Part 15 of 22
Eternally Saved & Yet Being Saved
There are two classes of people on earth; there are those who are forever saved from judgment and those who will perish eternally. 2 Corinthians 2:15b … them that are saved, and in them that perish. It is heartrending for any to be lost because it is so simple to be saved. Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. For one to call upon the name of the Lord means they have turned to the Lord, reaching out, in faith.
Those who come to believe enjoy the many blessings of salvation. Here below is a list of a few of those great blessings.
Salvation makes the believer forever secure in Christ. They are eternally sealed by the Spirit.
Ephesians 1:13 (CHRIST) IN WHOM ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye BELIEVED, ye were SEALED with that holy Spirit of promise,
Salvation forever delivers the believer from the penalty of sin, from judgment.
1 Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS according to the scriptures;
2 Corinthians 5:21 (AMP) For our sake He (God) made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness].
Romans 5:9 (AMP) Therefore, since we are now justified (acquitted, made righteous, and brought into right relationship with God) by Christs blood, how much more [certain is it that] we shall be saved by Him from the indignation and wrath of God (that is to come).
All our sins have been dealt with and put away forever out of Gods sight; we are free (Lev 16:1-34; Heb.13:10-12).
Salvation delivers the believer from the bondage to and the power of the fallen Sin nature.
Romans 6:6 (WEY) This we knowthat our old self was nailed to the cross with Him, in order that our sinful nature might be deprived of its power, so that we should no longer be the slaves of sin;
Salvation brings the deposit of the resurrected Spirit of life in Christ Jesus to dwell within the believer.
Romans 8:10-11 Romans 8:10-11 (WEY) But if Christ is in you, though your body must die because of sin, yet your spirit has Life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of Him who raised up Jesus from the dead is dwelling in you, He who raised up Christ from the dead will give Life also to your mortal bodies because of His (Christs) Spirit who dwells in you.
Colossians 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is CHRIST IN YOU, the hope of glory:
Salvation will ultimately deliver the believer from the presence of the sinful Sin. We will exchange our corruptible body for a resurrected incorruptible body, when we meet the Lord in the air.
1Corinthians 15:51-54 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and THIS MORTAL SHALL HAVE PUT ON IMMORTALITY, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
1 Thessalonians 4:17 Then WE WHICH ARE ALIVE AND REMAIN SHALL BE CAUGHT UP (LATIN VULGATE, REPTURA) together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and SO SHALL WE EVER BE WITH THE LORD.
The fore listed blessings of salvation are, once and for all time, secured works of God on behalf of believers. These have already been fully paid for, accounted to believers; all will be fully accomplished for believers in Christ. Some aspects are completed at the moment of our salvation, such as our justification and salvation from judgment. Some will yet occur, such as our rapture to heaven. Yet, while on earth, there is the ongoing work of God in our soul renewing and completing our soul. This is the out-working of salvation, to be experienced in a practical way on earth.
Initially, after the day I was saved, I knew I was saved but I still was unchanged in my soul. I still operated much the same as before my salvation. I was totally ignorant of Christs all-sufficient work at the cross and of His ongoing work in my life. A changed or renewed soul usually requires one to have gained a degree of understanding and awareness of the facts of the gospel, upon which they may stand (Gal 5:1, Eph 6:11, 13). Particularly, we need to spiritually come to see the fact that we who have been baptized into Christs body (1Cor 12:13). This made us partakers of His body death, as applies to our Old Mans death, and we are partakers of His resurrection life to be our new life.
Romans 6:1-4 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are BURIED WITH HIM BY BAPTISM INTO DEATH: that LIKE AS CHRIST WAS RAISED UP from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so WE ALSO SHOULD WALK IN NEWNESS OF LIFE.
Romans 6:6 (WEYMOUTH) This we knowthat OUR OLD SELF WAS NAILED TO THE CROSS WITH HIM, in order THAT OUR SINFUL NATURE MIGHT BE DEPRIVED OF ITS POWER.
Romans 7:4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ…
Romans 6:7 (NKJV) For HE WHO HAS DIED HAS BEEN FREED FROM SIN (FROM SINS POWER).
Faith in Christs death as our death and His resurrection as our new life is a core truth of the faith. We must see this truth of our Romans 6 liberation from the dominion of Sin that occurred by our co-death with Christ. We need to see this with spiritual eyes if we are to be successfully changed in our daily living; our Old Mans co-death with Christ deprived (Sin) of its power (6:6 above).
Our Adamic Old Man, our old self, has been buried with Jesus Christ and left in Joseph of Arimathaeas tomb (Matt 15:43). Just as Jesus Christ actually died and was actually buried, so our Old Man has died and has been buried with Him. We only bury dead people. Therefore, says the Apostle, we are buried with Him by baptism into death… (Rom.6:4a). Because we cant reform our Old Man, that is our sinful self-nature, nor justify it, Paul here declares that the Old Man, the Adamic sin nature, must be buried.
Then Paul declares that we must count our Old Man to be dead.
Likewise reckon (Greek, logizmo, COUNT) YE ALSO YOURSELVES TO BE DEAD INDEED UNTO SIN, but ALIVE UNTO GOD through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom.6:11).
Now Note the Weymouth Bible for Romans 6:11 In the same way you also must regard yourselves as dead in relation to sin, but as alive in relation to God, because you are in Christ Jesus. So actually, we need to count two things according to Romans 6:11. 1) Our Old Mans is dead, and 2) we now possess new life in Christ that has made ALIVE UNTO GOD. I had (1) one old self-life and that (1) one old self-life was crucified with Christ; so this would leaves me with no life! But God did not leave us lifeless He gave us the Spirit of life (Rom 8:2a) in His Son to dwell within us as our new us.
