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Full Salvation

by Jon von Ernst
8/25/2023 / Bible Studies

“Seek the Lord while He may still be found.”

(Isaiah 55:6)

Romans 1:16-21 says, “For I am not ashamed of the Good News of Christ, for it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first, and also for the Greek. For in it is revealed God’s righteousness from faith to faith. As it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known of God is revealed in them, for God revealed it to them. For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity, that they may be without excuse. Because knowing God, they didn’t glorify him as God, and didn’t give thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened.” (WEB).

I encourage you to observe creation and behold the testimony of God. According to this passage in Romans 1, God has revealed His power and divinity through creation, through the things that have been made. Through his creation God also reveals his wrath against all ungodliness and unrighteousness.

God reveals even more of Himself through the good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ. In this good news of Christ, we see God’s righteousness revealed. In it we see God in all His greatness, goodness and love.

God is continually revealing Himself to all of us, so that all will be without excuse. From the testimony of creation, from the testimony of the Scriptures, we all know God, we all know He exists. However, knowing God, we do not glorify Him as God, neither are we thankful for all that He has provided for us. Instead we vainly reason that we have the things we have because we earned them, because we deserved them.

Search the Scriptures and listen to the testimony of God and His full, loving provision for you in Jesus Christ. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (WEB).

John 3:36 says, “One who believes in the Son has eternal life, but one who disobeys the Son won’t see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (WEB). John 20:31 says, “These things are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name” (WEB). Thoughtfully weigh all of the evidence of creation and of Scripture and determine for yourself, once and for all, who this Jesus really is.

As you observe creation, notice the incredible vastness of the universe. Also notice the minute, intricate details, the amazing colors and smells of the diverse array of flowers and plants growing all around you. Observe the birds, the insects, and the animals. The beauty and the order of creation are breathtakingly majestic. Creation in its majesty demands that there must be a creator with a master design.

Whenever I admire any building, whether it is a simple house or an enormous skyscraper, I am brought to the realization that someone designed it, that someone built it. There is no doubt in my mind that the building did not just come into being on its own. I am positive that the building was not the result of some random explosion. No matter how much time might have been allowed to elapse, it could not build itself out of nothing. Simple logic, and a little experience, assures me that someone had to have designed it and someone had to have built it.

How much more does logic and experience teach us that the origin of the universe, and of all creation as we know it, was not by accident? No matter how many people, and how many books, have told us otherwise, deep in our hearts, after thoughtful consideration, we are compelled to admit that there is a God of creation.

The next question is whether we are going to acknowledge God as God. Romans 1:18-20 says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; because God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, having been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”

Immediately, we realize, if we acknowledge Him as God, there is going to be a requirement that we will be held accountable to His standards for how we live. It is obvious that He is a God of order, and therefore, He will expect us to live orderly lives in compliance with His standards. Romans 3:19 reaffirms this, “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may be accountable to God.”

This realization is alarming because, if we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit that we do not have the strength or the ability within ourselves to live up to the standards set by a holy God. Romans 3:20 warns us, “By the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight.” With this realization, our sense of hopelessness is met with despair, until we read in the Scriptures that, while we were still sinners, God sent His only Son to die for us, to die in our place. Romans 5:6 tells us, “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” Romans 5:8 continues, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

We also learn from the Scriptures that God’s Son, Jesus, not only died for us, but was also raised up from the dead to live in us. 1 Peter 3:18 says, “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.” 1 John 3:24 says, “The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.”

By His resurrection, Jesus broke the power of death over us. Hebrews 2:14 tells us, “Since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.” We find that if we submit to Jesus as Lord, He will deliver us from the penalty of sin, which is death, by forgiving our sins.

Here we come to a crossroads. Now we need to make a decision. This decision must not be made based on emotions. It must be made, as a juror in a courtroom, based only on the evidence that has been presented. We need to take some time to consider all of the evidence.

Who is this Jesus? Is He the Son of God? Did God raise Him up from the dead never to die again? Did God, by the power of the resurrection make Him to be both Lord and Christ?

Acts 2:32 proclaims, “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.” Acts 2:36 declares, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ–this Jesus whom you crucified.”

If you allow yourself to be persuaded by the facts, by the evidence presented, and you believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, that results in righteousness. You need to simply declare what you now believe. You need to confess with your mouth “Jesus is Lord” resulting in salvation (Romans 10:9-10). The Spirit of Christ coming to indwell your spirit is the beginning of the salvation process. This can only happen by genuine faith in Jesus.

Ephesians 2:4-5 says: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).” Paul says here that we have been saved, if we were made alive with Christ by His life indwelling us as the Spirit within our spirit. If God quickened us, made us alive, by placing the Spirit of Christ within our spirit, then we have been saved. This is the salvation of our spirit.

Paul also writes to the believers in Rome: “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Romans 5:10). We find that Christ, by the power of His life within us, has also set us free from the control and dominance of sin in our lives.

Romans 6:5-11 says, “For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin.”

Romans 8:2 says, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” We no longer need to obey sin and be held in bondage to it. Christ has given us full salvation from sin by the power of His Holy Spirit indwelling our human spirit. When God formed man, He formed the spirit of man within him.

