God does not do anything that hurts His children. He may allow it, but He doesn't do it. This is one of the benefits of our salvation and a wonderful place to start our in-depth study.
The Email thread (I deleted the name of the person that sent the email)
I wanted to let you know that this blog topic from Jan 2019 (I think) has settled in my spirit what I had felt for decades but could not explain.
I am going to write more than you probably have time to read, but this has been on my mind for at least 14 years.
In 2008, my oldest daughter died. She was 32. She was a mother & a successful 911 dispatcher in King Cnty, Washington.
She developed chronic pain after a gall bladder removal surgery & for 3 years struggled to find relief. Long story short, she could no longer able to work. She was taking lots of medications & I guess became addicted. We were not a family that abused drugs or alcohol, so my head was in sand, she insisted she was not addicted, no doctors at ERs etc ever provided information or suggestion for rehab. The last doctor she saw at Univ of Wash put her on methadone. (She was on state health insurance by then & Wash' state strongly encouraged MDs to perscribe methadone for pain because it was cheap...)...
She had become obese, & had sleep apnea. The doctor should have NEVER perscribed it to her for those 2 reasons. A day or 2 after the MD increased the dose, my daughter died, in a bedroom in my home.
I never ever believed "God took my daughter... or God needed Angie more than we did... blah blah... "
My reasoning included observations via the news of many horrible ways people die... or a bus accident where several teens die but many survive. I spent years pondering this even though I did not have a strong personal relationship with Jesus.
My conclusions were & remain as this:
1. We live in a fallen world.
Bad things happen because humans are not perfect, humans make terrible choices sometimes that impact lives (theirs or others'), satan came to steal, kill, & destroy our lives.
2. God says, I have come that you may have life...
You are healed by the stripes of Jesus... He loved us so much (Loved and loves us more than we can imagine!) that He sent His Son to suffer & die for our sins! That is huge LOVE!
3. God wants us to be His children. He wants us to see Him as our heavenly Father! Ok.... what earthly father would give good gifts to his child and then rip it away and say, "oh, I will help get over the loss of that wonderful gift I gave but took back"!! ???
4. If God is the giver of bad health, death of loved ones, terminal illness, children born "crippled" etc, causes car accidents, encourages murders to occur etc... then how could we ever want to be His child! We could not trust Him!
5. People, Christians, want to blame God for the death of a loved one AND for giving them strength to survive that loss! Some Christians seem to give God the credit for all the bad things that happen as well as all the good stuff! Or think God caused all the bad circumstances to happen while not really seeing how illogical that is! Like you said in your blog, we make bad choices etc...
This line of reasoning means that these people are not acknowledging the fact we live in a fallen world & ignore the existence of Satan & his demonic influence in this fallen world. As soon as the apple or fruit was eaten, sin occurred & all living things on earth began to decay.
6. Death was imminent, sin & satan's temptors got real busy immediately!! Bad things happen to us because we live in a fallen world. God had no intention that His beloved humans & the rest of creation would die or live in a dark world of death & decay, deception & temptation. But we do & He loves us enough to NOT turn His back on us & say, "you created this mess, live with it! I am finished with you!".
God did not choose to take my daughter home & leave her daughter without a mother! God did not kill some of the teens in the bus accident & allow others to live! God did not cause a woman to have heart problems & then heal her so He would get all the glory! Heal her, YES! But our fallen world that became a fallen world in the garden of Eden, and thus under the influence & evilness of satan is the root cause of addiction to drugs, sex, money, accidents, health problem, afflictions of all kinds, etc... sin ... sin is the reason we experience loss, frustration, consequences from our less than intelligent or wise choices!
God is available to help us, but He did not cause it all.
Whooh! I feel bad for people who still repeat & believe that "God will not give me more than I can bear"... "give" being the wrong word to use ...
A big difference between "give" & "allow" (& He offers help... but not because He is jerking us around ... )
Anyway, if you read all this, I am grateful for that blog that validated what I believed but did not know how to confirm or support with scripture.
I am now much closer to Jesus after being filled with the Holy Spirit 2 years ago. The peace I have experienced is marvelous. I can stand firm knowing God is not jerking me around.
