CHAPTER VII

Our Experience of Salvation

INTRODUCTION

A group of young people were having a “bull session.” One of them who was not a Presbyterian, asked a Presbyterian friend, “You don’t believe in that stuff which says, ‘Once saved, always saved,’ do you?”

The Presbyterian friend answered affirmatively from a sense of loyalty, but not from a real understanding of the meaning of salvation. For this reason, at his first opportunity he sought the help of his minister to get some light on this subject. We will include in this chapter some of the things he learned. The most important thing he learned was that salvation is an experience, not primarily a dogma. It is something that happens to a believer, not just a doctrine that Presbyterians are expected to defend. It grows out of the purpose of God to save and the gift of His Spirit which is received in effectual calling.

Salvation may be described as something provided once for all by Jesus Christ. It is also an experience which is constantly in process, including the elements discussed in the last chapter. It is an experience which reaches a climax in some moment or moments of worship and decision, and which has existing results in the life of the believer. It is an experience of being transformed from within so that Christ may live fully in the believer.

A. THE PLACE OF CHRIST IN OUR EXPERIENCE

For the Christian, salvation centers in Jesus Christ and in a personal relationship with Him. Jesus Christ is accepted as He is presented in the Gospel — as the Son of God who became incarnate in the flesh through the Virgin birth, and as the crucified and risen Lord who provides redemption for believers. The way in which He united the qualities of deity and humanity are never fully explained any more than the Trinity is explained. The fact that He did is the clear indication of the scriptures and the faith of the church through the centuries.

Christ is presented in the Westminster Standards as prophet, priest, and king. He is the prophet who declares the whole will of God concerning man’s salvation. He is the priest who became the perfect sacrifice for the sins of believers in all ages. He is the king who rules over the universe, and who gives the final victory to His own.

The Christ who is described in Phil 2:5-11 and in other parts of the New Testament is the Lord and Saviour of believers. The relationship between the crucified, risen, living Lord and the believer is a very personal relationship. It leads the believer to know in experience the meaning of the words of Paul: “It is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me.” (Gal 2:20) In this kind of relationship with Christ, it is expected that a Presbyterian will want to be united with the body of Christ, which is his church. The union with the church is a means of achieving full salvation in Christ, who is its head.

B. THE MEANING OF REPENTANCE UNTO LIFE

While the various parts of the experience of repentance cannot be divorced from one another, they may be described logically in separate ways. Effectual calling is the activity of God. Repentance unto life is the response of believing man. This repentance has in it at least four essential elements.

1. IT BEGINS WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE WORD

First, repentance unto life begins with the Holy Spirit and the word of God. We cannot explain exactly how it is true, but we know that it is true that when the scriptures are read or expounded, the Holy Spirit acts in a special way to convince and convert sinners so that they may turn to God and commit their lives to Him. Repentance does not begin in a vacuum, but in an experience of the truth of God’s revealed will which is made effective through the activity of the Holy Spirit.

2. IT ROOTS IN A REALIZATION OF THE HEINOUSNESS OF SIN

Second, repentance unto life roots in a realization of the heinousness of sin. No matter how good a moral life we might have lived, and no matter how good we have considered ourselves in comparison with our neighbors, repentance unto life leads us to compare our righteousness with the righteousness of Christ, and to stand condemned because we are sinful in His sight. Just as it is possible to ignore the soot in snow cream until one gets it under a light, so it is possible to ignore our sinfulness until we see it in the light of Christ. Then we recognize a sinfulness which we as individuals confess directly to God. This includes both general sinfulness and particular sins of which we are aware. It bespeaks a confidence that God will hear and forgive us when we come in genuine repentance. No works of penance are required in the scriptures, and no works of penance are sufficient to give us merit before God.

