(savedbygrace57;22876)
Greetings, I would like to pose a question. Are the elect saved , justified in Gods view before they believe ? Are the elect Justified from eternity ? I believe so, I believe the gospel is the announcement, the good news of our salvation..accomplished by christ..eph 1:12That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. 13In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, :study:
Hi,The Bible teaches that everyone has already been legally justified, prior to having any faith. In other words there are two phases of justification. The first phase is applicable to everyone; the second is applicable only to the believer. This is the clear teaching of Scripture:“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:23-24).“Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of One the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life” (Rom. 5:18).Two Quotes:“‘By the righteousness of One the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.’” There is no exception here. As the condemnation came upon all, so the justification comes upon all. Christ has tasted death for every man. He has given himself for all. Nay, He has given himself to every man. The free gift has come upon all. The fact that it is a free gift is evidence that there is no exception. If it came upon only those who have some special qualification [i.e., faith], then it would not be a free gift.” “The will of God is our sanctification. 1 Thess. 4:3. He wills that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. 1 Tim. 2:4 And He ‘accomplishes all things according to the counsel of His will.’ Eph. 1:11. ‘Do you mean to teach universal salvation?’ someone may ask. We mean to teach just what the Word of God teaches—that ‘the grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men.’ Titus 2:11, RV. God has wrought out salvation for every man, and has given it to him; but the majority spurn it and throw it away. The judgment will reveal the fact that full salvation was given to every man and that the lost have deliberately thrown away their birthright possession.” End QuotesBut here is where some find a “stumbling stone” and a “rock of offense.” Some seem to dislike the idea that the unbelieving sinner has the same legal standing before God as the believer. Can we present this in a more acceptable way? The Lord has given us a framework, in which to preach this essential element of the gospel, which does help people to understand. We shall refer to this as the three phases of the plan of salvation.The Bible speaks of salvation in three tenses, the past, present, and future. Let’s examine a few examples.Future Tense“Ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved” (Matt. 10:22).“He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16).“I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture” (John 10:9)“We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, …” (Acts 15:11).Many more texts refer to this phase of the plan of salvation. Most of the verses in the Bible that use the word “saved” are in the future tense. Perhaps because of this, Seventh-day Adventists have generally failed to acknowledge the other two phases.Present Tense “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18, NKJV).“For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing” (2 Cor. 2:15, NKJV).The translation presented in these verses may be somewhat surprising to those accustomed to the King James Version, which does not make it clear that the term “save” is in the present continuous tense. However, a check of the Greek reveals that the New King James Version is accurate. There are other verses that speak of the second phase of salvation without using the word “save.” For example:“Now unto Him that is able to keep [save] you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 24).“The Lord knoweth how to deliver [save] the godly out of temptations …” (2 Peter 2:9).Past TenseNow we need to examine examples of the tense that have proven to be the most controversial. The Bible clearly teaches salvation in the past tense as an already accomplished reality. For example:“Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has 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 to us in Christ Jesus before time began but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Tim. 1:8-10, NKJV).“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3:5-6, NKJV).Both passages present very clearly that salvation is an already accomplished reality. The Greek tense is aorist. It refers to an event that happened once for all at a specific point in time in the past. These passages apparently apply to the believer as well as the unbeliever. For example, 2 Timothy says God “saved us,” then it says He “called us.” The salvation was accomplished for all and all are therefore “called.” “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17). The reason all are called to take “freely” is because all have already been saved. Yet some may not be ready to acknowledge that these verses apply to everyone. Some will insist on applying these texts only to the believer. Fortunately, there is yet one more reference. Ephesians chapter two provides the clearest statement of all:“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others” (Eph. 2:1-3, NKJV).Here Paul describes the miserable plight of all humanity. We were all “dead in trespasses and sins.” Then he announces the good news of what God did for us, entirely apart from our awareness, or participation, permission, request, or faith. That’s right. Faith is not mentioned in the verse.