Salvation is not Just Forensic
Salvation is not just forensic. As central to our faith as this is, we cannot reduce salvation simply to justification only. Salvation is multifaceted. The work of our Lord includes, regeneration, justification, sanctification and ultimately, glorification, It includes imputation and impartation, not just forgiveness of sin, but a changed heart. We are saved in Christ from both the guilt and power of sin.
We thank God for justification: That the entirety of our standing before God is His declaration of our righteousness in Christ. This cannot be improved upon. We rest in His finished work. But we also thank God that He has imparted His Holy Spirit to us, given us a new heart and ordained the good works we will do, that we might walk in them. The later are the fruits of our new life in Christ, not the root. They do not contribute to the cross of Christ but flow from it.
"...because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 1 Cor 1:30-31
"...those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified." Romans 8:30
"work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." Phil 2:12-13
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Phil 2:8-10
"No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God." 1 John 3:9
"For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith." 1 John 5:3-4
"We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin...But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. " ROmans 6:6-7.17-18
And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. Ezek 36:26-27
"And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live." Deut 30:6
"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide." John 15:16
Monergism
Salvation is not just forensic. As central to our faith as this is, we cannot reduce salvation simply to justification only. Salvation is multifaceted. The work of our Lord includes, regeneration, justification, sanctification and ultimately, glorification, It includes imputation and impartation, not just forgiveness of sin, but a changed heart. We are saved in Christ from both the guilt and power of sin.
We thank God for justification: That the entirety of our standing before God is His declaration of our righteousness in Christ. This cannot be improved upon. We rest in His finished work. But we also thank God that He has imparted His Holy Spirit to us, given us a new heart and ordained the good works we will do, that we might walk in them. The later are the fruits of our new life in Christ, not the root. They do not contribute to the cross of Christ but flow from it.
"...because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 1 Cor 1:30-31
"...those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified." Romans 8:30
"work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." Phil 2:12-13
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Phil 2:8-10
"No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God." 1 John 3:9
"For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith." 1 John 5:3-4
"We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin...But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. " ROmans 6:6-7.17-18
And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. Ezek 36:26-27
"And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live." Deut 30:6
"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide." John 15:16
Monergism
