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Sotieriology (Can a person do something to lose their salvation? (What…
Sotieriology
Can a person do something to lose their salvation?
What kind of actions do we think might remove our salvation?
Certain terrible sins
Claiming to not believe in God
Deny that Jesus is God or that he died for your sins(i.e. apostasy)
What does the Scripture say?
If you believe in Jesus' work, then you have eternal life
John 6:47-He who believes has eternal life
John 5:24- those who believe have passed from death to life
You are sealed by the Holy Spirit "in Christ"
Ephesians 1:13,14- the Holy Spirit is the seal of our salvation
Ephesians 4:30
The symbol of the "seal" most likely refers to God's preservation and ownership
We are secure because we are kept by Jesus
John 6:37-40 - Jesus promises to lose none of the ones who are his
Romans 8:31-39 - nothing can separate believers from the love of God
Neither the past, nor the future
Neither angels nor powers
Why is sin not mentioned in Paul's list? Because Jesus has already taken care of that
Unbiblical ways to evaluate our eternal security
Our emotions: " I don't feel saved."
Thankfully, our emotions are not a condition to being saved.
Just like our citizenship is not emotionally based, neither is our heavenly citizenship
Our good works: "I am not doing enough good works to be truly saved."
Thankfully, our good works are not a condition to being saved
Examining our good works, or lack thereof, is to look at the wrong person for our salvation: us and not Jesus
Problem Passages
Hebrews 5:11-6:6
What does a person need to do in order to be saved?
Confusing terminology
Let Jesus into your heart
Giving it all to Jesus
Accepted Jesus as my savior
Prayed the Prayer
Lay your burdens at the feet of the cross
Scripture tells us one condition: exercise faith, but what is faith
The Greek verb is pisteuo-to believe, to trust, to rely on
The definition of faith demands an object
to believe, trust, rely on what or whom
Faith that is valuable before God is faith in the person of God and his Word i.e. truth
Faith that is worthless or invaluable has as its object something other than God or his word
It is used almost 100x in just the gospel of john in relation to salvation
Faith is a simple, human response
Faith involves human will
Illustrations of faith
Sitting in a char
Asking for someone to move a desk for you
What faith is not
Faith is not something super-natural given to us by God
Everyone uses their faith every day
The object of people's faith is what is the problem (it is not Jesus' work)
Faith is not a "work", (i.e., it's non-meriterious)
Illus: a bank withdraw slip
Although exercising our faith in Jesus is "good", it is not a good work
Romans 4:5-Faith is not a work
Faith is not an emotion
a) An emotional response can happen at the same time that we trust in God
We should not confuse emotion with out faith
What does a person need to know to be saved?
Why is this important?
Teaching the wrong gospel has terrible consequences
Galatians 1:6-9
An incorrect gospel will give people a false hope of salvation
A correct understanding of the gospel is a crucial foundation for our walk with the Lord
Colossians 2:6
It is important to distinguish two important aspects: the gospel and foundational information
The gospel message
1 Corinthians 15:1-7
Jesus Christ died for our sins
Jesus was buried
Jesus arose from the dead 3 days later
He appeared to 500 witnesses
The gospel message is about a person- Jesus
Foundational information
This information is needed to understand the Gospel
For example, what sin is
For example, that Jesus is divine and human
This information is not technically part of the gospel, but it is needed to make sense of it
The Salvation Diamond
What is true of a person when they are saved?
The salvation diamond
Just like a diamond has many faces, so a person's salvation has many aspects to describe it
The New Testament uses several different terms to describe different aspects of our salvation
Words to discuss:
Justification
Adoption
Redemption
Sanctification
Union with Christ
First facet: Justification
Illustration: the courtroom
The action
We leave the court-justified (declared legally righteous)
We are not innocent
we are not made righteous
we are pronounced righteous
the judge considers the offer and punishes Jesus while giving us the righteous standing which Jesus had
Our defense attorney steps in but he does not attempt to defend us
the right standing he has with the court he asks be given to us
He offers to take the punishment we deserve upon himself
Instead, he agrees that we are guilty
the prosecuting attorney reads out the transgressions we have committed
Characters
The defense attorney is Jesus
The defendant is human beings
The prosecuting attorney is God's law
God is the judge
The word "justification means to be declared righteous
It is to be pronounced righteous by God
It is NOT made righteous
The key passage are Romans 3:21-31 and Gal 2:15-3:14
Justification is available to all who believe (Romans 3:22
Justification is a free gift from God (Romans 3:24)
Justification is by grace (Romans 3:24)
There is no "small print" or "strings attached"
There is no boasting because it was undeserved
Justified by faith and not by law(Romans 3:28)
Our good works (either before or after believing) cannot earn our justification
Only our faith(belief) in Jesus' death for our sins justifies us
Results of Justification
Jesus has taken our condemnation and we are legally righteous before God
We have bold access to God's grace (Romans 5:1-2)
This should create humility before God and others
The second facet: Adoption
Definition of Adoption: the act of God where he places believers into his family
Benefits of being adopted by God
As believers we are considered his children and call him "Father"("Abba") Romans 8:14-17
As his children we have unhindered access to God
Never let your sin prevent you from talking to the Lord!
