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Bible Salvation

Ephesians 2:8-10

We all want to be saved. We all want salvation. But if you asked a dozen people to describe salvation, if you asked them what salvation is and where it is to be found, you would get a dozen or more answers.

With all the confusion and babel there is in this world, it might be wise for us to lay aside the church creeds, confessions, and catechisms, — all of them! Lay aside the theology books, the religious papers, and even the opinions of great men of the past. If we could forget what Calvinism says salvation is and what Arminianism says salvation is, we might find out what God says salvation is. Can you, will you do that? Will you lay aside everything you have ever heard, or thought about salvation, and look into the Word of God to see what God says about it?

Here is one of many descriptions of salvation as it is set before us in the Word of God. This is Bible salvation. Anything that doesn’t fit with this, or in any way contradicts this is not Bible salvation, but only a religious delusion.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10)

Complete Deliverance

Salvation is the deliverance of our souls from sin: from its curse, its dominion, and its consequences, and, ultimately, even from its being. Salvation is our complete restoration to God in perfect righteousness and true holiness in the eternal glory of heaven. Salvation is not an experience, but an emancipation, not a decision, but a deliverance, not a reformation, but a restoration.

Grace Alone

Wherever salvation is spoken of in the Word of God four things are always asserted emphatically about it. (1.) Salvation is by grace alone. (2.) Salvation is through faith alone. (3.) Salvation is in Christ alone. And (4.) this salvation, by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, is accomplished entirely without works on the part of the one saved.

My relationship with the eternal God does in great measure determine what I do; but what I do does not in any measure determine my relationship with God. God’s grace has much to do with my works; but my works, good or bad, have nothing to do with God’s grace. Search the Scriptures for yourself and see if this is or is not what the Book of God declares (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3:28; 4:3-5, 16; 9:15-16; 11:6; Galatians 2:16; 5:2, 4; 2 Timothy 2:9-10).

Salvation is the work of the Triune God alone, a gracious work of God wrought for and in sinners, without their aid or assistance, through the mediatorial work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the power of God the Holy Spirit.

Don Fortner

Pastor Fortner’s