3. IT CLAIMS CHRIST’S MERCY FOR US AS SINNERS

While all of the parts of repentance unto life accompany each other, a third logical part is the realization of the mercy and love of God in Jesus Christ. The story of the love of God in Jesus Christ is no longer the Gospel for believers in general, but the Gospel for each one of us. By it we know that Christ died for you and for me. This truth was presented symbolically in Pilgrim’s Progress when Christian stood before Christ on the cross and realized that Christ died for him. The burden which he carried on his back slipped off, never to return. He was free from his sin through the redemptive love and mercy of Jesus Christ. He dared to take the forgiveness which was provided for him, and to start forth again on his journey to the celestial city of light.

4. IT ISSUES IN A NEW TURNING TO GOD FOR OBEDIENCE

The fourth phase of the experience of repentance unto life is a new turning to God for obedience. We believe that the only way to root out old habits is to form new ones. This is well illustrated by the experience of Paul on the way to Damascus. He thought he was doing the will of God when he persecuted the Christians. However, he became convicted by the Holy Spirit, turned from his sinfulness, committed himself to Christ as Saviour and Lord, and went into Damascus to a new life of obedience. He did not at first know what was to follow, but he learned step by step through the new spirit of obedience. Conviction by the Holy Spirit, a realization of his sinfulness, an understanding that Jesus Christ was his personal Saviour, and an endeavor after a new obedience to the will of God thus became a part of Paul’s experience of repentance unto life. So also it is with all who come into a saving faith.

C. THE MEANING OF A SAVING FAITH

A member of the church asks, “What do you mean by a saving faith? I have been hearing that expression all my life, but I am not sure I know what it means.”

Let us attempt a reply. A saving faith begins with the provision of God in Christ for our salvation. God by His Spirit calls and moves the elect to believe. God takes the initiative. But a saving faith is generated in man when he becomes receptive to the moving of God’s Spirit to enter into an experience of repentance unto life.

1. IT IS THE COMMITMENT OF THE WHOLE LIFE TO CHRIST

One who has watched small boys learning to swim has doubtless been impressed with the way they fight to keep from letting themselves go in the water. But a wise lifeguard teaches them to let themselves go. He teaches them to float. They learn to float by taking a deep breath and letting themselves go in the water. They discover that as they relax and let themselves go, the water holds them up. They still have to learn to pull with their arms, to kick with their feet, and to breathe properly before they can swim.

Exercising a saving faith is like learning to swim. It is letting oneself go and letting God take control of his life. It is the response which makes possible the new birth and the new growth as a child of God. Faith is that response to the moving of God’s Spirit which leads to the union of the Spirit and human personality. As a constant attitude of mind and heart it says to God, in the words of Frances R. Havergal’s great hymn:

Whether it be time, or hands or feet, whether it be will or heart, whether it be love or self, the Christian at his best commits all that he is or has to Christ. But he receives it back again to be used as a sacred trust in faith, dedicated to the accomplishment of the will of God.

2. IT IS A CONTINUOUS HABIT AND PRACTICE OF LIFE

A saving faith is not something that begins and ceases after a period of decision. It is an attitude which continues throughout this life and throughout eternity. It gives a sense of mission in every vocation. In business, in homemaking, in studying, in Home or World Mission service it makes all that one does for Christ significant and meaningful. It dissolves fears and gives victory over a feeling of frustration. It keeps the believer united with Christ as the branch is united with the vine. It enables the believer to take the power and life of the vine and to produce the fruit of the Spirit of God. This is what we mean by a saving faith. It is a living faith, a transforming faith, a triumphant faith. It can never be defeated, for it claims the victory of Christ in the daily experiences of life.

D. THE JOY OF PERSEVERANCE BY HIS GRACE

Like the doctrine of predestination, the doctrine of perseverance should not be considered in isolation. Presbyterians believe in the saving and keeping power of God, but they believe in the genuine faith which must be exercised by those who are kept by the power of God. They believe in the perseverance of the saints for the saints who persevere. This is well stated in the Larger Catechism, Question 79, as follows:

Q. May not true believers, by reason of their imperfections, and the many temptations and sins they are overtaken with, fall away from the state of grace?

