We are going to study some of the ‘big’ words associated with what the Bible says about salvation. They are BIG words not so much because they are ‘long’ (although some of them are long), but because they carry a world of meaning on their shoulders. They might not be words that we commonly use in our Christian conversation, but they refer to concepts that when understood, throw enormous light on what God has done or intends to do for everyone who believes. In each case we will examine a few Scriptures to clarify and apply the ideas the BIG word represents. ( I have been very careful to select the right order in which to think about these words, as this will help our understanding of how salvation takes place.)

1. Grace

Simply put ‘Grace’ is God’s favour and goodness to those who deserve only punishment. But, of course, there is indeed a ‘world of meaning’ standing on this short word’s shoulders. Important to understanding it is that this favour or goodness is freely given and not in response to any merit or claim on God.

Berkoff puts it ‘It is God’s free, sovereign, undeserved favour or love to man, in his state of sin and guilt, which manifests itself in the forgiveness of sin and deliverance from its penalty. It is connected with the mercy of God as distinguished from His justice. This is redemptive grace in the most fundamental sense of the word. It is the ultimate cause of God’s elective purpose, of the sinner’s justification, of his spiritual renewal; the prolific source of all spiritual and eternal blessings’. [Wow!]

In the OT the concept of grace appears mainly through ‘grace words’ chief among which are references to God’s ‘loving kindness’ and particularly His ‘steadfast love’.

But Jesus Christ was the embodiment of God’s grace - John 1:14 ‘We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.’

Grace is big in Paul’s theology. In Rom.3:24, for example, he tells us ’all …are justified freely by his [God’s] grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ.’ In the 16 chapters of Romans the word ‘grace’ appears 20 times. Again in Titus 2:11 ’For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.’

Grace is not only vital to bring us to faith for salvation, it is also vital for our continuing in the Christian life. That’s why, in the greetings or endings of all his letters, Paul wishes his readers ’grace’ or ‘grace and peace’.

And in cosmic terms Hebrews 4:16 refers to God’s (and Christ’s) throne as the ‘throne of grace’ ..

’ Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.’ This encompasses both the source of grace in God Himself for salvation and the provision of grace for daily life. The fact that we, forgiven sinners - but sinners still, can come to the throne ‘with confidence’ just shows the wonder of what God has done.

So how has He done it?

2. Atonement (and Propitiation)

We start here because the atonement by Jesus Christ is the only basis by which any human being can have a relationship with God. It has been remarked elsewhere on this web site that the greatest question in all theology is “How can God relate to mankind and how can mankind relate to God?“. Of course, the assumption behind this question is that there is a problem with God and mankind relating to one another. According to the teaching of the Bible this problem is a MORAL problem. God is a moral God - He is perfectly holy. But mankind is not moral - ever since the sin of Adam and Eve in the garden to reject what God said, we have all consistently repeated their sin - our nature is to refuse to acknowledge the right of our Creator to rule over us. The result of this fundamental sin is the corruption of our nature so that we commit sins.

While the basic sin of all mankind is to reject the rule of God, the twin sin that follows from it is equally important - namely, that it doesn’t matter and God will do nothing about it. But Scripture teaches us that it does matter and that God is angry. Not a capricious moody resentful anger, as ours would be, but an implacable and consistent hostility to sin and its consequences that arises from the very holy nature of God. It is the expression of God’s justice. Without this anger or wrath, God’s justice and righteousness would cease to have any meaning. In Eph 2:3 Paul declares that in our un-forgiven state we are ‘objects of wrath’. He also declares that it is Jesus who ‘rescues us from the wrath to come’ (1 Thess.1:10). Romans 1:18, 2:5, 5:9 and 9.22 all speak of God’s wrath. The question then is how can we escape this wrath? Or more pertinently in view of 1 Thess.1:10 how does Jesus rescue us from this wrath?

The best passage of Scripture to help us now is Romans 3:21-26, and v.25 in particular- ‘God presented him (Jesus) as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.’ According to the dictionary to atone means ‘to make at one’ or ’to give satisfaction or make reparation, or ’to appease’. The NIV translation here is more explanatory than literal. The NASB says that God presented Christ as a ‘propitiation’ which means ‘a sacrifice that bears God’s wrath to the end and in so doing changes God’s wrath toward us into favour’ (Grudem) The same word ’propitiation’ appears in 1 John 4:10 (NASB) ‘ God … sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins’ and in I John 2;2. The book of Hebrews (which is strong on the meaning of Christ’s death) uses the word 'propitiation' in 2:17. In each of these cases the NIV uses the word ‘atonement’ but the background word propitiation shows us what is strictly meant by it.

