WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE ARE SAVED?

In the last session we saw how God has made salvation possible. In this session we will see
how a person can experience salvation, and what happens when he does.

The Conditions For Salvation

What must I do to be saved? Acts 16:30-31

Salvation is described in the New Testament as a free gift. (Romans. 5:15.)

The gift of God in Jesus Christ is to be received, taken hold of, believed. (John 1:12)

Wrong Views Of The Conditions For Salvation

1. Faith + “Repentance” = Salvation

2. Faith + water baptism = Salvation.

Evaluation of this view: Acts 2:38

See also Acts 10:4447, 1 Cor. 1:17

3. Faith + “Lordship” or Dedication = Salvation.

Reasons why this view is taught:

• To eliminate shallow professions of faith

• To gain disciples not just decisions.
• To counter “easy believism.”
What is meant by the term Lord?

The difference between being a believer and a dedicated disciple

Becoming a Christian and becoming a dedicated disciple are not the same. Not all
Christians are dedicated disciples. Luke. 14:26-33

Sometimes Jesus' call to His followers to discipleship are applied to nonChristians as a

call to be saved.

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 Salvation vs. Discipleship

Salvation Discipleship

Unfit Rom. 3:10-18 Fit Lk. 9:62

Unworthy Rom. 5:7-8 Worthy Mt. 10:37
Open Rom 10:13 Qualified Lk. 9:60
Free Eph. 2:8-9 Costly Lk. 14:28
Urgent Acts 2:40 Restrained Mt. 8:18-22
Compelled II Cor. 5:20 Cautious Matt. 19:21

What Happens When We Place our Faith in Christ?

We are Born Again

• Born Again (from above) -- John 3:3.

• Made Alive (Quickened) -- Col.2:13.
• Son of God -- Gal. 3:26.
• New Creation -- II Cor. 5:17.
Regeneration is the act of God where spiritually dead persons are made
alive (imparted with spiritual life) through the Holy Spirit.

Why is regeneration necessary?

• To have spiritual life.

• To enter the kingdom of God. John 3:3
• To be able to live a Christian life. (Rom. 8:7, 8)
How Does Regeneration Take Place? John 3:8,

* God the Father becomes the Father of the believer (I Peter 1:3), and gives eternal
life.

* God the Son imparts His own eternal life (Jn. 17:2).

* God the Spirit causes the believer to be spiritually alive (Jn 3:5-8).

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 Results of Regeneration

• New life (Eph. 2:5).

• New nature (Eph. 4:24).
• New Father (I John 3:1).
• New Inheritance (Rom. 8:16,17).
• New Purpose in Life (Eph. 2:10).

To be continued-----

We are Justified by Faith in Christ

Another result of accepting salvation through faith in Christ is Justification. Justification is a

legal term which means “to declare righteous.” A person is not righteous before God
because he is good or holy or better than other people. He is declared to be righteous
because of the completed work of Christ which is received by faith alone.

Some people have said justification is “just as if I never sinned.” But it is even more than that.
It is as if we had always done right. When God sees us, He sees us clothed in the
righteousness of Jesus Christ Himself.

Justification is the act of God by which He declares the believing sinner to

be as righteous as Christ and perfectly acceptable to Him.

What Does The Bible Say About Justification? Romans 3:2128

• It is for everyone who puts their trust in Jesus (v. 22). All who trust Jesus are
declared righteous regardless of race, culture, position, possessions, etc.
• It is a gift of God's grace (unmerited favor) (v. 24). This gift is not earned in any way.
• It is based on the redemptive and propitious work of Christ (v. 24, 25) The grounds
for justification can only be found in the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. It is
totally the work of God, not of man.

• It is obtained by faith in Christ completely apart from the work of the law (v. 28; see
also 4:5). The book of Galatians shows conclusively that no one can be justified by
the works of the law. There is absolutely no virtue in man that causes justification.
No amount of good works, church attendance, or religious ritual is a sufficient
ground for justification.

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 • It is an unchangeable declaration because God does not change (Romans 11:29).
“For the gifts and callings of God are irrevocable” (he does not take them back).
Once God declares us justified, nothing can change it. It is not a process. A man is
either fully justified or he is not justified at all. (Ecclesiastes 3:14)

A Picture of Justification
Luke 18:914
Jesus told a story about two very different people at the temple: a tax gatherer
and a Pharisee. The tax gatherer was a traitor, selling his own countrymen out to
make money; falsely collecting more taxes than he deserved; and enjoying a life
of luxury when all those around him were poor. The Pharisee was a good,
religious man, who had devoted his life to serve God and his people.
We see the Pharisee trusted in his goodness and was he justified by God? NO.
The taxgatherer on the other hand appealed to God on the basis of propitiation.
Was he trusting in himself? NO. Who was he trusting in? God. Did he go away
justified? YES. Like Paul, Jesus taught that justification is not based on our
goodness, but on the mercy and forgiveness available only through Him.
A Biblical Objection to the Doctrine of Justification -- Jas. 2:21-25

Key Question: Is James claiming that justification is by works?