Zachariah 12:1 says, “Thus declares the Lord who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him.” Jesus says in John 3:6, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” When the Holy Spirit comes to indwell us we are born again, our spirit is born of the Spirit of God.

We understand that our spirit was made alive when we were saved, by being born again. But now, much more than that, we shall be saved, by the power of His life working within us to transform our soul, to conform us to His very image. This is yet another aspect of salvation, the salvation of our soul.

Eventually we learn, through the teaching and guidance of His indwelling Spirit, that by His divine nature, He has given us everything we need to live lives pleasing to God. 1 Corinthians 2:12 reminds us, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God.” 2 Peter 1:3 encourages us saying, “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” Christ, by His Spirit, empowers us to do everything that God might require of us.

Paul tells us in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” We find that we have been transferred from a life of darkness and despair, into a life of love, joy, and peace in the Holy Spirit. Colossians 1:13-14 says, “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.” Galatians 5:22-23 continues, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self- control; against such things there is no law.”

We begin to experience, more and more, that the love, joy, and peace in the Spirit is now gradually spreading out from our spirit into our very soul by the power of His indestructible life working within us. As we walk by the Spirit, in joyful submission to Jesus as our Lord, we continue to experience the gradual process of our soul being transformed into the image of Christ, as our mind is being renewed day by day. Romans 12:2 instructs us, “Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” 2 Corinthians 4:16 encourages us, “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.” This is the salvation of our soul.

We even begin to understand the promise of Scripture, that “if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you” (Romans 8:11, NIV). This refers to what Paul spoke of in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52: “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” We see yet another aspect of salvation. This refers to the salvation of our bodies.

As believers, we were saved when we were born again, when the Spirit of Christ made our spirit alive. We are being saved day by day as the life of Christ within us transforms our soul into His image. We will be saved when our body is transfigured at the last trumpet sound, when in a twinkling of an eye we are changed. This corresponds to Paul’s prayer in 1 Thessalonians 5:23: “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Our spirit has been saved, our soul is being saved, and our body will be saved. This is truly a full salvation.

Now, as born-again believers, we learn that we no longer need to fear the “second death.” Revelation 2:11 comforts us saying, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.” Now we only need to be concerned about the coming judgment from the standpoint of being held accountable for our works, whether good or bad.

2 Corinthians 5:10 reminds us, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good of bad.” Now, as genuine believers, our only concern is whether we will be found to have walked by the Spirit in obedience to God, or whether we continued to live according to the desires of the flesh. That is what believers will be judged on.

Paul refers to this judgment in 1 Corinthians 3:7-15 where he writes: “So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. Now the one planting and the one watering are one in purpose, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s co-workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. According to God’s grace that was given to me, I have laid a foundation as a skilled master builder, and another builds on it. But each one must be careful how he builds on it. For no one can lay any other foundation than what has been laid down. That foundation is Jesus Christ.

“If anyone builds on that foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, each one’s work will become obvious, for the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one’s work. If anyone’s work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, it will be lost, but he will be saved; yet it will be like an escape through fire.” Here we see a judgment of believers, with a reward or loss, based on our works. This judgment is based on whether our works were done in obedience to the Lord, according to His empowering, or whether our works were according to our own understanding, by our own strength.

Hebrews 10:30-31 warns, “The Lord will judge His people. It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!” In 2 Corinthians 5:9-10 Paul writes to the Christians, the believers, in Corinth saying: “It is our aim, therefore, to please him, whether we are ‘at home’ or ‘away’” (Phillips).

There are some that say that Christians do not have to worry about the judgment. They say that the judgment is only for unbelievers. It is clear from these passages that Scripture does not support that teaching. In fact, the teaching that believers will not be judged leads those that believe it into a careless and often godless lifestyle.

The passage we looked at above from 1 Corinthians 3:7-15 makes it very clear that Christians will indeed be judged according to their works. If their works are of the flesh, and not of the Spirit, they will suffer loss, their works will be burned up, though they themselves will be saved as through fire. The greater danger is that believers that live careless lives, not walking by the Spirit, will forever miss out on the opportunity to gain as much of Christ as they otherwise might have.

1 Corinthians 15:41-42 says: “There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead.” The glory that each believer shall have in the resurrection shall differ from one another based on the amount of Christ they had allowed to fill their soul during their lifetime, not based on who they were or what they had accomplished. Paul prays for the believers in Ephesians 3:19: “that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.”

Paul declares in Philippians 3:8-9, “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.” Paul again says, “But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14).

Do not be deceived. Scripture is very clear about this point. We will all have to give account to God for the things we do. We will all have to give account for how we live. In Romans 14:10 Paul writes to the believers in Rome reminding them that “we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.” He continues in verse twelve saying, “So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.”

“And just as surely as it is appointed for all men to die and after that pass to their judgment, so it is certain that Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many and after that, to those who look for him, he will appear a second time, not this time to deal with sin, but to bring them to full salvation” (Hebrews 9:28). Do not miss out on all that God has prepared for those that love Him (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Writings By Jon von Ernst

The Lord of All Things Series - A Trilogy of Truth
Books in this series:
Book 1 - The Gospel of the Kingdom
Book 2- The Victorious Christian
Book 3 - Walking in the Light - Following in His Steps

*- Audio of these books are available free of charge at thepureword.net.

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS

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