My husband died 4 years ago, my daughter died 14 years ago, and like many people, life has been challenging but also joyful.
My apologies for the long diatribe... lol. . But your blog was a gift to me!!
Respectfully,
Sara Taylor
I had written to you about the belief that God does not "take" our loved ones nor is He causing the death of humans...
I just saw this verse (Ps 139: 16) that David is saying God ordained his days before the 1st one began.
Please help me understand this because the use of word "ordained" is a decree ... soooo, now I have a quandry. (I am hoping to order a Strong's concordance/Vine's dictionary in a couple days)
God decreed the number of days we would live on earth? But does that mean He does initiate the ending of that life? I feel sick.
I am going to pray & ask for help with this. But if you have any ideas on what this verse is saying, please share.
Respectfully,
Sara Taylor
Washington state
Hi Sara,
I hope this helps.
God could prevent all death, yes. He allows us to die. But He is no murderer, or killer. Death is part of the human experience because we brought it into the world ourselves. God, in His grace, has conquered death for those who are in Christ, and one day that truth will be fully realized.
You had a question about Psalm 139:16. Here it is in several versions or translations.
Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalms 139:16 NIV
You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. Psalms 139:16 NLT
but with your own eyes you saw my body being formed. Even before I was born, you had written in your book everything about me. Psalms 139:16 CEV
Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day. Psalm 139:13-16 MSG
Because God is omnipotent, He knows everything even before it happens. The fact that He knows and that He ordains good for us doesn't mean that it happens the way that He wants it. For example, it says in 2 Peter 3:9 that God wants everyone to come to repentance. He knows that everyone will not come to repentance but that is still His desire.
Ordination in the Bible typically refers to being set apart to the office in the Priesthood, for example, the members of the house of Aaron were ordained to take care of the tabernacle during the exodus and later the temple. Today pastors and ministers are ordained.
David, who wrote Psalm 139 is a splendid example of someone who did not follow through with his ordination. Even though he was ordained to great things he did some things which were not so great like adultery, conspiracy to commit murder, he wasn't in complete control of his family and his children.
When the bible refers to foreordination it means that God has identified the potential of individuals and ordained them to do great things before they were born. But because God give us free will it doesn't mean that the person has to follow through with their potential.
Look back at the email that you sent me on March 31st. None of your observations or conclusions have changed. What has happened is that the enemy has taken what you read in Psalm 139 and is trying to confuse you and make you think that God is no longer good because He ordained or proclaimed that your daughter would die when she did. Yes He knew but He didn't do it.
I hope this helps. I will continue to pray with and for you.
This response is sooooo helpful. Yes, I had thought, as you had said, that God is all knowing, but does not or cannot always prevent events because of sin etc. So, again, you provided the agreement with scripture, examples, & Godly wisdom.
This is the best email of the month! Lol
I agree, too, that satan was trying to detour my belief concerning death etc.
Something I find interesting is how many ministers preach the ideology that God does not want to see all of humanity saved but has His chosen ones earmarked for salvation.
A cruel idea. But I bet each time a human, created in His image, turns away from the invitation to receive Jesus & salvation, God the Father cries. Saddened because He knows His gift is better than anything tje sinful world could offer... all of which leads to ultimate misery & death.
Thank you again
Can I someday share something I learned about "praise to G
Deuteronomy 32:39 NIV “See now that I myself am he! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand.
The Old Testament records God killing multitudes of people, and some people want to believe this makes Him a murderer. The misconception that “killing” and “murder” are synonymous is partially based on the King James mistranslation of the sixth commandment, which reads, “Thou shalt not kill”
(Exodus 20:13).
However, the word kill is a translation of the Hebrew word ratsach, which nearly always refers to intentional killing without cause. The correct rendering of this word is “murder,” and all modern translations render the command as “You shall not murder.” The Bible in Basic English best conveys its meaning: “Do not put anyone to death without cause.”
