Edited by Elder Vernon Johnson

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Salvation From a Condemning Heart

In this essay we will continue to look at our timely salvation. That there are two types of salvation taught in the scriptures is plainly set forth in II Tim. 2:10, "Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." Thus "the elect" already have "eternal glory" and Paul desired they would have another salvation, for which he endured "all things" for their sake. We will now consider how the elect are saved from a condemning heart and into the service of God.

When we are born again God writes his laws in our heart and mind (Heb. 8:10; II Cor. 3:3; Heb. 10:16; Rom. 2:15), sprinkles our heart from an evil conscience (Heb. 10:22), and sets up a courtroom in our heart and mind (Rom. 2:15; 1 John 3:21, 22). In this courtroom we are convicted in our hearts as sinners under the wrathful judgment of God as the following examples illustrate:

1. Isa. 6:5 "Then said I, Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts."

2. Luke 18:13 "And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner."

3. Rom. 7:24 "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

Thus, as the above scriptures illustrate, when we see ourselves in light of God's laws and the justice and holiness of God, that we then begin to see ourselves as poor ruined sinners worthy of God's wrath being executed upon us. The question before us is "How are we delivered (saved) from our condemning heart?" The answer is given to us in Mk.16:15, 16, "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." Thus, without doubt, there is a salvation in the preaching of the gospel, believing the gospel, and being baptized."

I Pet. 3:21 describes this salvation to us as follows: "The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ."

Peter points out to us that the salvation in baptism is "not" the putting away of the filth of the flesh. The filth of the flesh is sin. Sin is not put away by water baptism. Sin is put away by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Baptism is a figure of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Peter also points out to us that the salvation in water baptism is "the answer of a good conscience toward God." I have always been taught that if you have an answer then you must have first had a question. The question is a two part question. First, do you as a sinner, believe that Jesus died on the cross to deliver you from your sins and that when he arose that proved you are justified? The second part of this question is that since Jesus died to redeem you from your sins are you going to serve him as his disciple and enter into that service thru water baptism?

Thus belief of the gospel message and being "baptized in water serves to deliver (save) you from a condemning heart. The gospel message assures you that Jesus delivered you from the wrathful judgment of God and thus assuages the condemning heart. Likewise, water baptism assuages the heart that would condemn us if/when we turn away from the service of God.

The above principles are illustrated for us in Isa. 6:6 8. As you will recall from above that Isaiah in v.5 had seen himself in a state of condemnation and woe. Verses 6 and 7 tell us how that God had taken care of the problem that plagued Isaiah's heart: "Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from off the altar: and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." In the typical language above, if in place of the "seraphim" we inserted the gospel preacher and in place of the "live coal" we inserted Jesus' suffering and death on the cross, then we have the gospel message that brings such comfort to a sin plagued heart. Next, in v.8 we see the call to service and response of Isaiah: "Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me." This is typical of the call to service in the gospel and ones response to that call by being baptized in water. Thus it is the answer of a good conscience towards God.

Thus the salvation from a condemning heart requires the preaching of the gospel; belief of the gospel; repentance; i.e., turning from any false belief system or evil works in our lives; and baptism. This salvation requires us as born again children of God to perform the above works if we are to experience this salvation from a condemning conscience and salvation into the service of God in his kingdom. Unlike our eternal salvation which is by grace and without our works, this timely salvation is brought about in part by the works God has given us to maintain.

Salvation From Death of Fellowship

In this essay we will consider another aspect of our timely salvation which is deliverance from being dead to fellowship with God. One of the chief joys of a child of God is to have fellowship with God. Fellowship is defined as "sharing in common." Amos brings to our attention the requirement for fellowship when he asked the question in Amos 3:3, "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" The answer is implied that we must be agreed together in order to have fellowship one with another. In order for us to have fellowship with God we must agree with God. This agreement is on God's terms and not on ours. God does not change (nor does truth) in order that we may have fellowship with him. Anytime that change is required, it is required of us! This requirement for fellowship is further set forth in 1 John 1:5 7, "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." Thus to have fellowship with God and to have true Christian fellowship with one another we must walk in the light of God's revealed truth.

