A LOT IS INVOLVED

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." (Ephesians 2:8)

BECAUSE OF THE DEVASTATION sin wrought in this world, we should not expect salvation to be simplistic. While the appropriation of salvation is not complicated (praise the Lord!), we should not conclude that salvation itself is oversimplified. Something that requires all power and all wisdom cannot be elemental. A work in which the entire Godhead, as well as all the vast multitude of angels, is extensively involved is necessarily associated with remarkable depth and profound implications.

ONE OF THE REASONS professing believers lack a thankful and diligent spirit, is that they have never really seen the remarkable nature of their salvation. Too often they have heard representations of salvation that portrayed it as easily achieved, leisurely obtained, and undemanding in its completion.

THERE ARE SEVERAL DIFFERENT VIEWS of salvation presented in Scripture. They open up the multiple things that had to be accomplished for men to be saved. Salvation itself must be an expression of the righteousness of God as well as His mercy. No part of the Divine nature must be ignored if men are to be righteously saved.

PROVISIONAL. There is the provisional view of salvation in which God and Christ are said to have accomplished it completely, and independently of any of our involvement – like God subduing the Egyptians and parting the Red Sea when Israel came out of Egypt. In this sense salvation is always in the past tense – even traced back to before the foundation of the world. Examples: 2 Tim 1:9; Eph 1:4; Heb 10:14; 2 Cor 5:19,21

APPROPRIATION. There is the point at which we appropriate salvation, coming into the actual experience of it – like Israel's involvement in coming out of Egypt. Here, of course, man plays an essential part. There are things to be done that involve the whole of man's being: spirit, soul, and body. All of these are in the area of obedience, which is essential to our experience of salvation. Jesus is the Author of eternal salvation "unto all them that obey Him" (Heb 5:9). Examples: Acts 2:38; 16:31; Rom 10:13

COMPLETING THE WORK. There is bringing the sons all the way to glory by Jesus (Heb 2:10), including His indispensable intercession and sustaining power, and the intercession of the Holy Spirit – like God sending the manna and causing water to come from a rock during Israel's wilderness wandering. Examples: Rom 5:10; Heb 7:25; Rom 8:26-27.

KEEPING THE FAITH. There is also the matter of keeping the faith, pressing toward the mark, and working out one's own salvation with fear and trembling – like Israel gathering the manner, and following the pillar of cloud in going to the promised land. Examples: Phil 3:7-14; 1 Tim 6:12; Phil 2:12

MANY PREACHERS AND TEACHERS have not done well in making these distinctions. They have largely viewed salvation as a cooperative effort between God and man. But that is not a Scriptural representation. I do not believe you will find the Apostles mingling these views like the Jews mixed flour and oil in the meal offerings. Man has nothing whatsoever to do with the provisional part of salvation. He also has nothing to do with the intercessory and mediatorial work of the Lord Jesus.

FURTHERMORE, IN THE APPROPRIATION of that salvation, as well as in the matter of keeping the faith, man is integrally involved – but so are God, Christ, the Spirit, and even the holy angels. Even when the necessity of human involvement is declared, modern presentations too often exclude the involvement of God: "To you it has been GRANTED on the behalf of Christ to believe" (Phil 1:29); "for it is God who WORKS in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure" (Phil 2:13); "Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, for to GIVE repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins" (Acts 5:31); "whose heart the Lord OPENED, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul" (Acts 16:14); "Who hath DELIVERED us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son" (Col 1:13); "And you hath He QUICKENED, who were dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph 2:1), etc.

THE CONFIDENCE AND ASSURANCE which are necessary to the completion of the race are founded upon what God and Christ have done – not what we have done. That is why salvation must ultimately be traced back to God. We account for our salvation by confessing what God and Christ have done.

IN THE END, when everything is seen more clearly, the whole of salvation will be ascribed to God (Rev 7:10; 19:1). No one will trace it back to God "and us." It will be all God! All Christ! All grace! In this world, we are to grow accustomed to this confession, for ultimately all of the saved will stand before God and confess to an assembled universe, "Salvation belongs to our God" (Rev 7:10, NIV).

– Given O. Blakely