A. True believers, by reason of the unchangeable love of God, and his decree and covenant to give them perseverance, their inseparable union with Christ, his continual intercession for them, and the Spirit and the seed of God abiding in them, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

1. THE EXPERIENCE OF TRUE BELIEVERS

Because this doctrine has so frequently been misunderstood, let us study it carefully. Observe that the question does not point to every person whose name may be on a church roll. It deals with true believers, persons who have entered into a genuine and transforming experience with Jesus Christ. It does not refer to everyone who says, “Lord, Lord,” but with those who express their faith in obedience day by day. They are like those who do the things Jesus teaches and hence build on the rock of faith put to work. They are not like the hearers who fail to obey, and hence build a house on the sand. (See Matt 7:24-27 or Luke 6:46-49). The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints requires that the saints persevere.

2. THE KEEPING POWER OF GOD’S LOVE

What further reasons may be given for believing in the keeping power of God? These are given in the answer to the Catechism question which has been quoted above. First, believers who are genuine believers rest in the unchangeable love of God. This redemptive love becomes a tremendous power for good in their lives. Just as the love of a saintly mother or father or wife or husband holds many a person back from evil conduct, so the unchanging love of God, in even greater measure, holds genuine believers in the path of light and life.

This redemptive love is expressed in God’s decree and covenant to give true believers power to persevere. He is able and willing to keep His own. He kept Abraham through many trials and failures. He kept the prophets through much heartbreak and rejection. He kept Paul through a stormy and trying ministry. He kept John even in his banishment to Patmos in his old age. He has kept the saints who dared to trust Him through the ages. God’s purpose stands firm. He is able to keep all that we commit unto Him. Thus the question is not so much whether we can hold on to God as it is whether we are willing to be held by Him. This latter willingness is at the root of His saving and keeping power even when we are weak and sinful.

3. THE INSEPARABLE UNION WITH CHRIST

A further reason for confidence in perseverance is the believer’s inseparable union with Christ. Some of His life is in the believer. The two walk together down the road of life. The living Christ by His Spirit leads the believer day by day. This new life does not begin after physical death, but is a present experience. As John 5:24 says, “Truly, truly, I say unto you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” The word for life is a word which denotes the life of God made available to men through Jesus Christ. Thus Christ and the believer are more inseparably bound than are a group of mountain climbers who have a rope tied around their waists. His footing does not slip even though ours momentarily may do so. Because we are bound with Him, we have confidence in His power to keep us.

4. THE CONTINUAL INTERCESSION OF CHRIST

Furthermore, we know that we will be kept by the power of God because we believe that Christ’s intercession will avail for us as it availed for Peter. Jesus knew that Satan was trying to destroy Peter’s faith during the dark days when He was being tried and crucified. He warned Peter that he would deny his Lord. But He also said, “But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren.” (Luke 22:32). This knowledge that Jesus was interceding for him, and the confidence that Peter would come back to be a rock of strength to his brethren lies behind the great power demonstrated by Peter in the book of Acts. Since Jesus’ intercession availed for Peter who failed temporarily, it will also avail for others who genuinely believe in Christ as Lord and Saviour.

5. THE INDWELLING SEED OF CHRIST

Another reason why true believers have confidence in the keeping power of God is the fact that the seed of God is in them. We have already suggested that the Spirit of God unites with the heart of the believer to reproduce the life of Christ in him. We call this experience regeneration or new birth. By whatever name it is called, the experience is one which gives an inner confidence. Some Christians have been puzzled over the statement in I John 3:6 that the person who has the seed of God in him cannot sin. If we were careful to observe the tense of the verb used, we would know it means that the person who has the seed of God in him cannot make sin the daily habit and practice of his life. This is true and is not in conflict with the teaching in I John 1:8-2:2 that no one can say he has never committed acts of sin. All who commit acts of sin must seek forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Even though they do commit acts of sin for which they must be forgiven, they have the life of God in them which enables them more and more to die unto sin and to live unto righteousness.

For these reasons it is stated that true believers cannot totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. The over-simplified dictum, “Once saved, always saved,” has the practical effect of nullifying the conditions set by God Himself, and of ignoring the relationships and reasons why Presbyterians believe in the perseverance of the saints. Such loose and one-sided over-simplification has probably done more harm than good to persons who have not taken the trouble to understand the basis on which this great doctrine rests. It is no credit either to faith or to God to state a position which invites misunderstanding and argument and rejection of the rich experience of knowing the keeping power of God through our faith in Jesus Christ.

