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Jesus Christ on Appropriating Eternal Salvation
Preface
The subject of eternal salvation is a triad proposition advanced by countless passages throughout the Bible. It involves the salvation of the spirit (justification), the soul (life), and the body—the trinity of man as defined by the apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:23.
It is unfortunate that many, if not most, Bible commentators confuse these three recipients of God’s grace-gift of salvation as they study Bible doctrine. For in fact this writer did the same for too many years. And by doing so, he as well as so many other well-intentioned expositors of God’s Word, found that compatibility between various scriptural passages, indicating in one instance that “salvation” is forever secure and in another instance not secure, is impossible to achieve.
This then would mandate a series of exegetical “through-the-hoop” drills in order to achieve agreement of various passages with an individual’s core doctrine. The end result would always be a stubborn adherence to one’s core doctrine coupled with a nagging sense of doubt and guilt of not being able to “rightly divide the Word” (2 Timothy 2:15).
Should the reader wish to acquire a better understanding of the three-fold aspect of God’s grace-gift of salvation, it is suggested that he access the topical study entitled “Rule of Three,” which may be found in the Topical Bible Studies section on the writer’s website, www.bibleone.net. Furthermore, the writer is especially indebted to the following authors, whom he also recommends to the reader for an even better grasp of this subject: Joseph C. Dillow, Zane C. Hodges, and Gary T. Whipple. Each author has one or more invaluable books on this and related subjects.
But for the purpose of this study, only the eternal salvation of the spirit of man will be considered; since it is both the premier and overriding aspect of salvation (giving rise and affecting both other aspects of the proposition) and the predominant understanding of most individuals, student and scholar alike, when confronted with any salvation passage within God’s Word. And furthermore, only the means whereby this salvation is apprehended will be highlighted with specific instruction by Christ Himself; although, the basis for it will briefly be outlined at first.
The Basis for Eternal Salvation
God’s Part
The Bible clearly declares that except for Christ, every person born of woman is “lost” or “spiritually dead” due to sin; and if left in this state, will eventually pass through the portal of physical death into the lake of fire for all eternity.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)
But the Scripture has confined all under sin . . . . (Galatians 3:22)
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned. (Romans 5:12)
For the wages of sin is death . . . . (Romans 6:23) . . . And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15)
But the Bible also states that the purpose of the incarnation of Jesus Christ was to “seek and to save . . . the lost” (Matthew 18:11; Luke 19:10)—the “lost” being both Jews and Gentiles (Acts 10:45; 11:18; Romans 10:12, 13). The instrumental act of Christ that made the salvation of mankind possible was His vicarious (substitution) spiritual death (Matthew 27:45, 46; Mark 15:33, 34; John 19:30) upon the cross of Calvary; whereupon, He became mankind’s “sacrificial lamb” by literally taking upon Himself the sin of man and becoming that sin in order to pay God’s penalty-price for sin:
For He [God] made Him [Christ] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"). (Galatians 3:13)
But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. (Hebrews 2:9)
Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. (1 Peter 2:24)
And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins . . . . (1 John 3:5)
This sacrificial spiritual death upon the cross by God’s Son satisfied God’s demand for justice and thereby freed God to accept man into heaven (Romans 3:25, 26; 1 John 2:2). Subsequent to Christ’s spiritual death upon the cross, He voluntarily and unilaterally relinquished His physical life, for no man could take it from Him (Matthew 27:50; Luke 23:46; John 10:17, 18). Christ was then buried but on the third day He rose from the grave, which act validated His person (deity—God incarnate) and His message of salvation for all mankind (the Gospel).
Man’s Part
Although God has unilaterally in grace reached out to man by providing all that is necessary for his salvation, the Bible clearly reveals that not all men will be saved. Even though God has provided eternal salvation as a free gift for every person (Ephesians 2:8; Revelation 22:17), not everyone will avail himself of God’s grace-gift. It is up to each person to receive it—to appropriate it in accordance with God’s clear instructions as provided in His Word.
