The gospel is “so great salvation” because of—
• its Divine Source, for it is “the gospel of God” (Rom. 1:1).
• its Matchless Provision, for it is “the gospel of His Son” (Rom. 1:9).
• its Prophetic Claim (Rom. 1:16), for it is “the gospel of Christ [Messiah]” promised before.
• its Universal Availability, for it is “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24) which has “appeared to all men.”
• its Wonderful Results, for it is “the gospel of peace” (Rom. 10:15).
• its Illuminating Revelation, for it is “the glorious gospel” (2 Cor. 4:4) or “the gospel of the glory of the blessed God.”
What does this gospel include?
1. Justification: this is the judicial act of God by which He declares righteous the one who believes on Christ. There are at least two main aspects to this:
i) remission of the penalty for sin: “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24).
ii) imputation of righteousness: we are “not only pardoned from past sins, but supplied with a positive righteousness” (Theissen).
2. Regeneration: this is the communication of divine life to the believing sinner; being “born from above.”
i) reconciliation; restored favor with God: the enjoyment of fellowship with the Members of the Trinity based on our being “accepted in the Beloved.”
ii) sanctification: dramatic life changes that occur through the now indwelling Spirit, the process by which the believer is actually made righteous.
3. Adoption and Union with Christ:
i) Union with Christ: Note three wonderful consequences: eternal security (Jn. 10:28-30); fruitfulness (Jn. 15:5); and the availability of spiritual
gifts for the enriching of the Body (Eph. 4:15-16).
ii) Adoption: son-planning in eternity (Eph. 1:5); son-making at salvation (Gal. 4:5); son-placing at the “unveiling” (Rom. 8:23).
The experiential view of salvation
How does a sinner “come to Christ”? There are various descriptions—look and live, repent and believe the gospel, receive Him, etc.—that point to the same basic act on the part of the sinner, but Paul puts it succinctly: “Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). What are the elements in conversion?
1. Saved by Grace (see Eph. 2:5). This speaks of the unmerited disposition and provision of God toward rebellious creatures.
2. Saved by Repenting and Believing (Mk. 1:15). That is, turning from sin and to God for salvation.
3. Saved by Faith (see Lk. 7:50). This is the empty hand outstretched to receive the gift of God; such faith which comes by truly hearing the Word.
4. Saved by His Blood (see Rom. 5:9). This is the sacred currency provided: we are “redeemed…by the precious blood of Christ.”
5. Saved by His Life (see Rom. 5:10). The ongoing work begun at the moment of salvation and continuing until we are like Christ.
6. Saved by the Name (Acts 4:12). These is only one Saviour; all past, present, and future souls who “call on the name of the Lord”—whether they have specifically heard about the Lord Jesus or not—are saved through Him alone.
The blessed results that immediately occur:
1. Death to Life: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment; but is passed from death unto life” (Jn. 5:24).
2. Distance to Nearness: “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ” (Eph. 2:13).
3. Bondage to Liberty: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Gal. 5:1).
4. Poverty to Riches: “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich” (2 Cor. 8:9).
5. Stranger to Citizen: “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Eph. 2:19).
6. Darkness to Light: “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified” (Acts 26:18).
7. Sinful to Righteous: “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, [the One] who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21).
8. Condemned to Justified: “As by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life” (Rom. 5:18).
9. Enemy to Friend: “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled” (Col. 1:21).
10. Lost to Found: “It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found” (Lk. 15:32).
Four Things Crucified in the Crucifixion of Christ:
The Old Man. “Our old man is crucified with Him” (Rom. 6:6). The compound word rendered “crucified with” means to be crucified in company with others, as when the thieves were crucified with Christ. “The old man” which was crucified with Christ is the sum total of our old self life.
When the Gibeonites came to Joshua, they came with “old sacks, old wine skins, old clothes, and old clouted shoes.” The whole lot of old rubbish should have been burnt, but they caught Joshua napping. Our Joshua was not caught napping: our old habits formed in sin should no longer dominate us when we see them at Calvary.
Self Crucified. “I am crucified with Christ” (Gal. 2:20). Here, again, it is co-crucifixion. If a dead leafstalk is examined, it will be found that the old channel is blocked by a barrier invisible to the naked eye. On last year’s leaf the plant has shut the door, condemning it to decay. Soon the stalk loosens, the winds play around it, and it falls away. So the cross of Christ shuts off the life of self, and is a barrier between us and it as we reckon we have died with Him. It is not self-crucifixion, but crucifixion with Christ; not putting ourselves to death, but believing we are put to death in His death.
The Flesh Crucified. “They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Gal. 5:24). The flesh denotes the principle of life in man which is alienated from God, incurably and unmendably bad. As the blood of Christ brings us near to God, so this death kills that which caused us to go away from Him. By a choice I bring the Christ who died for me into the situation. Before Him every temptation flees.
The World Crucified. “The world is crucified unto Me, and I unto the world” (Gal. 6:14). The world is the man-made system where people are trying to be happy without God—world religion, pleasure, politics and the rest. To the world, and all that is in it, we are crucified. If you want to see the world as it really is, see what the world did to our Saviour! We read of the debasing wisdom of the world (1 Cor. 1:21), the evil character of the world (Gal. 1:4), the course of the world (Eph. 2:2), the dominating darkness of the world (Eph. 6:12), the opposition of the friendship of the world (Jas. 4:4), the contamination of the pollutions of the world (2 Pet. 2:20), and the false trinity of the things of the world (1 Jn. 2:15). They are to be to us as dead things; then we shall also be as a dead thing to the world.
—Selected