E. THE ASSURANCE OF SALVATION

The grounds of Christian assurance have already been suggested in the preceding discussion. Let us suggest a few more.

1. THE IMPORTANCE OF CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE

If one should ask, “How can I be sure that the keeping power of God is mine?”, we would point once again to the doctrine presented, above. But we would do more. We would emphasize the importance of developing assurance by experience. Suppose a boy stands on the bank of a pool and repeats over and over again, “I am sure I can swim,” but never ventures into the water. What will happen to his assurance? But if instead of constantly repeating his assertion, he gets into the water and learns to swim, he will develop confidence so that he does not have to keep on repeating something to himself.

This is a parable of the Christian life. Many Christians want assurance based only on logical arguments. They do not want to develop assurance through faithful obedience. They are not genuine believers, but persons who say, “Lord, Lord.” To be sure, they may have to take another Christian’s word for Christ’s keeping power at first. They do the same thing when they ride a new bus to town. But after several rides they know for themselves. And after several experiences in which the believer has acted in faith, he gains confidence in God’s power to save and keep him. The more he acts in faith, the more assured he becomes. For twenty centuries believers have tested the truth of the Gospel. Those who have lived by the Christian faith have found the promises of God trustworthy. Therefore they feel assured that God will fulfill all of His promises, including those concerning salvation and the life to come.

2. THE INDWELLING PRESENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Assurance comes to us also through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Although temptations may come, and trials may temporarily shake our faith, though disappointment, sorrow and bereavement may be experienced, the indwelling Spirit of God enables us to know that God’s way is best in the long run. His grace is sufficient for our every need. This experience is something like a cork on the water. A strong pull may temporarily submerge it, but it exerts a constant pressure to rise until it floats again on the water. It is something like the experience presented in Pilgrim’s Progress, where the devil was pouring water to put out the fires of faith in one room, but on the other side of the wall the Spirit of God was pouring on oil to keep the fires of faith aflame. The indwelling Spirit enables us to know that as God raised up Jesus and turned His death into a glorious redemptive victory for the church, so God will turn our faithful service into an experience of ultimate victory. Thus we gain assurance in our faith and through our faith.

3. THE HABIT OF OBEDIENCE

Our assurance of salvation also grows through our obedience. The faith of the centurion, who spoke out of a soldier’s concept of obedience to authority, caused Jesus to marvel. (See Luke 7:1-10.) It is true that Paul was assured on the way to Damascus that he heard the voice of the risen Christ. But after thirty years of service to Christ, in which he had suffered ridicule, imprisonment, beatings, shipwrecks, and many attempts to take his life, Paul could write to Timothy, in words which might be translated literally, “I know whom I have believed, and am fully convinced that he is able to guard all that I have committed unto Him against that day.” Paul was much more sure then than he was when he began his life of obedience to the will of his living Lord.

If there be some who doubt the possibility of assurance, let them develop assurance in their own Christian experience. But let them know that assurance comes through trust in the promises of God, through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, and through obedience to the will of God in daily living.

SUMMARY

In this chapter we have presented certain basic beliefs of Presbyterianism. We have suggested that salvation is an experience which centers in Jesus Christ and a personal relationship with Him. Repentance unto life is the corollary to effectual calling in that it represents man’s response to the call of God from the old life to the new. A saving faith is a vital and active faith generated by God’s Spirit which leads the believer into a living union with Christ, as a branch is united with the vine. Perseverance is possible only through the enabling grace of God, but requires on man’s part a life of obedience and steadfastness [orig: stedfastness]. Believers not only are kept by the power of God, but may also experience assurance of their salvation if they are willing to live a life of faith and obedience. These doctrines give comfort and assurance to Presbyterians, and strengthen them in their faith. They undergird the kind of living which demonstrates the transforming power of God in the daily routine of life.