Theology: F - Salvation Accomplished Flashcards
What is the ordo salutis? Support your answer from Scripture.
- Effectual calling
- Regeneration
- Conversion
- Justification
- Sanctification
- Perseverance
- Glorfication
Romans 8:29-30 - “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”
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.
Isaiah 6:3 - “And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!””
* GOD IS JUST: God is so holy that he cannot even look upon sin.
Exodus 34:7 - “keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
* GOD IS VERY LOVING: God’s love prompted him to provide a way for man’s relationship with himself to be restored.
John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
WHO IS MAN?
* MAN IS SINFUL: Sin is breaking God’s law or falling short of his perfection in thought, word or deed.
Romans 3:23 - “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
* 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.
Romans 6:23 - “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
* JUDGMENT 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.
Hebrews 9:27 - “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,”
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 reserved for sinful men, fell upon Jesus when He died on the cross.
1 Peter 3:18 - “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,”
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.
John 5:24 - “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”
Define and defend (including Scripture proofs) the doctrine of “effectual calling.”
WSC 31 - “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.”
John 6:44 - “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up in the last day.”
On what is God’s decision to call a certain person based?
God’s free and special grace.
WCF 10.2 - “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.”
Ephesians 2:8-9 - “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.”
How can infants be ‘called’?
Elect infants who die are regenerated and saved by Christ through he Spirit.
WCF 10.3 - “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.”
Luke 18:15-16 - “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.”
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.
WCF 10.4 - “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….”
Is Jesus really the only way of salvation? Explain and defend (including Scripture proofs).
Yes.
WCF 10.4 - “…much less can men, not professing the Christian religion, be saved in any other way whatsoever, be they never so diligent to frame 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.”
John 14:6 - “l am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Acts 4:12 - “Salvation is found in no one else, for there in no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
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.
WCF 10.4 - “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.”
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 sincerely 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.”
WSC 33 - “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.”
**Romans 3:23-24 - **“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,”
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.
WCF 11.2 - “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.”
James 2:24 - “You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.”
When is a Christian justified?
When the Holy Spirit applies the work of Christ to you by faith. (When he/she trusts in Christ)
**WCF 11.4 - **“God did, from all eternity decree to justify all the elect, and Christ did, in the fullness of time, die for their sins, and rise again for their justification: nevertheless, they are not justified, until the Holy Spirit does in due lime, actually apply Christ to them.”
Romans 8:1-2 - “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”
What are the grounds for justification?
- He paid our debt
- Made full satisfaction of the Father’s justice
- Upheld both the justice and the grace of God
- Justification is only by God’s free grace
What happens when a Christian sins after being justified?
They may fall under fatherly discipline and need to humble themselves asking for forgiveness.
WCF 11.5 - “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.”