We are always able to call upon him for help (Hebrews 4:14-16)
As his children, we are in a community with many other siblings
As his children, God disciplines/trains us; we are not abandoned(Hebrews 13:4-12)
The concept of "discipline" is closely related to the concept of "training"
God disciplines/trains his legitimate children (Hebrews 12:8)
God's discipline/training is for our good(Hebrews 12:10)
Our parents do the best they can and we respect them
God actually disciplines us for what is truly our good
When discipline is received God's children grow in holiness(Hebrews 12:10)
God's children are to endure hardships as God's training/discipline(Hebrews 12:7)
The third facet: Redemption
The definition of "Redemption": to purchase sinners out of the slave market of sin
Slavery in the ancient world was very common
A person could become a slave by being born a slave, a captive in war, self-sale into slavery
The classic OT illustration of redemption is Israel crossing the Red Sea after Moses leads them out of slavery in Egypt
The Scripture speaks of people being slaves of sin and of the Devil
Even as believers we can live in captivity to sin/slaves to sin(Romans 6:6, 11-14)
The Scripture portrays people who sin as slaves to sin(John 8:34)
believers are said to be free from the authority of sin(i.e."dead to sin"
Thus our redemption means that sin, while still present in us, is not our master: we have a choice whether to walk in the flesh or the spirit
One day our bodies will be redeemed: freed from the presence of Sin
The fourth fact: sanctification
The definition of "sanctification": a process where we work with God to live according to the Spirit and to have behavior more Christ-like
Sanctification comes from a Greek word meaning "to be holy or set apart"
The idea is to be set apart from sin and set apart to God
The Bible Project "Holiness"
Sanctification is viewed from three different phases
Past - we are viewed as sanctified
1 Corinthians 1:2
Present-we are viewed as in the process of being sanctified
1 Thes. 5:23
Future - we hope for a future complete sanctification
1 John 3:2
There are two aspects of our sanctification:
Both are found in Jesus' High Priestly Prayer: John 17:20-23
Jesus is "in" the Father, and the Father is in Jesus
Jesus prays that we might have the same relationship: Christ "in' us, and we in Christ
Our Identification with Jesus-we are in the 'in Christ" club
Jesus' dwelling in us through the Holy Spirit
The first aspect of Sanctification: identification with Jesus
All those who believe in the gospel are identified with christ
This is like being in a club; the "in christ" club
Ephesians 1:13-14 - all those who hear the gospel and believe the gospel are sealed in Christ by the Holy Spirit
Characteristics of those identified with Christ
We are no longer under condemnation
We are blessed with all Spiritual blessings(Ephesians 1:3)
We are holy and blameless before God
We are given all things that pertain to life and godliness
We are a citizen of Heaven (Phil. 3:20)
We are dearly loved (Romans 8:31-39)
We are freed from the authority of sin(Romans 6:1-13)
What is true of Jesus is true of us
What does this practically mean for Christians?
We should see ourselves from God's perspective as identified with Jesus; this is our true identity before God
We should view other believers from God's perspective as identified with Jesus
The second aspect of Sanctification: Jesus' life in the believer via the Holy Spirit
It is important to remember the image of the tree and roots: sin produces sins in both believers and unbelievers
Paul describes the struggle he experiences when he desires to do good but finds that sin is right there with him (Romans 7:14-25)
Paul recognizes that he has both the old nature and the new nature
Paula also recognizes that he needs the Holy Spirit to produce the character of Jesus through him
Romans 8:1-4
Walk in the Spirit produce righteous behavior/character
Colossians 1:27-29
Christ's energyworking through him
John 15:1-8
Jesus produces fruit to those who "abide in Him"
Galatians 2:20
Christ in his life
Galatians 5:16-26
the fruit of the spirit
To "walk according to the Holy Spirit" means for a Christian to daily live his/her life in dependence upon the Holy Spirit to produce the character of Christ in him/her