The Preeminent Authority
Of all persons that have walked upon earth that are portrayed in God’s Word, Jesus Christ, the Son of God and second person of the Holy Trinity, is by far the preeminent authority on matters both eternal and temporal. As God, He has the ultimate and final word on every matter within and without the dimension of time. And this goes for the subject of His grace-gift of eternal salvation. If anyone is right on the matter, Christ is! If anyone should be the paradigm for the “soul-winner” (he who endeavors to bring the lost to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ) to follow and imitate, it must be Christ!
The basis for Christ’s preeminence in this matter is as follows:
It therefore behooves every person of any persuasion to heed the clear teaching of Christ when it comes to the topic of eternal salvation. His treatment of the subject will not only demonstrate to the lost how eternal salvation is actually appropriated, but to the Christian it will clarify and confirm his own salvation.
The Words of Jesus Christ on How to Appropriate Eternal Salvation
John 3:14-18
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:14-18)
This passage of Scripture includes the most recognizable verse within the entire Bible that Christians identify and use in order to present God’s grace-gift of eternal salvation. It is John 3:16. In many, if not most, professional football games played in the United States, this verse is displayed by a large sign held by someone in one of the end zones. It is in fact the most popular verse within the entire Bible. And this is only right, since it encapsulates the purpose of Christ as it relates to the destiny of man. In fact the entire Bible from beginning to end is about Jesus Christ. When seen correctly, the entire Old Testament points forward to Christ and His sacrifice on the cross of Calvary and purpose for mankind; and every book of the New Testament is also about Christ and His eternal destiny for man.
It is the first of three specific examples in the New Testament wherein Jesus Christ personally provides clear instructions to the lost on how to appropriate (apprehend) God’s grace-gift of salvation. There is a biblical interpretation rule often referred to as the “rule of first mention”—meaning that the first time any subject is addressed in the Bible more weight should be accorded to it. And although this passage does not record the first mention of God’s only requirement for appropriating His grace-gift of salvation, it is the first mention of it by Christ in His own words within the only book of the Bible specifically written to explain God’s salvation and how to obtain it (John 20:31).
And, as discussed previously in this study, because of Christ’s person and office, this passage and others that follow wherein He personally addresses the subject should be given paramount consideration.
Context
This passage details a certain event pertaining to Christ during His visit to Jerusalem for the Passover of the Jews and is subsequent to His cleansing of the temple of those who sold oxen and sheep and doves along with the money changers. A Pharisee by the name of Nicodemus visited Christ by night and extended to Him a compliment. Jesus immediately struck at the core of the matter by informing this Jewish leader in the Law and oral traditions of the Old Testament that a person must be born again or otherwise he will never be able to see the kingdom of God, a phrase at least in this instance, meaning the achievement of eternal life beyond the grave.
This of course confused Nicodemus who immediately took the birth Christ was speaking about and relegated it to “physical birth” by questioning Christ how one could reenter the womb to be born a second time. Jesus then made it clear to Nicodemus that although the physical birth was of course necessary for all humans, a second birth was also necessary for any person wishing to see the kingdom of God. He then listed and contrasted the two births, one being physical and the other spiritual (John 3:5, 6). Since Nicodemus was an authority in Jewish history, Christ then used an Old Testament occurrence in order to illustrate the means whereby a person could acquire the “second birth,” i.e., the entrance into eternal life.
The Old Testament illustration Jesus used was from the book of Numbers, chapter 21, wherein Moses, in accordance with God’s instructions, fashioned a bronze serpent and placed it high upon a pole. So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived (Numbers 21:9). The illustration was meant to convey that in order to be healed the children of Israel who had been bitten by a serpent had to express faith in God’s Word, which would be evidenced by looking to the raised bronze serpent on the pole, in order to be healed.
Message
But to make certain that Nicodemus would not misinterpret the illustration, Jesus then made it redundantly clear (5 times) by stating that the only means a person can appropriate eternal life is by believing (vss. 15, 16, 18) in Jesus Christ. Eternal salvation by the very words of Jesus Christ is by faith alone in Christ alone.