“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)” (Eph. 2:4, 5, NKJV).When we realize what Paul was actually saying, it is astonishing to our naturally legalistic, old covenant mind set, which feels we must initiate the process of salvation. The context is very clear. Paul is not speaking of the believer. He also makes it clear that God did not do this because of our faith. He did it only “because of His great love.” Paul is speaking of those who are “dead in trespasses,” and he says they were “made … alive”! He sums it up: “by grace you have been saved.” It was not through our faith, it was “by grace.” Clearly, the Bible teaches salvation in the past tense. It is not speaking only of the believer; it is speaking of all men, every human being.It is true that Ephesians speaks of salvation by faith, later in chapter two (see verse 8). A close examination of the text reveals that the faith spoken of is primarily a reference to the faith of Jesus, and in a secondary sense to our faith. Believing the good news in verses 1-7 initiates the second phase of salvation, which is through faith. But we dare not get the cart before the horse and attempt to enjoy the fruit of salvation in the second phase, or the hope of the gospel in the third phase, apart from believing the “Good News” of the gospel, which concerns what God has already done for everyone in the first phase. That would be like building our houses on sand.Salvation in Three PhasesIf this concept of salvation in three phases is correct, it would be reasonable that we should expect to find all three phases clearly presented in the word of God. That is exactly what we find in 2 Cor. 1:10, but let’s begin at verse 9:“We had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: Who delivered [saved] us from so great a death, and doth deliver [save]: in whom we trust that He will yet deliver [save] us.”All three phases of salvation, past, present, and future, are clearly articulated in one verse of scripture, although the word “save” is not used in the passage. Paul says that God saved us from “so great a death,” and that “great death” is the second death. Then we’re told He does save, in the present continuous tense. And finally, we trust that when He comes again He will yet save us. Here we have a hint as to why the process of salvation has three phases. Sin involves a threefold problem, and each problem begins with the letter “P”: The Penalty, the Power, and the Presence.All men have been saved from the penalty of their sin. The penalty is death. Jesus tasted “death for every man” (Heb. 2:9). That’s how He “delivered us from so great a death.” That is salvation in the past tense. Were it not for this phase of salvation, which is effective for everyone, not one of us would be alive. Next, in the second phase of salvation, those who believe the good news about salvation in the past, are being saved from the power of sin, that is temptation and slavery to sin, in the present tense. Finally, those who endure (i.e., keep the faith, Rev. 14:12), shall be saved, from the presence of sin, at the second coming of Christ. So God has saved us. He does save us. And we trust that some day He will save us. These are three phases of one salvation, a threefold solution to a threefold problem. Christ is a “complete Saviour.” We cannot begin to fully appreciate the grand dimensions of the plan of salvation until we accept the biblical view of the first phase, which is the foundation for the other two. “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). It is the law of God that demands the death of the sinner (see 1 Cor. 15:56). Therefore, when Jesus “tasted death for every man” (Heb. 2:9), He met the just demands of the law for everyone. He paid every man’s debt to the law of God. Thus, Christ’s death accomplished the legal justification of all men. He thereby “abolished death” for “all men” (see 2 Tim. 1:10 and Heb. 2:9). This is why no one has ever truly died, except Christ.Embracing the Full Plan of SalvationMany refuse to embrace this truth, in part because of a failure to recognize the three phases of the plan of salvation. Those who understand only the third phase, which is final and irrevocable, assume that any claim of salvation having been accomplished for anyone in the past necessarily demands that the individual will ultimately be in heaven. Therefore the teaching of salvation in the past tense, especially for all men, is frequently rejected as universalism.In spite of this prevailing misconception, it is clear that the Bible states that Jesus has saved the whole world. This is not the heresy of universalism, because the Bible also makes it clear that we can reject the gift of salvation which Christ has accomplished and ultimately be lost. Jude verse 5 is a poignant statement of this truth: “I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.”Israel’s experience is an illustration or type of salvation. All of Israel was “saved” from Egypt, which represents the bondage of sin. This salvation was accomplished only through the cross represented by the Passover lamb. Through the death of the lamb, all the candidates for deliverance, represented by Israel, were “saved.” Israel in this type of salvation represents the whole world helplessly enslaved and in need of salvation. Christ, through His death, saved us all from the penalty of our sin. Yet after the mighty deliverance from Egypt, those who did not believe, failed to appreciate the redeeming sacrifice and were destroyed in the wilderness. Thus they never reached the promised land, which represents heaven.In the antitype, which is the actual plan of redemption, Jesus has done something for the whole world. He redeemed Adam’s disgraceful fall, and saved the world. This is the good news of the gospel for all men. And it is the power of God unto salvation [the second phase] for all that believe (see Rom. 1:16). None will be lost because of their sins. “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3). Those who are finally ultimately lost, will be lost, because they refused to believe the gospel, which teaches they have been saved (see Mark 16:16).Christ: A Complete SaviourTherefore we can conclude that Jesus is a complete Saviour. He is a complete Saviour because He has saved the whole world. He is also a complete Saviour because He is our Saviour in the past, the present, and the future. He came into this world, for what purpose? “To seek and save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). He ascended back to heaven, for what purpose? “To be a Prince and a Saviour” (Acts 5:31). He is coming again, for what purpose? The waiting saints will understand and declare, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us” (Isa. 25:9). He came to earth to save. He went back to heaven to save. He is coming again to save. Christ is a complete Saviour.Jake