Salvation

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Salvation – I am Delivered Class 1

Grow 2012-13 Semester One Instructor: Andy Farmer

Salvation – I am Delivered Introduction

This Semester is to help us dig deeper into what it means be saved.  Strengthen our confidence in the God who saves  Stir our affections for the God who saves  Motivate our obedience to the God who saves Turn to 1 Peter 1:3-9

What does the whole Bible teach about salvation? 1. Salvation at its most basic is deliverance. In essence salvation is the act or state of deliverance from harm or peril, whether that danger be physical or spiritual, temporal or eternal.1 Exodus 14:13 13 And Moses said to the people, "Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.

2. Salvation is both deliverance from something and delivery to something Christopher J. H. Wright: To speak of God saving a person or people in the Old Testament can refer to many different ways in which he brings them out dangerous or negative circumstances into freedom or security.2

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New dictionary of biblical theology. 2001 (T. D. Alexander & B. S. Rosner, Ed.) (electronic ed.). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. 2 Christopher J. H. Wright, Salvation Belongs to Our God, 21.

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Salvation – I am Delivered Class 1

Grow 2012-13 Semester One Instructor: Andy Farmer

3. Salvation is not the same as escape. Escape is what we do. Salvation is done for us - there is an agency which does the saving. The saving agent in the Bible is God.

4. The Old Testament is the account of God’s saving activities for his chosen people – It is actually a string of deliverance stories.

5. The New Testament is the ultimate salvation story. It is the Exodus in transcendent eternal reality for all peoples. At its center is God the Son. Jesus – Yeshua – the one who saves (Matt 1:21)  

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. (Luke 19:10) It is right to call it ‘this great salvation (Heb. 2:3)

Acts 4:11-12 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

This Great Salvation is the only deliverance that ultimately matters 1. This Great Salvation is deliverance from the ultimate problem we face – the guilt of sin and the just wrath of God

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Salvation – I am Delivered Class 1

Grow 2012-13 Semester One Instructor: Andy Farmer

Matthew 1:21 you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

2. This Great Salvation required the ultimate act of deliverance – the death of the Savior Himself Romans 5:6-10 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person- though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die- 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. Mark 15:29-31 29 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, "Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!" 31 So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. R. C. Sproul: “The glory of the Gospel is this: The one from whom we need to be saved is the one who has saved us”.3

3. This Great Salvation delivers us into the ultimate existence possible – eternal life together in union with Christ Ephesians 2:4-9 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved- 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been 3

R. C. Sproul, as quoted by C.J. Mahaney in Christ Our Mediator, 43

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Salvation – I am Delivered Class 1

Grow 2012-13 Semester One Instructor: Andy Farmer

saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, a result of works, so that no one may boast.

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Clarifying our confidence in Salvation 1. CONFIDENCE comes when we focus on God’s works, not our experience. 

Salvation problems happen because we don’t always feel saved.

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God gives us Assurance so that our confidence for salvation is based in him not ourselves. Hebrews 10:19-23 19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. David Wells: Assurance is the birthright of the child of God. God wants us to have the certain consciousness of our faith. He wants us to know that despite all the experiences of life that call into question his existence, his love and good will, his holiness, he is in fact unchanged and eternally bound in love to all who are his in Christ.4

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David Wells, Turning to God, 176

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Salvation – I am Delivered Class 1

Grow 2012-13 Semester One Instructor: Andy Farmer

2. CONFIDENCE comes when we live a life of repentance and faith Titus 2:11-14 11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. No one can be saved apart from a divine enabling of grace. We have neither the desire or ability to respond to God’s offer of salvation in Christ. But when God acts upon a person by grace, he gives what is necessary to respond to the Gospel. This is what is known as conversion. Wayne Grudem: Conversion is our willing response to the gospel call, in which we sincerely repent of sins and place our trust in Christ for salvation.5

3. CONFIDENCE comes when we see salvation as more than just eternal security. Revelation 7:9-10 9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"

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Grudem, W. A. (2004). Systematic theology: An introduction to biblical doctrine (709). Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House.

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Salvation – I am Delivered Class 1

Grow 2012-13 Semester One Instructor: Andy Farmer

Christopher J. H. Wright: Salvation is not just a doctrine we believe in, or a condition we find ourselves in. Salvation is a story we participate in – the story of what God initiated through Abraham and accomplished through Christ.6

4. CONFIDENCE comes when we love Jesus most of all. 1 Peter 1:3-9 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, as was necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith- more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire- may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Joseph Caryl: It more pleaseth the saints that they enjoy God, than that they enjoy salvation. False and carnal spirits will express a great deal of desire after salvation, for they like salvation, heaven, and glory well; but they never express any longing desire after God and Jesus Christ. They love salvation, but they care not for a Saviour. Now that which faith pitcheth most upon is God Himself; He shall be my salvation, let me have Him, and that is salvation enough.7

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Christopher J. H. Wright, Salvation Belongs to Our God, 72 Thomas, I. D. E. (1999). The golden treasury of Puritan quotations (electronic ed.) (253). Simpsonville, SC: Christian Classics Foundation. 7

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Salvation – I am Delivered Class 1

Grow 2012-13 Semester One Instructor: Andy Farmer

Working it out – Discussion Questions for Grow Class 

Can someone lose their salvation? Is it right to say, ‘once saved, always saved?

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Can having doubts about salvation mean that a person isn’t saved?

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What about people who never hear the Gospel. Does that mean they can never be saved?

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How should this affect how we lead our children to Christ?

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What is a backslider?

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How does the church determine who gets removed from the church in church discipline and who doesn’t?

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How does this affect how we evangelize people?

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What part to we play in our own salvation?

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What if you believe that a person has to make a decision to follow Christ? Does that mean you don’t think they’re saved?

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What about Jehovah’s Witnesses, or Mormons, or even Catholics? Does this mean they are not saved?

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