How Does it Happen?
Once we know the what and the why of the cake that we’re baking, it’s time to assemble the ingredients and heat up the oven. God's holiness and love are working together, bringing salvation to us. Some people see salvation as an irresistible force that comes from God to encompass all whom He will choose. By examining scripture and looking at some case studies of salvation from the book of Acts, we will discover that while we cannot earn salvation, we do set the stage to allow God to work in us through our submission to Him in Christian baptism. Furthermore, because of His love and holiness, God makes this offer of salvation to anyone, but it is not forced onto anyone.
A. By Grace of God
Our discussion of how forgiveness of sins is applied to Christians cannot begin without a discussion of the Grace of God. I will define grace, then describe how Grace is a greater effector of forgiveness than that of simple works according to some law. We also need to look at this relationship further, specifically contrasting Grace to law, and when we’re talking specifically about God’s law, how grace demonstrates the perfection of the purpose of God’s law. God’s law brings the knowledge of sin, without bringing sin’s absolution. The general revelation each person has about law is much the same, though less perfect than God’s Law. We will also consider the universal gift of Grace. We all receive Grace from God to be born free from the curse of Adam’s guilt. This has important implications for salvation and how it is even possible in the sinful world.
If you ask the internet to define Grace you get the following answer: “simple elegance or refinement of movement.” This is wonderfully incomplete, but just enough for us to dig into. “Simple elegance” I think speaks to the fact that Grace is easy to know once you find it. It should be obvious when there, that someone has grace, or is graceful. “Refinement of movement” suggested no wasted motions. The second definition of grace is “courteous goodwill.” Once again, incomplete, but useful. Grace is a deliberate action taken to achieve the best solution. It accounts for the tastes and disposition of both parties involved. We finally get some religious meaning in the third definition: “(in Christian belief) the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings.” God elegantly has provided a solution for us to be saved. We cannot save ourselves. This has been evident from the very beginning of mankind.
According to the Bible, sin came into the world through two people, Adam and Eve. Eve was deceived, and Adam betrayed the Lord. The New Testament writers viewed the account of Genesis as literal fact, and because Adam sinned, we now share in death. Romans 5 talks about how death is now spread to everyone through Adam’s sin. However you feel about the facts of the book of Genesis, you can’t deny that we all die. What then is the solution? If Adam’s sin brings death to everyone, perhaps through one man’s righteousness we can find a solution, and this is the solution God offers to the problem of sin. God’s law provides a knowledge of Sin, it also provides a promise of a solution. The solution to death reigning through one man is righteousness reigning through one man, Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17) This is God’s solution to sin, both man’s original sin through Adam, and our own sin. God, in His Grace makes us alive through Jesus. Everyone on earth, every descendent of Adam is born under God’s Grace, capable of understanding good and evil and being able to choose between the two. God’s grace gives us ownership of our Sin. Once we understand our ownership of our sin, we can understand that we must be obedient to Law, even if that Law can only condemn us. All of us can relate to God through Law.
God has a sovereign right in the governance and creation of this existence to define for us Law. In exploring the relationship between grace and law, we have a chance to compare God’s way with Man’s way, simply because the natural way Man relates to questions of society and the eternal is through Law. Notice the capital L, and no “the”. Law in this context means the rules one uses to relate to the world. It’s an ethic, a practice of held convictions. In the book of Romans, the apostle Paul address this conception of Law in the end of the first chapter through chapter 3. It would do you well to familiarize yourself with Romans in its entirety, but that will take some time. There’s a rich mine of Truth there that goes well beyond the scope of this post. Romans has something to say about everything I will cover when it comes to obtaining salvation. One of the most basic nuggets of Truth in Romans is that we are all, by nature, under Law. Jews and Gentiles alike will be judged by Law. Some, when they learn of the Grace of God believe that God will continuously bestow Grace with no repentance because they had no knowledge of the Law of Moses, or of the Jewish people. They view themselves as separated from The Law, so they feel no obligation to follow The Law. There is, however, a catch; they are still under Law in general, and this is born out by the witness of conscience, as is recorded in Romans 2:12-16:
For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. (13) For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. (14) For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. (15) They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them (16) on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
Our natural state says “I know what’s right”, but we don’t want to look at the other side of that assertion: “I know what’s right, and I don’t always do it”. That’s what judges us. The thing you must first believe about God’s grace is that God knows you, and as a result, He knows what convicts you. He knows you’ve been convicted by your own conscience. This knowledge coupled with His Love works to show no partiality due to a lack of knowledge on your part of what He wants. We cannot escape condemnation through ignorance because we are not ignorant of the Law we apply to ourselves. We can be inconsistent, hypocritical, judgmental, or arrogant, but we do all that time, know the standard by which we will be judged. He will render to you according to your works. That’s His promise to you; He will use your judgement to judge you. This is also where His Grace meets you because you cannot escape your own judgement. His Grace also affects us all through our relationship with sin, and our tendency to continue in sin once we get a taste of it.
Grace is continuously offered to us. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. God sustains the world, and your life through His Grace so that you can learn the truth about who Jesus is, and what Jesus came to do. This isn’t always easy to see. It’s in our nature to keep doing things our way, so we are constantly subjecting ourselves to our own judgement. If we would turn from doing things our way, and turn instead to doing things God’s way, we’d find His Grace is ready and able to overcome any sin in our life through our faith in Jesus.
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On to Part 5:
