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Pastor Jeremy M. Thomas Fredericksburg Bible Church 107 East Austin Fredericksburg, Texas 78624 830-997-8834 [email protected] A0714 – April 8, 2007 – Jas 1:21 – The Gospel Of Resurrection The Greek verb for “save” (sozo) and the Greek noun for “salvation” (soteria) have a range of meanings that correspond closely to their English meanings: “deliver, rescue, preserve”. A newspaper headline may read “Six Marines Saved from Enemy Territory” or “Man Saves Encrypted File” or “Preacher Saves Wife from Drowning”. We all know intuitively these statements have nothing to do with going to heaven or hell. But, for some reason, when we come to the Bible we come with a narrow mindset thinking that salvation is always from hell. But the word study turns up several interesting uses in various contexts you might not expect, some you might not expect. So, let’s look at four different biblical contexts for the word “save”/“salvation”. First, the word “save” can be used of Physical-Salvation. Physical-Salvation refers to being saved from physical dangers. In the Bible this occurs four ways. First, Physical-Salvation from Physical Death occurs in Exodus 14:30. “Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.” This kind of salvation occurs in the NT also, Acts 27:31, “Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, ‘Unless these men remain in the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved.’” (Also cf 1 Chron 11:14; 2 Chron 32:22; Ps 20:6, 9; Jer 31:7; Matt 8:25; 14:30; 24:22; Mark 13:20; 15:31; John 12:27; Acts 27:20, 31; Jude 5; Heb 5:7; et. al). In the NT, Physical-Salvation from Demon Possession occurs in Luke 8:36 “Those who had seen it reported to them how the man who was demonpossessed had been made well.” In the NT, Physical-Salvation from Sickness occurs in Mark 6:56, “Wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured.” In the NT, Physical-Salvation from Some Danger occurs in Romans 10:13, for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.” The context here is the deliverance of Israel from her enemies in the eschatological day of the Lord. Verse 14 makes clear that a Jew has to believe before he can call upon the name of the Lord and be saved. Because people have missed this they have also missed what Romans 10:9-10 are about. Most people assume there are two conditions for a person to go to heaven because of these verses; belief with the heart and confession with the mouth. Others try to say these are one and the same condition because of a Greek chiasmic structure. However, one must realize in Romans Paul clearly distinguishes justification from salvation. For example, in Romans 5:9 Paul says, “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.” They had been justified but still needed to be saved! So, Romans 10:10 begins with an explanatory gar (“for”) which gives the logical sequence of justification and salvation, “for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” The Greek word for “righteousness” is the same Greek word for “justification”. Paul is saying, belief results in justification, confession results in salvation. There are not two conditions for being justified and going to heaven. A person is justified by faith alone in Christ alone. That is a sure ticket to heaven. But if a person wants to be saved in Romans he will also have to confess. If you doubt this drop down to Romans 10:14-15. What is the sequence? Notice that for a person to call upon Him they must have already believed! “How can they call upon Him in whom they have not believed?” The belief, which results in justification must precede calling upon Him to be saved (v 13). If you don’t understand the way Paul talks you can’t understand the Bible! So many people have used Romans 10:13 as a justification verse which saves a person from eternal hell. It is categorically not! It is written to those who have already believed resulting in justification! It is heresy to say that a man is justified by calling on the Lord or confessing the Lord. A man is justified by faith alone! Paul has already made this abundantly clear in Romans 4:3. So, contextually, Romans 10:13 which is a quotation of Joel 2:32 is a call by Israel for Jesus to return and deliver her from her enemies in the day of the Lord. When Jesus was pronouncing judgment on the nation of Israel in the 1st century He said, “For I say to you [Israel], from now on you [Israel] will not see Me until you say, ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!’ ” (Matt 23:39) Here Paul is alluding to the national confession that Israel must make for Jesus to return. When they make this confession He will return and their salvation will take place. It will be a PhysicalDeliverance from the Antichrist and his armies. They will have already believed that Jesus is the Messiah and been justified. For how can they call on Him in whom they have not believed (Rom 10:14). This is why Paul concludes his argument in Romans 11:26 with the words “and so all Israel will be saved”. This is a Physical-Deliverance of Israel at the second coming of Christ. I’m trying to show you the breadth of meaning with this word “save” and how easily a passage can be misconstrued to teach something totally contrary to the author’s true intent! Second, the word “save” can be used of Spiritual-Salvation. There are three categories of Spiritual-Salvation. Salvation