Some modern scholars have taken the view that using the word ‘propitiation’ ascribes an unworthy motive to God - that He should require the sacrifice of a third party (and an innocent one at that) to appease Him. Their problem is that they do not really accept that God is angry with us, but the Bible is crystal clear on this issue - eg Ps.7:11 ‘God is angry with the wicked every day’. Moreover, their objection demonstrates two other errors (1) an under-estimation of the holiness of God and the opposing sinfulness of man [ there is a tendency amongst such to believe in the ultimate goodness of man], and (2) the lack of recognition that it was a member of the Trinity [God Himself] - not a third party - who died on the Cross. This is a mystery we cannot unravel, but none the less true. “God satisfied Himself by substituting Himself“.

In the OT God revealed the whole idea of atonement so that it could become central to the thinking of all those who realised the seriousness of their sin. In Lev.16:1-22 we find the initial inauguration of the annual Day of Atonement. This involved the High Priest in ceremonial washing (v.4) and a sacrifice for his own sins (v.6) before going behind the curtain into the Holy of Holies Only he was ever allowed to do this. Inside this most holy of places he took one goat and sacrificed it as a sin offering. Then after symbolically placing the sins of the people on a second goat, it was driven into the wilderness. The top of the altar was called by two very significant names - the ‘mercy seat‘, where God sat (as it were) to dispense forgiveness, and the ‘atonement cover’ (v.14). Thus sacrifice, the shedding of blood (ie a death) and the concept of atonement were inextricably bound together.

But there is more. In Exodus 30:11-16 we find God instructing Moses. When they take a census each Israelite is to pay a ‘ransom’ for his life, recalling his dependence on God. And what was this ransom called? - Atonement money! In the OT there is an inescapable theme. The penalty for sin is death, but God will graciously accept the death of a substitute to satisfy his justice and moral demand.

We can speak of Christ satisfying God’s just requirement in two ways (1) by His passive obedience of God‘s Law, and (2) supremely by His sacrifice of active obedience. We must always hold these two acts of Christ together. Our fundamental problem is that we have not and cannot keep all God’s law. But Christ lived a perfect life, a very significant fact which has two vital consequences (1) He achieved what we could not so that through faith His perfect life can be credited to us (see Justification) (2) it made Him the perfect ‘lamb with blemish’ of the Passover with all its implications of protection against death. See Exodus 12:5 and 1 Peter 1:19.

So Christ died in our place (on our behalf as our substitute). His sacrifice paid the penalty our sins deserved. He satisfied the justice of God. Through faith in this atonement we can be fully and completely forgiven, not only for our sins but for the fundamental sin of our human nature to reject God’s rule over us. We are then ‘at one’ with God. (See Reconciliation below)

3. Regeneration (and the New Birth)

The word ‘regeneration’ is found only twice in the NT. The first is in Matthew 19:28 where Christ is referring to the end of human history when ‘The Son of Man sits on his glorious throne’ and everything (cosmically) will be ‘renewed’ or ‘regenerated‘. The other is in Titus 3:5 where Paul is referring to the work of the whole Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) in an individual’s salvation: he speaks of ‘rebirth and renewal (regeneration) by the Holy Spirit‘.

Regeneration is the hidden work of God which awakens our dead spirit. Paul in Eph.2:13 is at pains to tell us that before God acted we were ‘dead in your transgressions and sins’ and ‘by nature objects of [God’s] wrath’. So for us to begin to grasp anything of God and what He has done in salvation, we must be spiritually awakened or ‘regenerated’. Dead people cannot bring themselves alive again. This is God’s work through His Spirit. We cannot regenerate ourselves. How it happens and why God chooses sovereignly to do it for some and not others is beyond our human comprehension. But unless He does it no-one will be saved.

It is clear that regeneration must begin before a person is able finally to come to faith in Christ. It may not be possible humanly speaking to know when the spiritual wakening takes place. Evidence that it has happened will appear as a person’s interest in, and final conviction about Christ, comes to fruition in repentance and faith. For people taught the Bible, for example children in a Christian home, or church-goers where the Bible is faithfully explained, the moment of awakening may not be clear, but that it has happened will sooner or later become evident. For some, the moment is instantaneous in the sense that they are converted ‘on the spot’ from total unbelief to belief. But for most it takes time for understanding to grow.

