Questions of Theology - Salvation Accomplished Flashcards
What is the ordo salutis? Support your answer from Scripture.
The traditional sequence of discussions of the different aspects of salvation: Calling, Regeneration, Conversion, Justification, Adoption, Sanctification, Perseverance, Glorification.
Pipa: Calling, conversion, justification, Adoption, Sanctification, Glorification.
Confession: Calling, justification, Adoption, Sanctification, conversion, Glorification.
“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many bothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” Romans 8:29,30.
How would you explain the plan of salvation to an unbeliever?
WHO IS GOD?
GOD IS HOLY: HE IS MAJESTIC AND ABSOLUTELY PERFECT IN HIS CHARACTER.
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord Almighty”—Isaiah 6:3
GOD IS JUST: GOD IS SO HOLY THAT HE CANNOT EVEN LOOK UPON SIN.
“He does not leave the guilty unpunished”—Exodus 34:7
GOD IS VERY LOVING: God’s love prompted him to provide a way for man’s relationship with himself to be re-stored.
“For God so lived the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life”—John 3:16
WHO IS MAN?
MAN IS SINFUL: Sin is breaking God’s law or falling short of his perfection in thought, word or deed.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”—Romans 3:23
SIN’S PENALTY IS DEATH: This separation between God and man is so great that even man’s best efforts cannot satisfy God’s holiness and justice.
“For the wages of sin is death”—Romans 6:23
JUDGEMENT IS CERTAIN: Because God is holy and just He must punish sin. And the penalty for sin is death. Spiritual death (separation from God) and physical death are not the only consequences of sin…
“Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgement”—Hebrews 9:27
WHO IS CHRIST?
JESUS CHRIST DIED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR SINFUL MEN: Because Jesus, the Son of God, became a man and lived a perfect and sinless life, He was qualified to die as a substitute. The wrath of God, which in justice was re-served for sinful men, fell upon Jesus when He died on the cross.
“For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit”—1 Peter 3:18
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE?
MAN MUST RESPOND TO THE GOOD NEWS. Jesus said that we must not only hear, but believe as well. To believe in Christ means to turn from your sin (repent) and personally trust him as Lord and Savior.
“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life”—John 5:24
Define and defend (including Scripture proofs) the doctrine of “effectual calling.”
“Effectual calling is the work of God’s Spirit; whereby; convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he persuades and enables us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered in the gospel.”—WSC #31
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up in the last day.” John 6:44
On what is God’s decision to call a certain person based?
God’s free and special grace.
“This effectual call is of God’s free and special grace alone, not from anything at all foreseen in man, who is alto-gether passive therein until, being quickened and renewed by the Holy Spirit, he is thereby enabled to answer this call, and to embrace the grace offered and conveyed in it.”—WCF 10.2
“for it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”—Ephesians 2:8,9
How can infants be ‘called’?
Elect infants who die are regenerated and saved by Christ through he Spirit.
“Elect infants, dying in infancy, are regenerated and saved by Christ, through the Spirit, who works when, and where, and how he pleases: so also as all other elect persons who are incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the word.”—WCF 10.3
“People were bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked hem. But Jesus called the children to him and said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the king-dom of God belongs to such as these.”—Luke 18:15-16
Can anyone not called by the Spirit be saved? Explain and defend (including Scripture proofs).
People may hear the gospel and have some response, but unless the Holy Spirit effectually call them, they do not truly come to Christ and are not saved.
“Others, not elected, although they may be called by the ministry of the Word may have some common operations of the Spirit, yet they never truly come unto Christ, and therefore cannot be saved….” —WCF 10.4
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.”—
John 6:44
Is Jesus really the only way of salvation? Explain and defend (including Scripture proofs).
Yes.
“…much less can men, not professing the Christian religion, be saved in any other way whatsoever, be they never so diligent to fame their lives according to the light of nature, and the laws of that religion they do profess. And to as-sert and maintain the they may, is very pernicious, and to be detested.”—WCF 10.4
“l am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”—John 14:6
“Salvation is found in no one else, for there in no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”—Acts 4:12
What about those who never had the chance to hear about Jesus?
It is not a persons ignorance which will condemn him before God, it is his sinfulness.
“Others, not elected, although they may be called by the ministry of the Word may have some common operations of the Spirit, yet they never truly come unto Christ, and therefore cannot be saved: much less can men, not professing the Christian religion, be saved in any other way whatsoever, be they never so diligent to fame their lives according to the light of nature, and the laws of that religion they do profess. And to assert and maintain the they may, is very pernicious, and to be detested.”—WCF 10.4
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.”—Psalm 19:1-2
What about the sincere Buddhist (or Muslim, or Unitarian)?
There sincerity is commendable, but in the end the previous questions command us to declare that they are sin-cerely wrong.
Define and defend (including Scripture proofs) the doctrine of “justification.”
That gracious act of God in which he treats me “Just as if I’d never sinned and lived a perfect life.”
“Justification is an act of God’s free grace, where he pardons all our sins, and accepts us as righteous in his sight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone.”—WSC U33
“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemp-tion that comes by Christ Jesus.”—Romans 3:23-24
What is the basis of justification?
The finished work of Christ credited to our account by faith.
Explain the statement: “Faith alone saves, but saving faith is never alone.”
Salvation is by faith alone, but true saving faith unites you to Christ and thus his Spirit conforms you after his image producing works of obedience. All saving faith will produce good fruit.
“Faith, thus receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness, is the alone instrument of justification: yet is not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but works by love.”—WCF 11.2
“You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.”—James 2:24 When is a Christian justi-fied?
When the Holy Spirit applies the work of Christ to you by faith.
What happens when a Christian sins after being justified?
They may fall under fatherly discipline and need to humble themselves asking for forgiveness.
“God does continue to forgive the sins of those that are justified; and, although they can never fall from the state of justification, yet they may, by their sins, fall under God’s fatherly displeasure, and not have the light of His counte-nance restored unto them, until they humble themselves, confess their sins, beg pardon, and renew their faith and repentance.”—WCF 11.5
How were believers justified under the Old Covenant?
They looked forward, in faith, to Christ, just as we look back in faith.
“The justification of believers under the old testament was, in all these respects, one and the same with the justifica-tion of believers under the new testament.”—WCF 11.6
“What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. What does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.”—Romans 4:1-3
Define and defend (including Scripture proofs) the doctrine of “Adoption.”
“Adoption is an act of god’s free grace where we are received into the number, and have a right to all the privileg-es, of the sons of God.”—WSC 34
“The Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”—Romans 8:17-18