Only God's born again children can have fellowship with God. According to Rom. 8:7, 8, "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." A person who has not been born spiritually is "in the flesh" and thus has only a carnal (fleshy) mind. This type of individual cannot please God and thus can have no fellowship with God. Also this type of person cannot understand spiritual things (Rom. 3:11; 1 Cor. 2:14), or seek after God (Rom. 3:11), or do good (Rom. 3:12, or know the way of peace (Rom. 3:17), or fear God (Rom. 3:18). Thus he is incapable of walking with God. It is only after we are born spiritually that we can understand spiritual things, do good, seek after God, know the way of peace, and fear God. Thus, we who are born again are the only ones capable of having fellowship with God.

Many times God's born again children do not have fellowship with him. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave, this was not only typical of the resurrection, but it was also typical of the new birth when we are quickened from being dead in trespasses and sins. When Lazarus came forth from the grave he had grave clothes on. Jesus commanded to loose him and let him go. When we are born of the Spirit we are still possessors of grave clothes, i.e., our habits and lifestyle. These must be changed if we are to have fellowship with God. Thus repentance is required for God's children to have fellowship with God.

With many of God's children, they experience fellowship with God and then die to that fellowship. In James 5:19, 20 we are told, "Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins." James refers to brethren erring from the truth and if they continue in that error they would die. This is a death to fellowship.

Luke 15:11 32 addresses dying to the fellowship of God and being saved from that death. In this passage the younger of the two sons had requested that his Father divide the inheritance. Upon receiving his portion the younger son took his journey into a far country and wasted his substance with riotous living. That youngest son when he was in a far country wasting his substance with riotous living was dead to the fellowship of his Father and to his elder brother. After he had repented and come back he was restored to fellowship with his Father. His relationship with his Father never changed. He was his Father's son before he left, after he left, and when he returned. Likewise our relationship with God does not change. We are his children regardless of our status of fellowship. When the younger son had returned the Father declared, "For this my son was dead; and is alive again, he was lost, and is found." Later he explained to the elder brother, "for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found." The essential requirement for the younger son who was dead to the fellowship of his Father and elder brother was to repent. While the providential hand of God was present in leading him to repent, yet "he" had to repent to be saved from death to fellowship.

How we live our lives and what we believe are essentials in having fellowship with God. II Cor. 6:14 18 declares to us, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hat he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hat the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."

In conclusion repentance saves us from the death of fellowship with God. Living godly lives and believing the truth brings us into fellowship with God.

Salvation From Sin's Bondage

In our previous essay we considered salvation from sin's condemnation and concluded that it was by grace through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross. In this essay we will consider our salvation from sin's bondage.

When Adam ate of the forbidden fruit he brought himself and all his posterity into the bondage of sin. His flesh nature and subsequently our flesh nature was so corrupted by sin that it rendered him and us incapable of willingly serving or seeking God. The following passages of scripture describe our fallen depraved flesh nature:

1. Rom. 3:9 18 "What then? Are we better than they? No in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; as it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their ways: and the way of peace have they not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes."

2. Eph. 2:1 3 "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in times past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others."

3. 1 Cor. 2:14 "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.  Thus in our fallen sin corrupt nature we are rendered incapable of:

1. Knowing the things of the Spirit of God.
2. Understanding the things of God.
3. Seeking after God.
4. Doing anything good.
5. Fearing God.
6. Knowing the way of peace.
7. Receiving the things of the Spirit of God.

Furthermore, we were enslaved to our sin corrupted flesh nature so that we were bound to:

1. Walk after the world.
2. Walk after Satan.
3. Have our lifestyle (conversation) in the lusts of the flesh.
4. Fulfill the desires of the flesh.
5. Fulfill the desires of the mind.
6. Commit the wicked works of the flesh.

