By Standford Murrell
¨
SALVATION AND THE SOVEREIGN
Definition
Soteriology, (soteria,
salvation, logos, discourse) refers to the study of the doctrine
concerning salvation. In general,
Soteriology embraces God’s purpose to save, the Person and work of the
Redeemer, and the application of redemption by the work of the Holy Spirit in
the hearts and lives of men.
There
are six foundational principles on which the doctrine of Soteriology rests.
·
God’s
rule is sovereign.
·
God
as Creator, Ruler, and Saviour underlies all the provisions of salvation.
·
Man
is responsibility to his Creator because he has the capacity for good and bad.
·
The
Covenant of Works expresses God’s will and man’s obligation.
·
The
Law of God requires perfect obedience.
·
God
as a perfect Being cannot require less than perfection in His Moral Law.
¨ Matthew 5:48 "Be
ye perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect."
¨ 1 Peter 1:16 "It
is written: Be ye holy for I am holy."
¨ John 5:17 "All
unrighteousness is sin."
The Law of God cannot be lowered or eliminated to
accommodate man's weakness for to diminish or abrogate God’s Law is to tarnish
God’s essential nature. The Law must be
met to the last letter. Furthermore,
mercy cannot infringe on justice else there would be disharmony among the
attributes of God’s being. So what is
to be done? What can be done? How are souls to be saved? There is an
urgent necessity for a cleansing Atonement that expresses justice and mercy
alike while maintaining the harmony of the Divine nature.
The Fall Of Man
Like so many other things in life, it is a great
mystery to know how temptation could find a point of contact and acceptance in
a holy person made in the image of God.
However, Scriptures reveal that man, when first tempted, yielded to
temptation and fell from an exalted state of great grace and privilege into sin
which brought condemnation and a sentence of death. On the basis of these basic facts Soteriology proceeds.
Among theologians, there has always been a
difference of opinions as to the order of events in the Divine economy. Of
particular importance is whether or not
the objects of the Divine decree were contemplated as fallen creatures, or
merely as men whom God would create on an equal basis (Loraine Boettner, The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination). Two views have emerged on this matter.
The infralapsarian
view contemplates the salvation of men after
the Fall. Those who are chosen to salvation
were chosen on the basis of being members of a fallen race which means that all who shall come to faith were elected
subsequent to the Fall. According to
the Infralapsarian View, the order of events would be as follows.
·
God
decreed to create man in the image of God.
·
God
decreed to permit the Fall of mankind in Adam.
·
After
the Fall, God decreed to elect some of the fallen souls to salvation and to
leave others in a natural state of condemnation.
·
God
decreed to provide a Redeemer for the elect whose work of redemption would be
sufficient for all.
·
God
decreed to secure the application of this salvation to the elect by means of
the Holy Spirit.
The term "supralapsarian" indicates
that the decree of election to salvation took place before God created man and before
He permitted the Fall. According to
the Supralapsarian View, the objects of the Divine decree were contemplated
merely as men whom God would create, all of whom were on an equal basis in His
sight. According to the Supralapsarian
View, the order of effects would be as follows.
·
In
eternity past God proposed to elect some of mankind to eternal life and to
condemn others.
·
God
proposed to create man.
·
God
proposed to permit the Fall.
·
God
proposed to send Christ to redeem the elect.
·
God
proposed to send the Holy Spirit to apply salvation to the elect
At whatever precise
point God decreed to save souls, once made, the Divine choice necessitated all
the preparations involved in the salvation process. Without Divine preparation of the heart, an individual could not
exercise any choice at all in a positive direction towards the Lord just as "no man ever chose when and where he
would be born, who would become his parents, how he would be taught and
trained, whether the Gospel was to be sent to Europe or America, or whether
they were to remain heathen, whether the Gospel should ever sound in his ears
or he forever remain ignorant of its contents and call. All these things that enter so much into man’s
salvation were chosen absolutely and alone by God." (David Clark)
As
the order of the Divine decree continues to be contemplated, the biblical
revelation is clear that in matchless grace God did not leave all mankind to
perish in the estate of sin and misery.
Out of His mere good pleasure, and for all of eternity, God did elect
some to everlasting life. God entered
into a Covenant of Grace with the elect to deliver them out of the estate of
sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a
Redeemer.