The actual change that takes place when a person becomes a Christian is so radical that Christ Himself called it being ‘born again’ John 3:3-8. Peter in 1 Peter 1:3 says ‘In his great mercy, God has given us new birth into a living hope…’. It is very regrettable that ‘being born again’ is seen by many as descriptive of a particularly fundamentalist viewpoint, when it is really central to God’s teaching about the way anyone comes to saving faith in Christ. One can only assume that such an ignorant view arises either from a lack of Bible teaching or an overwhelming dependence on religious observance which has smothered true understanding.

4. Justification

Here, we are in God’s court room. As explained under ‘Atonement’, our problem - or rather God’s problem with us - is a moral one. Our natural orientation to disregard God and His right to rule over us renders us condemned and guilty before Him. We demonstrate our fundamental rebellion by the sins we commit every day. But in Christ, that is by faith in His sacrificial death for us, we can be forgiven, not only for our individual sins but also for our basic rebellion. In so doing we are rendered not guilty - acquitted - before the judgement throne of God. This being put right with Him is our ‘justification’.

The words ‘righteous/righteousness’ and ‘justify/justification’ have the same word root but in English we do not have the word to ‘rightify’ meaning to put right. So we have to use the word ‘justify‘. But that is where the meaning has its source. To be justified by God is to be declared ‘not guilty’ or ‘to be declared righteous‘. Our justification is God’s legal act: it is sometimes referred to as ‘forensic’ because it is to do with Law. (Forensic medicine is medicine related to the enforcement and maintenance of law)

The references to justification in the NT are of course very significant; here are some examples..

Rom.3:26 ‘[God] justifies those who have faith in Jesus’

Rom.5:1 ‘since .. we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ’.

Gal.2:16 ‘So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no-one will be justified.’ We have no moral merit to contribute towards our justification, it is entirely of Grace. Indeed if we were to try to add to the work of Christ we would be declaring it to be insufficient, and by so doing only besmirch it, degrade it, and ruin it.

But we must be clear: to justify does not mean to make righteous. That is the mistake in translation that Augustine made so long ago and which led to a whole range of misunderstandings that now divide Christendom. (For further explanation of this please see the articles on the Doctrine for Everyone page 1 "How Roman Catholic Belief on Justification differs from Protestant Belief" and "Augustine's Mistake and Luther's Rediscovery". ) We remain sinners throughout our life. The gift of the Holy Spirit helps and empowers us to become more Christ-like, to fight and banish sin, but never totally successfully. This life long process is called ‘sanctification’ - see later.

But if God only (!) forgives our sin, that simply leaves our life’s record (as it were) morally blank. We would actually have no righteousness to our credit. So God reckons or credits or imputes to us the righteousness of Christ. He ‘reckons’ our faith as righteousness. The particular importance of expressing it that way is because that is exactly what God said of Abraham - Gen.15:6 ’Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.’ So this has always been God’s way of relating to man. Even before Christ could be known those who lived by faith in God were said to be ‘righteous’. Look for that word throughout, for instance, the book of Psalms.

The example of Abraham’s faith and God reckoning it as righteousness is the basis for Paul’s argument in the whole of Romans 4. Here are the words with which Paul ends the chapter

‘ This is why it was “credited to him [Abraham] as righteousness” . The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but for us also, to whom God will credit righteousness - for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.’ Isn’t that wonderful?

In 2 Cor.5:21 it says ‘God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.’ If it doesn’t seem to trivialise the matter too much, let me put it this way: when we turn up to the gate of heaven God will ask “So have you lived a perfect life so that I can admit you to heaven?”. We shall be bound to reply “No, sorry I have no perfect life of my own, but I do have Christ’s life credited to me through faith. Will that do?” God will reply “That will do very well indeed, for my Son obeyed my law completely and perfectly. Come in!”

So you see why it is important to recognise that Jesus both lived on our behalf - so that there is a righteousness for those who believe, as well as died on our behalf so that we can be forgiven.

This subject of justification through faith was the key issue in the Reformation. Martin Luther called it ‘the article of the standing or falling church‘. He also said that this doctrine had to be hammered into the heads of every generation (or words to that effect!). He was right on both counts.

