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| This is a school bus too - albeit only two-wheeled. |
"In God's plan, I was saved before the
foundation of the world, then,
in God's sacrifice, I was saved when Christ died
and was raised,
and now, I am being saved by God's preserving and sanctifying
grace."
~ Michael S. Horton, J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary California since 1998.
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Sing F Lau
It was a pleasant surprise to read that
statement of Mr Horton post by another friend. Mr Horton recognizes that there
are different and distinct aspect of salvation.
Many are ignorant of these distinct aspects of salvation. When you tell them that there is an eternal salvation wholly by the free grace of God, and a temporal salvation that is conditioned upon the faithful obedience of God, they jumped and raved and throw abusive names!
In the old school theology, it is standard to distinguish the various distinct aspects of salvation pointed out by Mr Horton and a few others.
Sing F Lau
However, It seems there is one very vital
aspect missing in Mr Horton's statement!
- There is DECRETAL salvation in God's
purpose (he mentioned this)
- There is LEGAL salvation at the cross (he
mentioned this too.)
- There is VITAL/PERSONAL salvation at
effectual calling out of the state of sin and death... What is LEGAL... is applied
to each individual, thus becoming PERSONAL. This part is missing in his
statement. [This aspect is entirely monergistic].
- There is EXPERIENTIAL salvation in God's
providential and sanctifying grace. What was made PERSONAL is capable of being
experienced. [This aspect is synergistic; God's children responding to God's parenting them.]
- Then there is the FINAL salvation when we
are glorified at Christ's return. This is a separate and distinct phase
altogether.
All these parts/aspects are PLAINLY summarised plainly in the old school confessions, e.g 1689 LBCF.
Sing F Lau
Let us apply that simple truth to
justification:
- There is DECRETAL justification in God's
purpose for all the elect.
- There is LEGAL justification at the cross
for all the elect.
- There is VITAL/PERSONAL justification by
God's free grace at effectual calling out of the state of sin and death. What
is LEGAL is now applied to each individual elect, by God's free and sovereign
grace, thus making the legal justification PERSONAL. This part is ENTIRELY
missing in new school calvinism.
- There is EXPERIENTIAL justification when
God's children is brought to faith in Christ. This is the justification spoken
of in Gen 15:1-6. But new school calvinists mistake and confuse this with the
VITAL/PERSONAL justification by God's free grace.
- Then there is the FINAL justification when
publicly vindicated before all on the great judgment day.
These are five distinct aspects of justification taught in the Scriptures. They are the five fingers of a well-formed hand.
But the deformed theology so prevalent today is like a monstrous ONE-fingered hand... the ring-finger of experiential justification by faith as the sum total doctrine of justification.
Take a look here: A One-Fingered Hand is a
Monstrous Deformity: http://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2009/08/one-fingered-hand-is-monstrous.html
Sing F Lau
The five distinct aspects of salvation are beautifully stated in this short article, "When Was Paul Saved?"
One of the most common questions unlearned
Christians like to ask is: "When were you saved?" This question
assumes a person's eternal salvation is dependent on a personal decision to
accept Jesus Christ as Saviour at some specific point in time.
However, the Bible knows nothing about this kind of salvation. The Apostle Paul never once mentioned such a personal decision to accept Jesus Christ as saviour in order to obtain eternal salvation.
However, Paul many times wrote of his salvation from sin. If we were to ask him the same question, "When were you saved?" he would tell us his salvation from sin occurred at five different times. Yes, that's right; Paul was delivered from sin in five different ways and at five different times. How do we know this? Simply by reading what the Apostle wrote in his epistles. By comparing the epistles of Paul, we see five distinct aspects of God's glorious salvation from sin through our Lord Jesus Christ.
First, Paul would tell us that he was saved
from sin before the world began. This is salvation from sin in God's redemptive purpose for His people.
[Salvation Purposed in the Covenant of Redemption]
"Who [God] 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." II Tim.1:9
Second, Paul would tell us that he was saved
from sin when Christ Jesus died on the cross of Calvary. This is salvation from
the PENALTY of sin.
[Salvation Executed and Accomplished by Christ at the cross]
"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." I Tim.1:15
Third, Paul would tell us that he was saved
from sin when the Holy Spirit regenerated him and gave him a new nature. This
is salvation from the POWER of sin.
[Salvation Freely Applied to each elect personally, while dead in trespasses and sin.]
"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." Titus 3:5
Fourth, Paul would tell us that he was saved
from sin whenever he kept in memory the gospel that he had preached. This is
salvation from the PRACTICE of sin.
[Salvation Experienced through faith in Jesus Christ and obedience to God.]
"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel … by which also ye are saved if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain." I Cor. 15:1-2
Finally, Paul would tell us that he wasn't
saved yet, but that he would be completely saved from sin someday in the
future. This is salvation from the PRESENCE of sin.
[Salvation Consummated at the general resurrection and glorification]
"And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed." Romans 13:11
These five passages from the epistles of Paul illustrate the work of salvation from five different perspectives. These are the five DISTINCT facets/aspects of God's glorious salvation from sin through Jesus Christ our Lord.
If you want to hear more about the Bible doctrine of salvation without man's contemporary inventions, check out the rest of this website, or contact us.
Sing F Lau
Joel Beeke, professor of Systematic Theology,
Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, on the five DISTINCT
aspects of justification: He said,[Quote begins]
“Justification (a judicial term) takes place by the sovereign grace of a triune God in the courtroom of the conscience of God’s people when the Holy Spirit may lead them deeper into the further exercises of graces. It is something few children of God experience in our day, yet something all children of God are commanded to beg of the Lord. They can never be satisfied with less with respect to their state before God. They desire to hear from the Lord’s own mouth that their sins are forgiven eternally, to receive from the First Person of the Holy Trinity a receipt of such forgiveness as well as a right to eternal life, and to have personal justification sealed with the sevenfold seal of the heavenly Recorder – the Holy Spirit.
There is much confusion concerning this
experience and justification in general, even among God’s people. Justification
itself may be defined as the act of God’s sovereign grace whereby He imputes to
the elect sinner, who is in himself guilty and condemned, the perfect
righteousness of God in Christ, acquits him on the ground of Christ’s merit of
all guilt and punishment, and gives him a right to eternal life.
This justification is FIVEFOLD:
(1) in and from eternity, for the Lamb was
slain already from before the foundation of the world (with respect to God’s eternal
decrees) on behalf of His elect.
(2) in the resurrection of Christ, for that resurrection was the Father’s judicial stamp of approval upon the work of Christ on Calvary’s cross, so that in His resurrection Christ was not only justified as Mediator by the Father in time, but His entire elect church was also justified in Him: “Christ Jesus was raised again for our justification.” (Rom 4:25)
(3) in the moment of regeneration, where justification becomes reality in time from God’s side, who transfers the elect sinner from the state of condemnation into the state of reconciliation with God in and through Christ;
(4) in the consciousness and assurance of this personal justification for the soul itself, which takes place when the soul is justified in the court of his own conscience, where the First Person of the Holy Trinity (acting on behalf of the injured divine essence) hands the elect sinner an acquittal of all his transgressions and an eternal life receipt on the basis of the Second Person who demands such acquittal as Mediator and Advocate, which is then sealed to the soul by the Holy Spirit (so that each of the Divine Persons has His own economy with respect to this type of justification also): and
(5) in the public justification when the Lord Jesus Christ comes again on the clouds of heaven to judge the living and the dead.
[End quote]
