The teachings of the Christian faith are often studied under the six divisions of, the doctrines of (1) God, (2) Man, (3) Christ, (4) Salvation, (5) the Church, and (6) the Future. In this article Dr. Lubbertus Oostendorp, who recently retired after spending the last 15 years of his service as a minister teaching Christian Doctrine at the Reformed Bible College, continues a series of studies on the fourth division, the Doctrine of Salvation.
The Bible is a book about salvation. Most of the mighty acts of God reported are redemptive. To these may be added a great variety of promises of salvation. What kind or kinds of salvation does the Bible teach? The answer seems to depend on who is studying it. Once more we are faced with the same danger of shaping the answer to fit the question. God appears to be the source of many “salvations.” He saves nations, cities, the poor, the oppressed, the distressed, the sick, and the dying. He redeems will the guilt and power of sin, but he also frees from demonic powers. He is the savior of the world, but also the electing God. And the Saviour redeems in a variety of ways. He preserves and restores; uses his “mighty arm”; heals bodies and delivers souls, and even raises the physically and spiritually dead.
In spite of all the complex scriptural data, for many centuries Western Christianity had concentrated its attention on personal redemption. The basic elements in salvation were forgiveness of sin, escape from eternal condemnation, and going to heaven after death. Controversy centered around the process. There was agreement about the goal. The argument between Augustine and Pelagius, or between Luther and Romanism are still important. But radically new issues have been introduced.
The Nature of Salvation
The World Conference on Salvation Today at Bangkok (1973) attempted to make the meaning of salvation compatible with the views of social revolutionaries. Much that was said and done in the name of “liberation” theology made no pretense at being scriptured. However, there were others who most seriously claimed to find their position in the Bible. Some evangelicals have tried to construct “a viable liberation theology.” Nor should we forget that there was a literal Exodus. Psalm 72 promises that “Christ shall have dominion over land and sea” and “when the needy seek Him, He will mercy show.” And Jesus promised to put to naught the works of the devil and to make us free.
With Prof. Verkuyl of the Free University, we might want to speak of “Christ, the Liberator.” Abraham Kuyper once wrote that Calvinism was t he source and protector of Dutch liberty. English Puritans wanted to purify not only the church but also the state. American Christianity has always been concerned with freedom and somewhat obsessed with the hope to “make the world safe for democracy.” Even our fundamentalist brethren have become deeply concerned with “saving America.”
Not Dispensationalism
We do not wish to escape the problem by resorting to dispensationalism. This would make Christ a literal, social, political savior, but only in the Millenium. It would seem to take care of the Jewish problems as well as the promises of a liberated world. Moreover, it would tend to make of salvation now too limited and exclusively spiritual a process. However, God may plan to deal with (save) Israel, we dare not posit more than one plan of Salvation. Christ is not two saviors with two peoples.
How shall we then understand the mighty redemptive acts of the O.T.? One message is obvious. God is the savior of His people. In many diverse ways and by manifest terrestial judgments and blessings His saving ways are made known. Since Christ is the center of the O.T. as well as the N.T., the message of salvation is essentially the same. We must not think of the spiritual character of salvation presented by the Apostles as a response to some kind of failure of a literal kingdom. Rather it is the fulfillment of the O.T. hope. If mankind, as Israel, needed a social and political hero who would free from Rome and restore to external glory, God would have sent such a savior. But the people of God needed a savior from sin, Matt.1:21. H. Ridderbos in his The Coming of the Kingdom shows its basic element to be truly transcendent-soteriological.
The Elements of Salvation
For Christ the Gospel of salvation included five basic elements. (H. Ridderbos The Coming of the Kingdom pp. 211–277) Jesus preaches the remission of sins, the restoration through Christ to the fatherhood of God, the moral restoration to fulfill the Father’s will (the regenerate person), God’s fatherhood and temporal care, and the gift of eternal life.
Jesus took sin seriously. He bore the name Savior “because he would save His people from their sins.” The modern idea that Jesus proclaimed a God who was different from the O.T. Jehovah cannot be supported by His words or deeds. He came even to give His life a ransom for sin (Heb. 7:27). The newness of His message lies in the complete assurance of forgiveness by His word and work. Here is One who has power on earth to forgive sins. All men, moreover, lie under a debt beyond their power to pay. Their only hope to escape the judgment of God is His forgiving grace.
Restoration to God
Certain theological positions make much of the fact that Jesus accepts the sinner just as he is. And in a sense this is true, as clearly taught by the parable of the prodigal son. Here all the depth and beauty of divine forgiveness shines forth. However, there is another side to t he life of sonship. He who of purest grace brings us to His Father also gives us grace to live as children of God. Christ does something about sin for us, but also within us. Being saved means being regenerated (Jh. 3:3) and made “good trees” who bring forth good fruit (Matt. 7:17). Those who receive the salvation of the kingdom and have remission of sins and adoption as sons, receive also the heart that brings forth good treasures (Lk. 6:45). We may put it theologically by saying that Jesus knows no man who is justified who is not also sanctified.
Moral Restoration
Perhaps the most extreme and also the most disturbing of the sayings of Jesus which stress the need for conversion is found in Matt. 18:34, 35. After telling the parable about forgiveness He concludes, “So likewise shall my heavenly Father do unto you if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.” Here the “as we forgive” of the Lord’s prayer is reinforced. However, we are not dealing here with a cause for our forgiveness. The Heidelberg Catechism has caught the spirit of these words when it makes our forgiveness the result of divine forgiveness. Those who really experience God’s pardon will forgive and thereby show themselves to be children of their heavenly Father. His sheep hear (obey) His voice and follow Him—also forgiving as He forgave (John 10:4; Col. 3:13).
