Chapter 18
THE PLAN OF REDEMPTION
Pure Christianity's primary objective is the spreading and outworking of God's plan of salvation and reconciliation. Among the cults and various world religions there are numerous theories of how to get salvation. When these are presented to the world, some of them are readily accepted. In this sense salvation brings with it man's ultimate reason for existence. When a person finds salvation, they find the meaning to life. Our message of God's salvation is met with resistance. We need to understand that salvation is dealing with something spiritually, not logically or naturally understood.
1. Write out 1Cor. 2:4-
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Salvation must not be looked upon as a commodity for sale. Many well meaning evangelists have made salvation something that needs to be sold to people. This leads to a cheapening of salvation, which is free but not cheap. The salvation we enjoy is not free because it is of little value, on the contrary, it is free because it is priceless and invaluable. We pay nothing for God's salvation, but it costs us our life. Through the course of this study, we will discover that salvation is something that comes exclusively from God and is not just one event in our life- but a process which God initiates and brings to completion.
a) Mtt. 9:22- ______________________________________________________________
b) John 11:12- ______________________________________________________________
c) Acts 14:9- ________________________________________________________________
d) 2Tim. 4:9- ________________________________________________________________
e) Jude 23- ____________________________________________________________________
[a] Social salvation- that Jesus came to simply show us how to live with each other. People who believe this cite Christ's emphasis on love as proof that He came for this reason. When Jesus said that He was the way, the truth, the life, he was actually saying that the way of love is the road that leads to peace with God and others.
[b] Moral salvation- that Jesus came to establish high moral conduct as the way to salvation. "Since Jesus lived a 'good' life, so should we", they teach.
[c] Example salvation- that Christ gave His entire life as an example to us so that we might follow the principles He lived by and be saved by them.
While each of these contain an element of truth in them, they also contain dangerous errors. The Scriptures are abundantly clear as to why Christ came.
3. According to Mtt. 1:21 what did Jesus come to save us from?
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4. What four aspects of man's original harmony were broken?
a)___________ b)____________ c)_______________ d)______________
We observed that Charles M. Horne defined sin as- "Biblically described, is not only a failure to obey the law of God and/or a violation of it; it is also- and perhaps even more significantly- a deification of self and a dethronement of God."
In other words, a person living outside of relationship with God is in relationship with sin. They have refused to have God as their God and illegally made themselves their god. A person is either in a covenant with sin, or they are in a covenant with God.
Man's sin brought him into fellowship with the Evil One. A study on what the Bible says about evil shows us that this word is used to describe someone or something in a constant state of despair, hopelessness, and frustration. The implication is that it places unnatural burdens on a creation that was not created for such burdens. Salvation has to do with the deliverance of people from this situation.
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The real effect of what sin did to man when he fell may never be fully known. The same applies to God's reply. We can try to piece together different aspects of salvation yet never fully understand it. Several things are ingredients to salvation, but are not salvation by themselves. For eg., repentance is an ingredient, but is not salvation by itself. Though we don't know everything involved with salvation, we can be certain about this- it centres on the finished work of Christ. This is, and always has been, God's only method of salvation. His plan of salvation was foreshadowed and typified in the Old Testament, while it is revealed and explained in the New.
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7. Who moved first to restore the fellowship between man and God? How?
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When Israel cried out for deliverance time and time again, which God graciously sent, it was God, even then, who initiated deliverance. Israel was unable to do it (or even think to ask God to deliver them until God moved upon someone.) In the New Testament, it is extremely apparent that it was God who initiated salvation for us. When we meditate on John 3:16 we can see that it was God's choice and decision.
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10. How does the Bible describe man's attempt at being right before God? (Isa. 64:6 )
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11. The argument of universal salvation is still found today. How would you show someone from the Bible that this teaching is not true?
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Salvation is dependant upon man's response to it. Some modify the above teaching that God has elected only some to salvation and that they will be saved no matter what. This makes man's choice obsolete and unnecessary. In the Old Testament types we note that the sacrifices didn't just die, they were killed by men. In the incarnation of Christ, He wasn't just God, He was also Man- both at the same time (Hyperstatic-union). The writing of the Bible was a result of both God and Man. Some might take this to an extreme position and try to justify working for salvation. But man can not do anything unless God specifically initiates His grace into the heart of a person. 12. How would Eph. 2:8-9 refute this?
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13. What does 1John 3:2 imply?
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What would this mean about our future ability to sin?
We have looked at salvation as far as it concerns us. But salvation is far more encompassing than just reconciling mankind to God. It involves the whole of creation. "and by Him (Jesus) to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross" (Colossians 1:20)
All things will be reconciled to God through Christ. Creation now groans awaiting for this reconciliation (Rom. 8:22). The redeemed of the Lord also have a deep cry within them that longs and yearns to be home with their Lord (Rom.8:23; 2Cor 5:2). The Christian should never, feel at home here on earth. Salvation therefore has to do with the reconciling of all things to God, so that there remains no trace of corruption anywhere in the universe. Thus, we have salvation but there is more to come!
Amen.