For more extensive discussion of this topic please turn to other articles on the Doctrine for Everyone. Page.

5. Redemption

The scene now moves to the slave market. The Bible describes us in our natural state as in bondage to sin and death. We are slaves to them. In 1 John 5:19 we read ‘…we know that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.’ If we are to be saved we need to be redeemed, bought back for God. There will have to be a price paid for us. In Mark 10:45 we read Jesus’ famous words “For even the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” The life of Jesus on the Cross was the ransom He paid for our release.

Of course, we are tempted to ask to whom Jesus paid this ransom? It was certainly not to the Father because it was not Him that we were enslaved. Nor could we entertain the idea that Jesus paid off Satan for us. He had no right to such a thing. So here the analogy falls down: we cannot understand it at this level, but we do know for sure that the Scripture talks of us being redeemed and ransomed.

Indeed the whole idea of redemption was so important to God that he laid a path of preparation for it in the OT. See Lev.25:25 ‘If one of your countrymen becomes poor and sells some of his property, his nearest relative is to come and redeem what his countryman has sold’. This established an understanding that we see worked out in the Book of Ruth 2:20 (end), 3:12 and 4:14 - the provision of a ‘kinsman-redeemer’… the nearest relative who would act to redeem the one in trouble. When this idea begins to soak into our minds, we realise what a master-stroke it was on God’s part. For was not Jesus sent to be one of us, to be our kinsman redeemer?

6. Reconciliation

Our natural rebellion against God has separated us from Him. Describing the changed spiritual status of the redeemed Paul in Col.1:21 says ‘Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation..’ We were not just poor friends: we were God’s enemies - in the opposing army. Christ’s sacrificial death on our behalf has made us friends again with God through faith. There is peace between us, not warfare.

In 2 Cor.5:18 Paul says ‘All this [our new creation] is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ…’ . We did not reconcile ourselves to God; He reconciled us.

Hear Rom. 5:10 ‘For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we all rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.’ Note that this reconciliation has been achieved already: it is not something that is improved by our performance as Christians.

Of course, this reconciliation has no permanent value unless it has really taken away the cause of the enmity between God and us. Since that cause was our rebellion towards God, our moral hostility against God, and guilt before God, then these are what Jesus has removed to God’s entire satisfaction - as we have seen in our study so far. Our reconciliation does not rest on anything we have done, but on what Christ has done.

It naturally follows that those who have benefited from God’s reconciliation should be reconciled to each other.

7. Adoption

Let’s recap. We are given new spiritual life by the Holy Spirit regenerating us. Our standing before God as acquitted of our rebellion and sin is our justification. This act redeems from the law of sin and death and reconciles us to God. This leads us into a brand new relationship with God ..

Rom.8:15 ‘For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry “Abba, Father”. The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.’ This is no less than being incorporated into God’s family! Gal.4:6,7 say much the same.

But it isn’t only Paul that recognises this privilege. John in 1:12 says ‘Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become the children of God ….born of God.’ This shows how totally our relationship with God has been changed - from enemies to friends to sons.

In these days of political correctness we may be tempted to speak of adoption as ‘sons and daughters’ of God. We understand the point. But we must be very careful that in so doing we do not throw away the most remarkable aspect of this new relationship. The point about being a ‘son’ is that you are then an inheritor ! Gal.4:7 ‘..since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.’ - ’heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ’ (Rom.8:17). What an extra-ordinary fact.

In Rom.8:23 Paul declares ‘ ..we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.’ We who believe are sons and inheritors now, but our adoption and inheritance is yet to be finally and fully realised when Christ returns.

That we now have the ‘right’ to call God ‘Father’ as John 1:12 implies, is a most remarkable thing. But true. Jesus confirms it by teaching His famous prayer which begins ‘Our Father, …’. Thus we may look to God’s close involvement with us in our living. He cares for us, understands us, disciplines us, gives us gifts, leads and guides us, and above all loves us with an undying love. He is 100 per cent on our side.

Furthermore, there are enormous implications from the fact that all believers are members of God’s family. This will substantially affect and control how we react to one another. Eph.4:20-6:9 is the big passage here, as Paul spells out what should be the result of belonging to one another in this unique and life-changing way.

8. Sanctification

To ‘be sanctified’ has two meanings:

(1) to be set apart for God - in the way old Israel was set apart for God, or the vessels of the temple were set apart for sole use in the worship of God, or the Sabbath was set apart.