Nowhere is the gospel of salvation by faith only more clearly stated than in John 3:16 and 6:29. Yet John also records the discourse about the vine where our Lord most clearly makes the fruit depend on the vine. However, there is no place for the fruitless branch (Jh. 15)! In their own way the Savior’s words are as stern as those of His brother James. For Christ “faith without works is dead.”
God’s Fatherhood and Temporal Care
Ridderbos includes the Father’s care for our temporal life as part of Christ’s teaching about salvation. I never cease to marvel at the insight expressed in the first question and answer of theHeidelberg Catechism. The Father’s care “even for the hairs of our head” is an important part of our only comfort in life and death. With body and soul we belong to our faithful Savior. The total character of our security rests in the fact that the almighty Father has adopted us and will care for us.
Our temporal welfare brings up the importance of Christ’s healing ministry. Not only have many claimed the power of miraculous healing, but some have affirmed a right to constant health. “By his stripes we are healed” (Is. 53:5) is quoted as proof of an atonement which heals the body. Why did Christ spend so much time and effort in His healing ministry? Why did He send forth the apostles to “heal the sick”? John R. W. Stott argues that the great commission is really Jh. 20:21, “So send I you.” Consequently, we must carry on our mission just as Christ carried on His. Therefore we too must feed the hungry and heal the sick (and raise the dead). Perhaps we will have to be content to agree that salvation is for body and soul, but we are safest to live within the providential care of God. It is much more important and comforting to believe that for Christ’s sake our Father cares for us m health and sickness than to claim divine miracles which He neither performs. nor promises. The. redemptive meaning of the miracles has been variously understood. The casting out of demons is regarded by some as the most significant demonstration of “defeating the Powers.” Some find here a warrant for casting out demons. Others have constituted a comprehensive theology centering on Christ’s victory over and our freedom from “the Powers” (usually understood demythologically). For most of us the purpose of the miracles of Christ was essentially a testimony to His person and as symbolic evidence of His redemptive power. In this context, efforts to do the same things Jesus did would be self-defeating by confusing the very point that the exclusive power of Christ intended to prove.
The Gift of Eternal Life
Much more might be said about Christ’s gospel of salvation. Most wonderful is His offer of eternal life to all who believe in Him (Jh. 3:16). John filled his gospel with wonderful words of life. It may be noted that his recording of the many mighty deeds Is not in any hope of repeating them, but “that believing we may have life through his name” (Jh. 20:31). Although in the Synoptic gospels the whole of our redemption and future bliss is summed up by the word “life” (Matt. 7:14; 18:8, Mark 9:43) or “eternal life” (Matt. 19:16 and Mark 10:17); it is John who develops this theme. Indeed the term “life” takes on the meaning of authentic, imperishable existence. The Synoptics seem to limit the gift of life to the future. John brings eternal life into the present. The Synoptics let us infer from the miracles of resurrection that Jesus can give life to the dead. In John 11 we find Christ establishing the relationship between the resurrection of Lazarus and the power to give eternal life. The whole mystery must be revealed. Jesus is Himself the resurrection and the life (Jh. 11:25).
Jesus leaves no doubt as to the way of salvation. “He that believeth in me has life or eternal life.” We are saved by faith in Him. This faith is in Him as a person but also involves truths about Him (Jh. 3:32, 33· 11:26· 20:31). Believing on Him requires “eating the flesh of the Son of Man” (Jh. 6:51), implies “hearing His voice and following Him (Jh: 10:27), and being a living, fruitful branch in the Vine (Jh. 15:1–6).
In the Johanine discourses our Lord bears personal testimony to His redemptive work. He came down from heaven, gives His life for His sheep, cares for His flock, is lifted up like a serpent m the wilderness, gives His sheep eternal life, infuses His Spirit in them, prays for His own, and goes to prepare a place for them. He will come again to receive them. All this and more the Savior does for His own. They are His, moreover, only by divine election (Jh. 10:29, Jh. 15:16, Jh. 17:9). Only those drawn by the sovereign grace of the Father come unto Him (Jh. 6:44).
The fulness of the blessing of eternal life, Its perfection and consummation are presented by our Lord as future. Much controversy continues to rage concerning the eschatological character of Christ’s message. A recent fad emphasizes what is called “Eternal life here and now.” It has emphasized quality over against quantity and is often based on a very objectionable existential or dialectic philosophy. Christ does indeed premise the gift of life as.a present gift and speaks of the “dead who hear His voice and live” (Jh. 5:25). Certainly, however, the present life of faith should not be confused with the glory that awaits us. Nor should we forget that there are at least two steps upward toward the blessing of eternal life. Christ assures the dying thief that he shall “today be with the Lord” (Lk. 23:42, 43). A similar promise of bliss in heaven is given in Jh. 17:24: “Father I will that whose whom thou hast given me should be with me to behold my glory.”
No amount of argument about the nature and independent existence of the soul (and many radical views are being expressed) should in any way rob the Christian of this blessed assurance. When I die I will go to be with Jesus! Nor should we rest satisfied with less than the fulness of the redemption promised us by the Savior. The resurrection, too, is ours in Him who is the resurrection and the life!
He is able to save absolutely! (New Eng. Bible, Heb. 7:25) His own Gospel preaching made this abundantly clear. How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?