It was while we were in bondage to our sin corrupt flesh nature that God saved us, not from the corruption of sin, but from the bondage of sin as we read in Rom. 8:2, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." In the miracle of the new birth God has freed us from the bondage of the sin corrupt flesh nature. We still have the sin corrupt nature and it is as Paul stated in Rom. 7:18, "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing." Our freedom comes from the fact that God has imparted within us a new nature, so that we are no longer bound to the slavery of sin, but can seek God, know the things of God, serve God, worship God, do good, walk by faith, pray unto God, understand spiritual things, etc.

The scriptures speak of the new birth as salvation as we read in the following verses:

1. Eph. 2:4, 5 "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved)."

2. Tit. 3:4, 5 "But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, 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..."

We note that this salvation from sin's bondage is by the grace of God and not by works of righteousness which we have done. The new birth is brought about by the direct work of the Holy Spirit quickening us into spiritual life when we were still dead in trespasses and sins. At the time we were quickened us were completely incapable of performing or
doing any "works of righteousness." Truly, it is according to God's great love wherewith he loved us that while we were yet his enemy that he caused us to be born of the Spirit. Truly, God is rich in mercy to quicken vile sinners. Salvation from the bondage of sin is by grace.

Salvation From Sin's Condemnation

There are at least three aspects to the eternal salvation into heaven's glory world. All three aspects deal with salvation from sin. The first aspect which will be the topic of this essay is salvation from the condemning effects of sin. The second aspect is salvation from the bondage of sin. The third aspect is salvation from the corruption of sin.

Salvation from the condemnation of sin took place at the cross.

Salvation from the bondage of sin takes place when we are born of the Spirit. Salvation from the corruption of sin takes place in the resurrection. Together these three deliverances make up our eternal salvation from sin into heaven's glory world.

We will begin our consideration of the salvation from the condemnation of sin by noting those passages of scripture that indicate we were under the condemnation or curse of sin:

1. Gen. 2:17 "But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

2. Rom. 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death..."

3. Rom. 5:18 "Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation..."

4. Gal. 3:10 "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them."

5. Matt. 25:41, 46 "Then shall he say unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels...and these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."

Jesus' declared purpose for coming into the world is set forth for us in Matt. 1:20, 21, "But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son.and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins."

Thus God's declared purpose for Jesus to come into the world was to save "his people" from "their sins!" That it was necessary that someone should save us from our sins is declared in Matt. 19:25,26, "When his disciples heard this they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." Thus salvation from sin is not something men can bring about, but only God can bring about.

That Jesus is the only one who could save us from sin is declared in Acts 4:12, "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."  Thus we are saved by Jesus and none other. Paul punctuated this concept in I Tim. 1:15, "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." 

II Tim. 1:9 tells us that salvation from sin was by God's purpose before the world began and is by God's grace: "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began." All of our works including the work of faith, are excluded from having any part in bringing about this salvation from sin's condemnation. It is solely by the grace of God that we are saved. Paul said we could not mix works and grace in Rom.11:6, "And if by grace, then it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work."

This salvation from sin's condemnation is a completed salvation and completely removed the curse of the law from us as declared in Gal. 3:13, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." When Christ hang on the tree of the cross he became our curse for us.

 According to II Cor. 5:21, "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." Becoming sin for us and being made a curse for us Jesus suffered the full and complete wrathful judgment of God that God demanded as payment for our sins. He paid it all, all the debt we owed. The ransom payment has been made. The condemnation of sin is past as we read in Heb. 10:14, "For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." According to Heb. 8:12 God will no more remember our sins and iniquities against us. According to Rom. 8:33 there is no charge that can be laid to God's elect for it is God that justifieth.  Yea, there is no condemnation of sin to them in Christ Jesus.

May the name of Jesus Christ be praised for ever by his people.