It is true that God has intentionally killed many people. (God never “accidentally” does anything.) In fact, the Bible records that He literally wiped out entire nations including women, children, cattle, etc. In addition to that, God killed every living creature upon the face of the earth with the exception of eight people and the animals on the ark (Genesis 7:21-23; 1 Peter 3:20). Does this make Him a murderer?
As already stated, to kill and to murder are different things. Murder is “the premeditated, unlawful taking of a life,” whereas killing is, more generally, “the taking of a life.” The same Law that forbids murder permits killing in self-defense.
Exodus 22:2-3 NIV “If a thief is caught breaking in at night and is struck a fatal blow, the defender is not guilty of bloodshed; but if it happens after sunrise, the defender is guilty of bloodshed. “Anyone who steals must certainly make restitution, but if they have nothing, they must be sold to pay for their theft.
Two basic principles taught in this text are the right to own private property and the right to defend that property. The full exercise of the right to self-defense, however, depended on the situation. No one should be too quick to use deadly force against another, even someone who means to do him harm. If someone was set upon by a thief in the middle of the night and, in the confusion of the moment the would-be thief was killed, the Law did not charge the homeowner with murder. But, if the thief was caught in the house during the day, when the homeowner was unlikely to be awoken from sleep, then the Law forbade the killing of the thief. Essentially, the Law said that homeowners shouldn’t be quick to kill or attack thieves in their home. Both situations could be considered self-defense, but deadly force was expected to be a last resort, used only in the event of a panicked “surprise attack” scenario where the homeowner is likely to be confused and disoriented. In the case of a nighttime attack, the Law granted the homeowner the benefit of the doubt that, apart from the darkness and confusion of the attack, he would not intentionally use lethal force against a thief. Even in the case of self-defense against a thief, a godly person was expected to try to restrain the assailant rather than immediately resort to killing him.
In order for God to commit murder, He would have to act “unlawfully.” We must recognize that God is God. “His works are perfect, and all His ways are just.
Deuteronomy 32:4 NIV He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.
He created man and expects obedience. When man takes it upon himself to disobey God, he faces God’s wrath.
Exodus 23:21-22 NIV Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you.
Leviticus 26:14-18 NIV “ ‘But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, then I will do this to you: I will bring on you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and sap your strength. You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it. I will set my face against you so that you will be defeated by your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you. “ ‘If after all this you will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over.
Furthermore, “God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day.
Psalms 7:11-12 NIV God is a righteous judge, a God who displays his wrath every day. If he does not relent, he will sharpen his sword; he will bend and string his bow.
Some would argue that executing the innocent is murder; thus, when God wipes out whole cities, He is committing murder. However, nowhere in Scripture can we find where God killed “innocent” people. In fact, compared to God’s holiness, there is no such thing as an “innocent” person period and the penalty for sin is death
Romans 3:23 NIV for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 6:23 NIV For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
When God chose to destroy all mankind in the Flood, He was totally justified in doing so: “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5).
During the conquest of Canaan, God ordered the complete destruction of entire cities and nations: “But of the cities of these peoples which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive, but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the LORD your God has commanded you” (Deuteronomy 20:16-17).
Why did God give such a command? Israel was God’s instrument of judgment against the Canaanites, who were evil, almost beyond what we can imagine today: “Every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods” (Deuteronomy 12:31).
Their utter annihilation was commanded to prevent Israel from following their ways: “Lest they teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their gods, and you sin against the LORD your God” (Deuteronomy 20:18; also Deuteronomy 12:29-30).
Even in the dire judgments of the Old Testament, God offered mercy. For example, when God was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, God promised Abraham that He would spare the whole city in order to save ten righteous people there. Though God did destroy those cities (ten righteous people could not be found), He saved “righteous Lot” and his family (Genesis 18:32; Genesis 19:15; 2 Peter 2:7). Later, God destroyed Jericho, but He saved Rahab the harlot and her family in response to Rahab’s faith (Joshua 6:25; Hebrews 11:31). Until the final judgment, there is always mercy to be found.
Until Jesus returns every person dies
Hebrews 9:27-28 NIV Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
Jesus holds the keys of death (Revelation 1:18).