There is Scriptural evidence that a Covenant of
Redemption was made between the Father and the Son.
¨ John 6:37 "All
that the Father giveth to me shall come to me."
¨ John 6:39 "Of
all that He hat given men I should lose none."
¨ John 8:42
"Neither came I of myself, but He sent me."
¨ John 10:29 "My Father who gave them to me,"
The
plan of the Covenant of Redemption was to save man by a Redeemer, who should
become a Substitute, bear the penalty of sin, fulfill all the demands of God’s
Law, justify or acquit the sinner on condition of faith, restore the soul to
God’s favor, sanctify it wholly and glorify it forever. This Covenant of Redemption was made in
eternity, but takes effect in time. It
first appears in human history after the Fall of man in the Garden of Eden when
a Redeemer was promised (Gen. 3:15).
Issuing from the
Covenant of Redemption between the Father and the Son is the Covenant of Grace between
man and God. "The distance between God and the creature is so great, that
although reasonable creatures do owe obedience unto Him as their Creator, yet
they could never have attained the reward of life but by some voluntary
condescension on God's part, and this He hath been pleased to express by way of
a covenant (study Luke 17:10; Job 15:7,8).
Moreover, man
having brought himself under the curse of the law by his fall, it pleased the
Lord to make a Covenant of Grace wherein He freely offereth unto to sinners
life and salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring of them faith in Him that they
may be saved; and promising to give to all who are ordained to eternal life His
Holy Spirit to make them willing and able to believe (study Gen. 2:17; Gal. 3:10;
Rom. 3:20,21; Rom. 8:3; Mark 16:15,16; John 3:16; Ezek. 36:26,27; John 6:44,45;
Psa. 110:3).
This covenant
is revealed in the Gospel; first of all to Adam in the promise of salvation by
the seed of the woman, and afterward by further steps until the full discovery
thereof was completed in the New Testament; and it is founded in that eternal
covenant transaction that was between the Father and the Son about the
redemption of the elect; and it is alone by the grace of this covenant that all
the posterity of fallen Adam that ever were saved did obtained life and
blessed immortality, man Being now utterly incapable of acceptance with God
upon those terms by which Adam stood in his state of innocency" (study Gen. 3:15;
Heb. 1:1; 2 Tim. 1:9; Tit. 1:2; Heb. 6:6,13; Rom. 4:1,2; Acts 4:12; John 8:56; The
Baptist Confession Of Faith Of 1689, Chapter 7, Sections 1,2,3).
·
The
Plan of Salvation is always presented as a covenant, with parties, conditions,
promises, and penalties.
·
The
Covenant of Grace takes the place of the Covenant of Works in which man failed
through the Fall.
·
The
Covenant of Grace is the same in all dispensations [periods of time],
patriarchal, Mosaic and Christian. To
Adam was given the promise of a Redeemer.
Rites and sacrifices were instituted to prefigure the Atonement. To Noah after the flood the covenant was
renewed. With Abraham and his seed the
covenant was re-established. Moses and
Israel embraced that covenant as a national obligation. The gospel in the New Testament is still the
proclamation of the covenant. The
condition is the same in all dispensations and that is belief in the Lord Jesus
Christ as He is revealed in every generation.
In the Old Testament era, Jesus Christ was revealed as the Messiah that
was to come (Isa. 53) In the New
Testament era Jesus Christ was and is revealed as the One who has come. And there it is: faith in a Redeemer to come
holds the same place as faith in a Redeemer already come. Christ is the Redeemer in all dispensations.
The Old Testament saints were saved, not by the works of the Law (Rom. 3:20),
but by faith in a Redeemer to come (Zech. 12:10-11). "For if the inheritance is
of the Law, it is no more of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise." (Gal. 3:18)
Fundamental
to understanding the biblical doctrine of election is to define the term. What does the word "Election"
mean? A.W. Pink explains. Election,
"signifies to single out, to select, to choose, to take one and leave
another. Election means that God has
singled out certain ones to be the objects of His saving grace, while others
are left to suffer the just punishment of their sins. It means that before the foundation of the world, God chose out
of the mass of our fallen humanity a certain number and predestinated them to
be conformed to the image of His Son."
Scriptural evidence for
election is abundant.
¨ Acts 15:14 'Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles
to take out of them a people for His name."
¨ Ephesians 1:4 "According
as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world."
