The Sword Room

The more I think about the last post on the deceitfulness of the Damascus Road the more I felt like writing on the present subject. I’m sure I did another entry on this a long time ago, but I can’t find it.

Anyway, there are three stages in the salvation of the believer. The first is the past stage involving regeneration and justification. This aspect is monergistic because God does it all, right down to faith with which we trust Christ. God draws, makes alive, and pronounces us righteous in Christ.

At some point in the future we will experience glorification, or resurrection. This too is a monergistic act in which God does it all. Now in my opinion, when we talk about being saved often we are referring back to the point at which we trusted Christ and were justified. For many this is the be all end all as far as this earthly life goes. The next phase of salvation on the agenda is when we go to be with the Lord–the first phase serving as a guarantee of the last phase.

I have even heard some talk about how once you are justified what happens after that in a sense doesn’t matter. Recently I heard a man talk about his adult daughter, who has repudiated Christ, abandoned her children, and lived a life strung out on drugs. But because when she was a little girl she made a decision for Christ she is guaranteed a home in heaven when she dies.

We are in no position to judge the eternal destination of anyone , but there is something missing in the above scheme. Sandwiched between regeneration/justification (past) and glorification (future) is sanctification (present). This is an ongoing process of growth into the image of Christ through the mortification of the flesh. While God is ultimately the one who is in the believer to will and do of His good pleasure it is a synergistic process involving two agents, man and God.

Some have framed it thus: we have been saved from the penalty of sin, we are being saved from the power of sin, and we shall be saved from the presence of sin. Because the present process of sanctification has more of a human element we see ups and downs and ebbs and flows in the growth of the believer. But God is sovereign over the process even though secondary means are in play. He who began the good work in the believer at regeneration will complete it. The believer’s faith can never be extinguished and he will not lose his salvation because he will not lose his faith. He might stumble but never so as to irrevocably fall.

The most important aspect of our salvation is now–today is the day of salvation. Trust Jesus today. Love the Lord today. Hate and fight sin right now. Don’t wait for tomorrow or rest in what happened years ago. Yesterday’s victories are not sufficient for today.

In John Fourteen Jesus breaks the sad news to His disciples that He is leaving. Soon His mediatorial work on earth will be accomplished through His death, burial, and resurrection for sinners. He will depart and prepare a place in heaven for His own. Though they cannot accompany him now they will be able to join Him in heaven later. In the meantime the Third Person of the Triune Godhead, the Holy Spirit, will be sent to indwell and empower the disciples for their earthly mission. In a word, Jesus exhortation to them is to trust that He will take care of them now and for eternity. They need not worry themselves over the details–just trust Him.

First, we see the simplicity of faith in Christ. In v. 5 Thomas asks the Lord, “How do we know the way?” Jesus replies: I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through me (v. 6). The way to heaven is not a dark winding path cluttered with obstacles. The Christian life we live in this fallen world is fraught with trials; but access to heaven does not consist of jumping through hoops or adhering to disciplines like counting beads, going to confession, or giving up Diet Pepsi for Lent. I am convinced that if you told people that to get to heaven they must crawl on their hands and knees to the summit of Mount Rainier you would not be able to see the mountain for all the bodies. The world, flesh, and devil are forever trying to lure us away from the simplicity of faith in Christ. The way to God is through a person. If you are in union with that person you are assured of life eternal and a home in heaven. If you do not trust that person, then you are not in union with Him, and you have no such assurance.

Which brings me to my next point–the exclusivity of faith in Christ. Jesus did not claim to be one way to God among others. He claimed to be the only way. Acts 4:12 tells us there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men whereby we must be saved. 1 Tim. 2:5 reminds us that there is only one Mediator between God and men, and that Mediator is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Consequently: He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God (John 3:18). Faith in Buddha, Allah, Krishna, or Confucius will not do a bit of good for your eternal soul. Jesus alone is the Way.

Finally, there is the certainty of it. Jesus does not tell His disciples He might prepare them a place and then return for them. There is no maybe about it. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know you have eternal life (1 John 5:13). It is not enough to think, hope, pray, or suppose you might have eternal life as a pie in the sky addendum to your life. God’s Word assures you of life that begins the moment you enter into union with the Savior by faith and endures through eternity. It is a sure thing. No one can take it away from you because no one can pluck you from the Father’s grasp.

It is all very simple and yet very difficult for some to grasp. How can the path to heaven be so simple and yet so exclusive? How is it that these Christians are so sure they know the truth when it seems they are believing in the absence of evidence? The only answer to these questions is found in Christ. To know Him is to know truth, because He is the Truth. To know Him is to know the way, because He is the Way. And to know Him is to know life, for He is the Life. So simple.

And yet so difficult.