To understand the passage, it is important to look at the verse James quotes from the
Old Testament. He is quoting Gen. 15:6, the same passage that Paul quotes from in
Rom. 3. This is the second explanation of the Abrahamic covenant. Abraham had
already acted on the first part (ch. 12) by his people to go to Canaan. But here the
promise is specifically concerning his heir -- the child which was yet to be born. Did
Abraham remain faithful to his declaration of faith? No! Look at Gen. 16:1-3. He took
his wife’s advice and had a child through his servant, in direct disobedience to God.

If his justification was due simply to obedience, Abraham would not be considered very
faithful. In fact most of the problems of the Middle East are due Abraham’s
disobedience, because most of the Arabs inhabiting the Middle East are Ishmael's
descendants. It was only later, when in Gen. 22 Abraham offered up Isaac to the Lord,

that there was unequivocal evidence of his faith. That is what James here says
“justified” Abraham.

What is James Trying to Teach?

James is saying that the test of true faith is works. The way to tell if the words are
sincere is by examining the supporting evidence. If a person is justified he will act as
one who is justified. One who returns to the old life with no evidence of transformation
could not have been justified to begin with.

Results of Justification

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 • We are at peace with God -- Romans 5:1. We have peace with God regardless of
our failures in living the Christian life. Because we have peace with God we can be
at peace with ourselves and at peace with others.
• We are saved from the wrath of God -- Romans 5:9. Those who have been justified
will be saved from the eternal burning anger of God. Their future is secure. But the
wrath of God will fall on those who have not been justified - their future is far from
safe and secure.
• We are released from condemnation -- Romans 8:3134. We are eternally secure in
Jesus Christ (see next section).
• We are declared righteous in Him -- Rom. 4:5; II Cor. 5:21. Before we had to strive
to please God. Now we can cease striving because we are perfectly acceptable to
God. He sees us clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

A Lesson from Justification

Do you feel that you have to always do right to please God? Justification teaches us that we cannot
earn right standing with God -- we are already accepted by Him!

What happens when we try to perform to gain God’s approval? We will try but of course we will sin,
then we feel guilty. Because we cannot live with guilt, we either seek to justify our sin or condemn
ourselves. In either case we feel far from God. But we want to please God, so we promise we will do
better next time. We try harder to gain God's approval. But the harder we try the worse we do, and the
guiltier we feel! What is the solution?

Rom. 8:1-5 tells us that the solution is to believe that you are fully accepted by God -- there is now no
longer any condemnation in Christ. We are justified before the Father, simply trust that you are free
from bondage to the law, and now walk in fellowship with God through the Holy Spirit.

We are Saved for Eternity

Eternal security, or the Biblical doctrine of Perseverance is:

The belief that a person, once saved, will be saved for eternity.

There are different views concerning Perseverance. There are Bible-believing Christians who
believe that true Christians cannot lose their salvation; there are others who believe they can. It
is helpful to look at some of the biblical passages which relate to this question.

Biblical Support for Perseverance

Direct statements:
• Rom. 8:35; 38ff. Nothing can separate us from the love of God.
• John 10:27-29. No one is greater than the Father, and no one can snatch us from the
Father’s hand (and the context is giving eternal life).

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 • Rom. 11:29f. Israel had not been faithful to the covenant, but God assured the Jews
that the promises of God are irrevocable. How much more for believers?

The nature of the believer's life

• We have eternal life -- I Jn. 5:11-13. If you have eternal life, and you lose it, it was not
eternal to begin with.
• We are children of God -- John 1:12. In the Roman empire it was possible to
disinherit a blood relative, but an adoptive son could not be legally disinherited!

The Sealing of the Holy Spirit Eph. 1:13-14

1. A Seal -- Eph. 1:13. The Spirit places His seal upon us that we are God's possession.
It authenticates us, that we are not just “fake” believers or pretenders to the throne. And it
shows that the authority of God Himself guarantees our permanent place in His kingdom.
As the Roman guard stood under threat of execution for allowing the Roman seal to be
broken at Jesus’ tomb, the Spirit of God stands guard at our hearts to ensure that no one
can tamper with His children. Don't mess with the seal of our God!

2. A Pledge -- Eph. 1:14. An earnest or security deposit serves as a guarantee that the full
payment will be made later. In II Cor. 5:5 the Spirit is a pledge assuring us of the
resurrection body and eternal life which awaits us in the future. The trustworthiness of

God is at stake--it is He who guarantees that the full payment of eternal life will be made,
or His honor will suffer.

The Mediation of the Son

As the sacrifice for sin -- Rom. 5:8-10. We have been saved in v. 8; in vs. 10, having
been reconciled, we shall be saved. Jesus is the one who ensures that we will be saved.
And according to Heb. 10:12-14, He has sanctified us perfectly for all time. If we drift in
and out of salvation, Jesus was not able to sanctify us perfectly, and certainly not for all
time.

As the intercessor before the Father -- Heb. 7:25. He is able to save because He makes
intercession for them. Note also Rom 8:33-34. Generally, those that believe that a person
can lose their salvation believe that through some offense or rejection of Christ they can
fall away. Yet the context indicates that there is no one that can bring a charge against
the elect, because He is their defense attorney (I Jn. 2:1). Judicially we are declared
righteous, not on the basis of our own righteousness, but based on the gift of God.
Therefore, no charge can stand against us--Jesus simply says, “the case is already
closed...the sentence is already paid.”

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The unchanging character of the Father

Ultimately the question of the security of the believer is a question of the nature of the
source of the grace whereby the believer is saved.

• The power of God -- I Peter 1:3-5. This demonstrates that God holds all power
necessary to bring about salvation.
• The immutability of God -- Rom. 11:25ff. The fact that God never changes is the
ultimate basis of His continuing plan for Israel, and for us as believers.

Biblical Arguments Against Perseverance

Admonitions not to fall away, but to endure to the end. If it is not possible to fall
away, then why are we exhorted not to?

Matt. 24:11-13 -- The one who endures to the end will be saved.

Col. 1:21-23a -- We will be presented to the Lord holy and blameless if we remain
steadfast.

Heb. 3:12-14 -- Take care lest one of you has an unbelieving heart and falls away.

On careful examination, none of these teaches that people actually will lose salvation, but
they do imply that it is possible. We are exhorted to remain steadfast so that we do not
fall away.

Examples of those who appear to have fallen away. Scripture records incidents of
people who appear to have actually fallen away.

Judas. Although he clearly was not saved, there is no evidence that he was saved to
begin with.

Saul -- I Sam. 28:6. He clearly was disobedient, but there is no record of whether he was
saved or not saved.

Ananias and Saphira -- Acts 5:1-11. While they were drastically censured, there is no
clear statement of whether they were saved or not.

Hymenaeus and Demas -- I Tim 1:19-20. Again, they were clearly deserters of the faith,
but there is no clear evidence whether they remained saved or not.

Direct teaching about falling away

Heb. 6:4-6 -- This passage appears to teach that, once a person has come to know Christ
and tasted the Holy Spirit, they cannot be brought back to repentance again. If indeed it

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 does teach, as some commentators claim, that believers can fall away, this interpretation
also creates another difficulty: such a former believer cannot return to Christ. Most
people who believe that those who lose their salvation also believe that they can be
restored. This passage teaches that they cannot. A look at v. 9 leads to another possible
interpretation: although the admonition is clear, the writer does not believe that it applies
to the readers. It may be regarded as a hypothetical situation that does not actually take
place.

John 15:1-6 -- This is metaphorical. Just as the key to interpreting a parable is to find and
apply the central teaching, we should look for the central teaching of this passage to
understand what it is saying. The main point is that we should abide in Christ in order to
bear fruit. Any allusion to our eternal destiny is secondary.

Is it possible to harmonize?

It would seem that most of the evidence favors the doctrine of perseverance. When there are
passages that seem to conflict, we should interpret the unclear passages in light of those that
are clearer. For this reason, it would seem that the Bible does teach that a true believer cannot
lose his salvation.

At the same time, the Bible does make it clear that no one should take salvation for granted. We
are exhorted to examine ourselves to see if we truly are in the faith. We are told to remain firm
and not fall away. James reminds us that without evidence of changed lives, we should not
assume that a person who says he believes truly is born again. It is very possible that people
who think they are saved, yet show no evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives, may
not be saved at all. We would be deceiving people to give assurance of salvation to those
whose lives do not bear fruit.

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