The reader should understand at this juncture that belief, or its equivalent synonym faith, as used in the Bible when referring to the acquisition of eternal life is not a belief “about Jesus Christ,” i.e., the facts surrounding His birth, life, death, and resurrection; although, it certainly includes these facts. Rather, it is a “belief or faith in Jesus Christ.” By this it is meant that a person must come to the place that absolutely nothing else (no other person, self-good work, or any other thing) can possibly bring personal salvation other than Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on Calvary; and therefore, he must make a willful decision to place his total trust (confidence) in Christ and His work for personal salvation.
The reader should also note that Jesus never once mentioned praying for one’s personal salvation. He also did not make the confessing one’s sins, being baptized, making Christ Lord of one’s life, or confessing Him before others as part of the acquisition of eternal life. The only requirement upon man, as defined by Christ, in accepting God’s grace-gift of eternal life is by the decision to place one’s faith in Jesus Christ alone, and in no other confidence. Once that decision is made, a person is instantly saved, i.e., passed from eternal death into eternal life—a permanent never-to-be-repeated transaction.
John 4:10-15
Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”
Context
Jesus and His disciples were traveling from Judea to Galilee, but Jesus needed to go through Samaria. So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. (John 4:5-9).
Jesus is here talking with a Gentile, a Samaritan woman; which clearly indicates that eternal salvation was always to everyone and not just to the nation of Israel. The discussion He has with this woman at the well of Sychar is most revealing as to how one is to perceive the means to appropriate eternal life.
Message
The notable Bible scholar and author Zane C. Hodges (Professor of New Testament, Dallas Seminary) provides an excellent commentary on this event in his book The Gospel Under Siege (Redencion Viva, Dallas, Texas, 1981). The following is his commentary, which starts three paragraphs prior to the account of the subject text, primarily because some of his prior remarks impact on the lessons conveyed in this study.
To assert that a man may profess faith in Christ without knowing whether or not he has truly trusted Christ is to articulate an inconceivable proposition. Of course a man can know whether he believes in the offer of salvation or not, and the Bible everywhere takes this fact for granted. When the Philippian jailor enquired of Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30), their answer clearly offered him certainty. The words, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household” (16:31), invite a specific, identifiable response of heart. Having made it, the jailor could know he was saved. That he did in fact know this is reflected in verse 34: “And he rejoiced, believing in God with all his household.”
The seriousness of this issue must not be glossed over. An insistence on the necessity or inevitability of works fundamentally undermines assurance and postpones it, logically, until death. But the denial of assurance clashes directly with the clear intent of the Gospel proclamation as it was so often made by the Son of God Himself.
The lovely story of Jesus and the woman at the well of Sychar is a case in point. His initial offer to her was simple and direct: “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water” (John 4:10). This is perfectly plain and carries its guarantee on its face. The woman needed only to ask, and Jesus “would have given” her “living water.” Thus upon request, she could be “certain” she possessed eternal life. Not to be certain, was to doubt the offer itself!
It should be observed as well that the transaction of which our Lord speaks is a definitive and unrepeatable one. A few moments later He tells the woman, “Whoever drinks of this water [from the well] will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst” (John 4:13, 14). The Greek phrase rendered “will never thirst” is a highly emphatic one. It might be translated, “will by no means thirst forever.” According to Jesus, the need which this water meets can never reoccur. This fact clearly affirms the eternal security of the believer. For if a person could lose eternal life, he would obviously thirst again. But according to the Savior’s words that experience is an eternal impossibility.
It is hard not to be impressed with the magnificent simplicity of the transaction which Jesus proposes to this sin-laden Samaritan woman. Its very lack of complication is part of it grandeur. It is all a matter of giving and receiving and no other conditions are attached. The story constitutes a narrative exposition of the truth expressed in Revelation 22:17, “And whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” There is no effort to extract from the woman a promise to correct her immoral life. If she wants this water, she can have it. It is free!
If the mind of man recoils from so daring an expression of divine generosity, it recoils from the Gospel itself. If it should be thought necessary to add some intrinsic guarantee that the woman would not continue her illicit liaisons—and according to Jesus, she was currently engaged in one (4:18)!—that guarantee would add to the words of our Lord Himself. The result could only be a false gospel.