Does the fact that everyone experiences physical death make God a “killer”? In the sense that He could prevent all death, yes. He allows us to die. But He is no murderer. Death is part of the human experience because we brought it into the world ourselves.
Romans 5:12-17 NIV Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned— To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come. But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
One day, as John Donne put it, “Death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.” God, in His grace, has conquered death for those who are in Christ, and one day that truth will be fully realized:
“The last enemy to be subdued and abolished is death” (1 Corinthians 15:26).
God is faithful to His word. He will destroy the wicked, and He holds “the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.
2 Peter 2:4-9 NIV For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.
But He has also promised that “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23b).
Salvation - Definitions
Merriam - Webster
: deliverance from the power and effects of sin
: the agent or means that effects salvation
: liberation from ignorance or illusion
: preservation from destruction or failure
: deliverance from danger or difficulty
Dictionary. com
the act of saving or protecting from harm, risk, loss, destruction, etc.
the state of being saved or protected from harm, risk, etc.
a source, cause, or means of being saved or protected from harm, risk, etc.
Doctrine of Salvation Got Questons.com
Salvation is deliverance from danger or suffering. To save is to deliver or protect. The word carries the idea of victory, health, or preservation. Sometimes, the Bible uses the words saved or salvation to refer to temporal, physical deliverance, but more often, the word “salvation” concerns an eternal, spiritual deliverance.
Jesus equated being saved with entering the kingdom of God.
Matthew 19:23-25 NIV Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”
What are we saved from?
In the Christian doctrine of salvation, we are saved from “wrath,” that is, from God’s judgment of sin.
Romans 5:9-11 NIV Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Our sin has separated us from God, and the consequence of sin is death. Biblical salvation refers to our deliverance from the consequence of sin and therefore involves the removal of sin.
Who does the saving?
Only God can remove sin and deliver us from sin’s penalty
Titus 3:4-7 NIV But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
How does God save?
Through Christ.
John 3:17 NIV For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Specifically, it was Jesus’ death on the cross and subsequent resurrection that achieved our salvation.
Romans 5:10-11 NIV For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Ephesians 1:7-10 NIV In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
Salvation is only available through faith in Jesus Christ.
Acts 4:12 NIV Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
How do we receive salvation? We are saved by faith. First, we must hear the gospel—the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Then, we must believe—fully trust the Lord Jesus. This involves repentance, a changing of mind about sin and Christ, and calling on the name of the Lord.
Scripture is clear that salvation is the gracious, undeserved gift of God.
Ephesians 2:4-5, 8 NIV But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
Another definition of the Christian doctrine of salvation would be “The deliverance, by the grace of God, from eternal punishment for sin which is granted to those who accept by faith God’s conditions of repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus.” Salvation is available in Jesus alone and is dependent on God alone for provision, assurance, and security.
God purchased salvation and offers it to everyone as a free gift with no strings attached. This is the simplicity of the gospel or “good news.”
John 3:16-18 NIV For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
Salvation can be and has been defined in many different ways. Among them, three stand out as the most comprehensive and functional.
First, salvation can be defined as the deliverance from the power, penalty, and presence of sin. To receive salvation is to receive God’s mercy and His grace.
Second, salvation can be described as a finished work, an on-going work, and a work to come. It is a finished work because Christ died once to bear the sins of humanity. “It is finished,”
Third It is an on-going work because He is continuously conforming us to His image and working to maintain our relationship with Him.
Romans 8:28-30 NIV And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Fourth, salvation can be simply defined as a salvaging process. When people salvage something, they take what is perceived to be useless and transform it into something of great value.
This study is designed to enlarge our concepts of what God has provided for us in and through Jesus Christ. He came to do something more than just give us a ticket to heaven.
When anyone is saved does it simply mean that he is saved from hell and is ready to be admitted into heaven? Yes, but it means very much more because God’s salvation is comprehensive. We are lost and beaten down by sin, and under condemnation, but He finds us and restores us into fellowship with Himself, and then empowers us to live a holy life. God’s salvation covers man’s need - past, present and future – and it is eternal. It is the salvation of the soul but also of the whole human personality which is brought under the lordship of Christ.
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