¨ Ephesians 1:5 "Having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself,
according to the good pleasure of his will,"
¨ John 15:16
"Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen"
¨ John 15:19 "I
have chosen you out of the world,"
¨ Acts 22:14
"The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know
his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth."
¨ Romans 8:29 "For
whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of
his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren."
¨ Romans 8:30 "Moreover
whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also
justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified."
¨ 2 Thessalonians 2:13 "God
hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation."
¨ 1 Peter 1:2 "Elect according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience."
¨ 1 Peter 2:9 "But
ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar
people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of
darkness into his marvelous light:"
¨ Isaiah 41:9
"Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee
from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have
chosen thee, and not cast thee away."
This passage shows God’s distinguishing love.
¨ John 6:37
"All that the Father giveth me shall come to me;"
¨ John 6:44 “
No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him:
¨ Acts 13:48 "And when the Gentiles
heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the LORD: and as many as were
ordained to eternal life believed."
¨ Romans. 11:15 "Even so then at this present time also there
is a remnant according to the election of grace."
¨ Romans 9:11
"(For the children being not
yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God
according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)"
¨ Ephesians 2:10 "For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should
walk in them."
These passages and others show that God elects
individuals to salvation. The election is a personal election (not
general). No other interpretation can
be put on the texts that embody the doctrine of election.
·
God
purposed to save some, but not all, of the humanity which He would create and
which He knew would Fall from a glorious estate into sin.
·
God
chose a Redeemer to secure the salvation of the elect.
·
God
sent the Redeemer, His own Son Jesus Christ, to earth in the Incarnation.
·
Christ
made an Atonement for the elect.
·
The
offer of salvation to is extended to all men without distinction.
·
The
gospel is sent into all the nations
·
When
the gospel is proclaimed in local assemblies, the external call is extended to
individual.
·
Some
who hear the external call to salvation are persuaded by the Holy Spirit to
accept the call.
·
Those
who are persuaded by the Holy Spirit are regeneration by the same so that the
gospel heard can be believed. Life
precedes faith.
Various Views Of The Nature
And Ground Of Election
The doctrine of
election is a common doctrine within Christendom. Most evangelical Churches embrace the doctrine of election. However, there are divers views.
In Church history
some, like the Socinians, regarded election as entirely conditional. It has been taught that election rests on
the condition of faith and holy living.
God’s decree determines to save the believer and condemn the unbeliever,
to reward the righteous and punish the wicked.
The decree does not extend farther than this. The condition is supplied by the undetermined will of man.
Therefore, election is conditional.
v
Special Note. The Socinians find their origin in the French theologian Faustus
Socinus, (c.1604). Socinus professed a
belief in God and adherence to the Christian Scriptures but he denied the divinity of Christ and
consequently the Trinity.
The concept of a conditional election has evident
weaknesses, not the least of which is that it takes away the Divine attributes
of foreknowledge and omniscience. If
anything is undetermined it cannot be truly foreknown by anyone including the
Lord. A purely conditional election
renders nothing certain and therefore the elect are outside the compass of
God’s knowledge. The Socinians were
honest enough to admit that God can not know the uncertain actions of men. The
Arminian theological position is less consistent than the Socinians because it
draws back from such a conclusion while teaching it. In contrast to the concept of a conditional election, the Bible
teaches that the Divine decree, which includes election, is not conditional nor
is it changeable.
¨
Isaiah
46:10 “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the
things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all
my pleasure.”
¨
Ephesians 2:8,9 “For by grace are ye saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works,
lest any man should boast.” If faith is the gift of God, it is not wholly
separable from the Divine decree.
Election Is Personal
The
language of the Scriptures show that election is personal, and that men are
elected to faith and holiness.
Therefore, a conditional election does not correspond to the Scriptural
representations in the matter.
¨ Philippians 4:3 “And I
entreat thee also, true yoke-fellow, help those women which labored with me in
the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellow-laborers, whose names
are in the book of life.”
¨ Hebrews 12:23 “To
the general assembly and Church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven,
and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect.”
¨ 1 Thessalonians 1:4 “Knowing
brethren beloved, your election of God.”
Election Is To Faith And
Good Works
¨ Acts 13:48 “And
when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the
Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
¨ John 15:16 “You
have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go
and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye
shall ask of the Father in my name, He may give it you.”