It must be emphasized that there is no call here for surrender, submission, acknowledgement of Christ’s Lordship, or anything else of this kind. A gift is being offered to one totally unworthy of God’s favor. And to get it, the woman is required to make no spiritual commitment whatsoever. She is merely invited to ask. It is precisely this impressive fact that distinguishes the true Gospel form all its counterfeits. . . . her assurance did not rest on what she might later have done. It rested instead upon the uncomplicated promise of the Son of God Himself.
Eternal salvation is clearly a grace-gift from God to sinful man (John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8, 9). Here in this passage it is expressed as “living water,” and it is totally “free” (Revelation 22:17), or a better translation would be “without cost.” Yet the reader should note that it is not without “worth,” for there can be nothing of more eternal value to any person than the privilege of sharing heaven with God Himself throughout eternity. Furthermore, although it requires no cost to the person accepting the gift (such as works or any form of self-effort), it cost God the ultimate price—that of the sacrifice of His only begotten Son upon the cross at Calvary.
And should someone think that the expression of faith in the acceptance of God’s grace-gift of eternal life is a cost, he would be sadly mistaken. Faith in Christ is most definitely an unmeritorious expression of receiving (trusting in; placing one’s total confidence in) Jesus Christ as the propitiation (satisfaction to God) for one’s sins resulting in eternal life. Once that decision is made, a person is instantly saved, i.e., passed from eternal death into eternal life—a permanent never-to-be-repeated transaction.
Acts 26:17, 18
I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me. (Acts 26:17, 18)
Context
These are the words of Christ Himself (vs. 15) spoken to Paul on the road to Damascus on what was his conversion experience to Christianity. This passage was part of Paul’s recount of his activities against and persecutions of Christians, which he detailed before King Agrippa in Caesarea. Paul explained to King Agrippa and other high ranking judicial officials, as they considered transporting him for trial before Caesar, that during his early life he was a Pharisee devoted to the Jewish religion. He further stated that he was extremely active in punishing and killing Christians with the full support of the chief priests. He was in fact on his way to Damascus on one such mission when at midday he had an enlightening confrontation with Jesus Christ in which Jesus Christ specifically instructed him as such: But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you (Acts 26:16).
Message
Here in verses 17 and 18 Christ personally informs Paul that he is commissioned to go to the Gentiles for the distinct purpose of opening their eyes (spiritual understanding), to turn them from spiritual darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God—all synonymous phraseology of being “born again” or “achieving eternal life.” But more importantly, especially as it relates to this study, Christ informs Paul exactly how this wonderful transition may be acquired by those to whom Paul will reach. Christ states emphatically that eternal life is appropriated by “faith” in Him; nothing else.
Here again Christ makes no mention of any other factor as necessary in order for a person to acquire eternal life. In fact, it should be reiterated that Jesus never once mentioned praying for one’s personal salvation, nor confessing one’s sins, being baptized, making Christ Lord of one’s life, or confessing Him before others as part of the acquisition of eternal life. The only requirement upon man, as defined by Christ, in accepting God’s grace-gift of eternal life is by the decision to place one’s faith in Jesus Christ alone, and in no other confidence. Once that decision is made, a person is instantly saved, i.e., passed from eternal death into eternal life—a permanent never-to-be-repeated transaction.
Conclusion
If one is to follow the example of Christ in bringing those who are spiritually lost into a saving relationship with Him, it is clear that the above references clearly demonstrate that after the individual comes to an understanding of his lost and sinful condition, his eternal destiny without Christ and the gospel message (death and resurrection of Christ); there is only one message that is to be shared with the lost person on how to appropriate God’s grace-gift of eternal life. It is not to “pray for forgiveness” or to “confess one’s sins” or to “make Christ Lord of one’s life” or to “confess Christ publicly” or to repeat a “sinner’s prayer.” It is to make a sincere decision to trust (place one’s full confidence) in Jesus Christ and His work for one’s personal eternal salvation while rejecting all other confidences (i.e., good works, other persons, etc.).
And upon doing this, the person is instantly and permanently saved. Then it is most important that the person who brings him to Christ spends time assisting the newly born child of God in the matter of sanctification—the topic of another study. |