(2) to undergo a process of moral transformation in co-operation with the work of the Holy spirit (to be made holy)

In the sense of (1) every Christian is already sanctified at the their time of their justification (but must not be confused with it) (1 Cor.6:11 ‘washed .. sanctified …justified.’) We are no longer our own but ‘bought at a price’ (1 Cor.6:20).

But the second sense refers to a life-long process that is never completed. We will die sinners - forgiven yes certainly - but sinners none the less. Romans 12:1,2 are key verses here - ‘present you bodies [ie your being] as living sacrifices ….do not conform to the pattern of this world (our work) ……. but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (the Spirit’s work).’ Paul says in 1 Thess.4:3 ‘God’s will is that you should be sanctified’ - and goes on to describe holiness of life. Later in 5:23 he says ‘May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.’

So sanctification is the progressive life-long work of God the Holy Spirit that frees us more and more from the power of sin and enables us to be become more Christ-like (although we must not have any delusions about approaching such perfection - perfection is not possible for us this side of heaven - Christ was infinitely more holy than we can ever imagine).

Heb.12: exhorts us to ‘throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance.’

[There is a very comprehensive chapter (no.38) on Sanctification in ‘Systematic Theology’ by Wayne Grudem]

Other articles on this web page (also referred to above) indicate the devastating results of confusing sanctification with justification. It may seem to be a very esoteric matter, but is in fact vital for a proper understanding of the Gospel. Grudem has a short but helpful summary of the major differences which is copied here (a more comprehensive version may be found in Article 1 on this web page ‘Confidence in the Gospel and Scripture’, section 2)

            Justification                                                 Sanctification

            Legal standing before God                         Internal spiritual condition

            Once for all time                                           Continuous throughout life

            Entirely God’s work                                      We co-operate

            Perfect in this life                                          Not perfect in this life

            The same in all Christians                           Greater in some than others

The vital point is that it is our justification that puts us right with God and upon which our eternal destiny rests. We cannot add to that qualification in any way by the level of our sanctification.

But that is not to say that sanctification does not matter. Surely no-one who has understood what Christ has done in the Gospel and put their faith in it, could then not care how they live? Such carelessness would suggest that the faith was in some way faulty. That’s why James is so keen that faith is proved by works and why Heb.12:14 declares that ‘without holiness no-one will see the Lord.’ Thankfulness alone should be enough to motivate us to live the way God wants. After all He deserves our obedience. More likely is that we may become weary, especially under opposition, and be drawn to compromise with the values of the world. The antidote to this must be the regular reading of the Bible and hearing it faithfully taught in the fellowship of other Christians. Neglect these and there will be trouble!

9. Glorification

This is not a word we use very much although we are quite used to the idea if the ‘glory’ of God. In the words of Jesus he would be glorified when he went to the cross - John 13:31 ! But in Rom.8:30 Paul says ‘And those he predestined he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.’ So in some way the believer is glorified too -but in what way?

Our glorification is the final act in the defeat of death, and the receiving of our resurrection bodies when Jesus returns. The big passage on resurrection is, of course, in 1 Cor.15. Here we have described the delivery of the promise that Jesus makes that ‘I will raise him [the believer] up on the last day’ (John 6:39-40). Those who are alive at the time ‘will be changed’ (1 Cor.15:51)..’in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.’ (v.52).

In 1 Cor.15:42 Paul says that our bodies sown as perishable will be raised ‘in glory’ - sown in weakness, but ‘raised in power‘.. . Our bodies will not be physical but ‘spiritual’ (v.44) which does not mean that they will have no form. In v. 37 he answers the question ‘With what kind of body will they come?‘ by drawing the parallel between the small apparently-insignificant seed that is sown in the ground, to the glory and beauty of the plant that grows from it. That is a very powerful picture. Our new bodies will be imperishable and immortal. Speaking of the last days when Christ will ‘harvest’ the earth, Jesus says ‘Then the righteous [those who have life and live, by faith] will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. (Matt.13:43)’

And where shall we then be? Stretching our imagination well beyond its limits, Peter says ’We are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.’ (2 Pet.3:13).

But in Rev.21:1 John sees the event ‘Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away…’ and v.5 ‘He who was sitting on the throne said “I am making everything new“.’. And this was exactly what God said he would do .. Go back to Isaiah 65:17 ‘Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth.’

(Further paragraphs will be added to this article from time to time)

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