Welcome, come submissively for Theology is an empty vessel without grace in the heart.
This is designed to be a Christ focused expository look at common questions and basic biblical and theological terms. I wish for us to examine in the simplest terms, so even I can comprehend, as they are expounded upon in the bible, answers to foundations of sound doctrine and look towards the single focus of glorifying God.
I pray that we come humblily to His Word and He opens our hearts to His message and blinds us to our ignorance. In Jesus name, Amen…
How is man redeemed?
The simple answer is the cross “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree” (Gal 3:13). I would most likely do well to stop at only that for this is the only message that saves a sinner and gives him peace. This is the only way of atonement for transgressions. There is only one way to be justified and seen righteous in God’s eyes.
So what is the cross? The cross is where Christ freely gave Himself. Redemption was an act of divine sovereignty. He voluntarily laid down His life for us (I John 3:16). He Himself gave His head to be crowned with thorns. He Himself gave His cheek to be shaved. He Himself gave His back to be beaten. He Himself gave His hands to be nailed to that tree. He Himself gave His side to be opened. He Himself gave His blood for our sins. The cross where our sins hung. Christ owned them. He carried them with Him that day and made everyone of them His (Heb 9:12). Could He hide them, no there were too many. Could He reject them, no justice must be served and the sins must be punished. And it was on that cross that those sins were punished and redeemed. The cross where we were delivered. Through the proprietary sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, the law and justice of God was satisfied (Rom 3:24-26).
(Gal 1:4) “Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:”
The cross is the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ and is the central theme of the Holy Scriptures. It is the foundation of our faith, and the only hope we have of eternal life, salvation, and temporal peace.
How does God actually save sinners? by Gary Shepard
"God hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." (II Tim. 1:9, 10).
God sets forth for us in two verses of scripture how He saves sinners from their sins. You may think it is another way and preachers may preach differently, but be sure of it, this is the way God says He saves!
He saves first of all by a predetermined purpose. All that God does He does on purpose. It is "his own purpose." Past tense and positively! So wise and powerful is God that His purpose cannot fail. It is a purpose of grace wherein He has purposed to save all His people by the gift of His grace and not their works. "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." (Rom. 4:5) The saving purpose of God is an unchanging and eternal purpose without any contingency plans for God will do all His pleasure.
Secondly, God saves by a preordained person. Paul tells us that God's purpose of grace and gift of salvation was "given us in Christ Jesus." Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. God saves no one outside of His son because He has placed everything in His Son. This is what He says, "And this is the record, that God hath given unto us eternal life and this life is in his son." (I John 5:11) Christ was the Surety of God's people before the world was and in time was born into this world that He might as a man die as a substitute before divine justice on behalf of them. He alone is the singular substitutionary, sacrificial and successful Saviour! He abolished death for those who believe on Him. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ an thou shalt be saved."
God saves sinners by a particular proclamation. His salvation is revealed by the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the gospel. Life and immortality are brought to light through the gospel Paul says. Not preaching about the gospel but preaching the gospel which is Christ and Him crucified. What God's word says about Him and what He's done. Christ is God in human flesh successfully obtaining eternal redemption for everyone of God's elect. No other message but this particular and distinctive gospel will do. The glory of God is revealed in the face of Jesus Christ as He is revealed in the gospel. (II Cor. 3:7) God's salvation is in a person, His Son.
God also saves by a perpetual power. It is by a "holy calling." This calling is by the eternal Holy Spirit of God. It is a heart call. By this life-giving eternal power and call the people of God are effectually and irresistibly called out of death and darkness to life and light in Christ. His sheep hear His voice and they follow Him. They are "drawn" to Christ (John 6:44) and are kept by the power of God through faith.
Lastly, God saves a pitiful people. They are sinners. Who else would need saving? Christ died for the ungodly! He came into the world to save sinners. Few consider themselves to be real sinners against God. These that God saves are said to be "dead in trespasses and sins" and even their best works are like filthy rags. Pitiful they are but God has determined to save them to the praise of the glory of His grace.
God gets to Himself all the glory in the way He saves. All who are ever saved from sin and judgment are saved by God alone and all who are saved by God are saved this way! Are you saved by God or are you trying to save yourself? Awake to the fact that you cannot by your works or your religion save yourself and then seek in God's word to find out how He saves.
Why a man is Saved? by CH Spurgeon
If you are asked why a man is saved, the only Scriptural answer is- “Sovereign grace” — grace, unmoved by anything in the creature, flowing spontaneously from the mighty depths of the divine heart. The answer is this– because God willed it that way. “He will have mercy on whom he will have mercy, and he will have compassion on whom he will have compassion.” “It is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy.”
If any man is saved, it is not because he willed to be saved. If any man be brought to Christ, it is not of any effort of his, but the root, the cause, the motive of the salvation of any one human being, and of all the chosen in heaven, is to be found in the predestinating purpose and sovereign distinguishing will of the Lord our God. It is God who quickens the souls of those who believe. If men be saved all the glory must be unto God from first to last, and not an atom nor a particle attributed to the goodness, or the power, or the will of the creature.
This is a doctrine which some people have not learned very fully yet, but they will have to learn it if they are God’s people. Jonah, you know, had never learned it from the schools, but when the Lord got him in the whale's belly, at the bottom of the sea, with the weeds wrapped about his head, then it was that he said, “Salvation is of the Lord;” and often some sore trials and terrible afflictions are necessary schoolmasters to teach us this lesson, that salvation is of the Lord alone. It is one of the instinctive apprehensions of every enlightened man’s mind, that if he is saved, it is because of God’s mercy.