Lets do the math to properly count this according to Romans 6:11.
- I originally had my Old Man alive; thats +1,
- Now that Old Man is dead in Christ; thats -1,
- Now I have Christs life within me as my new life, thats +1
THE TOTAL = +1
The result then is that I now have only (1) ONE new governing and empowering life. That one life is Christs Spirit of life within and one with my spirit. 1 Corinthians 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is ONE SPIRIT.
If I reckon or count properly, then I will ACT UPON THE SUM OR THE RESULT of what has occurred to me in Christ. I act upon this truth when I live by Christ in me as my one new life. In living by Christ as my life I have simultaneously accounted my Old Man dead. What is past is past, so the life I now live by is Christs life in me as my new life. So, the focus or emphasis of this verse moves us along from reckoning our self to be "dead" to reckoning our self to be "alive ...in Christ." Having understood this then we can better understand Pauls words in Galatians 2:20. I AM CRUCIFIED with Christ: nevertheless I LIVE; YET NOT I, but CHRIST LIVETH IN ME: and the life which I now live in the flesh I LIVE BY the faith of THE SON OF GOD, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Revelation knowledge of this truth breaks the Sins deception for the knowledgeable Christian. Yes, Sin still dwells in my flesh but it is not me (Rom 7:17-13). Romans 7:17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. Sin no longer dominates our life.
Faith that changes our life may begin with a mere mental assent, or intellectual faith, but while intellectual faith is a good start, it is not enough to save us or change us. We must go on from there to trust our self to Christ and the work of His cross. 1 Corinthians 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. Otherwise our intellectual faith has done us no good. God wants our heart to trust in the cross-work of His Son, suffered on our behalf; this is the kind of faith that honors Him, and it is this kind of faith that changes our life.
All real believers are eternally saved from judgment according to Pauls simple formula of receiving Gods grace through faith …the gift of God…not of works, but for many, their way of living has not yet been markedly changed. It is one thing to be saved from judgment but quite another to be changed through knowledge of the truth. Why is Bible study and Bible truth important for the believer? It is because we need spiritually revealed understanding of the truth of the work of Christ, which has the power to renew us, to change our life. We may never enjoy the full scope of the benefits of our salvation unless and until we see and understand all that weve received in Christ.
Our salvation has the power to make all things new for us. When one initially believes, they are saved and immediately baptized or placed into Christ body by the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body (Christs body)… Being now in Christ all things become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (WEY) So that if any one is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old state of things has passed away; a new state of things has come into existence. First our Spirit was regenerated as new; then our soul is in the process of being renewed. Ultimately we will receive our new spirit-body.
Thus, we see that beyond our initial reconciliation and salvation from judgment, there is a salvation that is a changed life …we come to completion only by His life. Romans 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved (Gk. sozo, completed) by his life. After our initial salvation has been secured forever by the reconciliation and regeneration in our spirit, the inner work of God, in our soul, has only begun.
Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he (The Father) which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ (the day of His re-appearing):
Here in Titus 3:5 we see the two-fold salvation; 1) regeneration, occurring at once in our spirit, and 2) the renewal of our soul. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. This renewal will go on all the remaining days of the believers life on earth. 2 Corinthians 4:16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man (of the body) perish, yet the inward man (of the souls)is renewed day by day.
In the course of our days on earth our Father will orchestrate and use the all things of the situations and circumstances of our lives to provide the heat that is necessary to refine and forge our souls into conformance with the image of His Son. Romans 8:28-29 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
The outworking of the saving, renewal and completion of our soul is seen in an actual change in our way of living.
Philippians 2:12 (AMP) Therefore, my dear ones, as you have always obeyed [my suggestions], so now, not only [with the enthusiasm you would show] in my presence but much more because I am absent, work out (cultivate, carry out to the goal, and fully complete) your own salvation with reverence and awe and trembling (self-distrust, with serious caution, tenderness of conscience, watchfulness against temptation, timidly shrinking from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ).
Our salvation from judgment, our saving faith was manifest by our initial volitional (free will) choice to personally trust, rely upon Christ as our Savior. Now that we have also gained understanding of the work of the cross in our lives, we come to trust in the power inherent in His death as our death and in His resurrection life to be the new overcoming righteous life within us (John 3:16; 14:6; Acts 4:12; 16:31; Romans 1:16; 3:21-26).
His Spirit of life within our spirit is the issue of our life. Referring to the resurrected Jesus as the last Adam, Paul writes, And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made (became) a quickening (life-giving) spirit (1Corinthians 15:45). Gods work of renewal in our soul is entirely the work of Christs life-giving spirit within us. Now God works in us by Christs life-giving spirit within us. Philippians 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
His Spirit of life, now resident within our spirit, is working in our soul.
Ephesians 3:16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner (soul) man;
Proverbs 20:27 (AMP) The spirit of man [that factor in human personality which proceeds immediately from God] is the lamp (light source) of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts (of the soul).
He who is the light of the world has come to dwell within our spirit, to illuminate and bring life to our darkened soul. He then is the light of life for our soul. New life comes as He shines into our darkened soul.
2 Corinthians 4:6-7 For GOD, WHO COMMANDED THE LIGHT TO SHINE OUT OF DARKNESS, HATH SHINED IN OUR HEARTS, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory (expression) of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 But WE HAVE THIS TREASURE IN (OUR) EARTHEN VESSELS, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.