from the Penalty of Sin, Salvation from the Power of Sin and Salvation from the Presence of Sin. Category One of Spiritual-Salvation is Salvation from the Penalty of Sin. This means you are saved from spiritual death. If a person is spiritually dead they will go to hell. But it is important to realize that no one goes to hell because of his sins. Christ paid for all the sins of all people. Christ died a real penal substitutionary death on the cross for all men. So He made the payment for the penalty for sin which is spiritual death. So, nobody will ever go to hell because of their sins. Christ paid for them. People go to hell for two reasons: because they are spiritually dead and they don’t have perfect righteousness. The reason they are spiritually dead and don’t have perfect righteousness is because they have not placed their faith in Christ. Faith alone in Christ alone is what appropriates Christ’s death on the cross so that the person is given spiritual life and the perfect righteousness of Christ. This solves both of his problems at the same time. He receives eternal life (regeneration) and perfect righteousness (justification). So, we can say that at the moment of faith a person is regenerated and that means “Once Saved Always Saved” but this can be confusing because there are several other kinds of salvation in the Bible. We can also say that at the moment of faith a person is justified and that means “Once Righteous Always Righteous” in a positional sense, in one’s standing before God. I call this category Salvation from the Penalty of Sin and 2 Tim 1:9 teaches it, “who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,” This is an aorist active participle, a completed action (also cf Acts 16:31; 1 Cor 1:21; 1 Tim 1:15; Tit 3:5).i Category Two of Spiritual-Salvation is Salvation from the Power of Sin which is an experience of death. This kind of salvation is for believers only. When a believer sins he loses fellowship with God. Thus, when a believer sins he experiences temporal death and when a believer obeys God he enjoys life or salvation. For example, Phil 2:12, “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;” Here’s salvation by human works. But it isn’t salvation from hell. No one’s work will save them from hell. This is Salvation from the Power of Sin and the means by which it is obtained is obedience to God (also cf Heb 7:25; Rom 5:9b-10; 1 Cor 15:2; 1 Tim 4:16). Category Three of Spiritual-Salvation is Salvation from the Presence of Sin which is being in God’s presence. This will occur immediately when we die or at the pre-trib Rapture, whichever comes first. To be in God’s presence you can’t have any sin. When a believer dies his body returns to the earth and his spirit goes to God (if they are an unbeliever the spirit goes to Sheol). The believer’s human spirit is perfect because it has been regenerated so it goes directly to God. Some people think you get an intermediate body but I don’t really know about that. The bottom line is that being Saved from the Presence of Sin is a kind of salvation the Bible talks about. The Bible also links this salvation with getting a resurrected body. Church age believers receive a resurrection body at the pre-trib Rapture. So, Salvation from the Presence of Sin occurs when we step into God’s presence. For example, 1 Thess 5:9, “For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,”. This is clearly a future salvation. We are not destined for wrath, which, contextually is the day of the Lord or Tribulation period. But rather we are destined for obtaining salvation. Salvation here refers to being resurrected before the day of the Lord. This is a good verse for the pre-trib Rapture (also cf 2 Tim 4:18) The question in James is, “What kind of salvation is he talking about in 1:21?” What does it mean to say that the word implanted is able to save your souls? Is it Physical-Salvation or Spiritual-Salvation? Most people think it is Spiritual-Salvation Category One, Salvation from the Penalty of Sin. But this is wrong for at least six reasons First, he has already said “point of fact” that they have been regenerated (James 1:18). That means they have already enjoyed Spiritual-Salvation Category One Saved from the Penalty of Sin. Second, the word is planted in them. If they are not regenerated then what is the word of God doing planted in them? Third, the phrase “save the soul” is never used of being “Saved from hell” anywhere in the Bible. The salvation of the soul is a common theme of the OT (Gen 19:17; 1 Sam 19:11; Jer 48:6; Ps 6:4; 7:2; 68:1; 72:13-14; 86:2; 109:31) and the NT (cf John 12:27; Matt 16:25; Mark 8:35; Luke 9:27) and it always refers to Physical-Salvation! It should be translated “save your lives” just as it is in several verses in the Septuagint. Every time the Septuagint uses the phrase “save your souls” or something similar it refers to PhysicalSalvation. Three of these are very important. Genesis 19:17 When they had brought them outside, one said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away.” 1 Samuel 19:11 Then Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him, in order to put him to death in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, “If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be put to death.” Jeremiah 48:6 “Flee, save your lives, That you may be like a juniper in the wilderness. Fourth, since James is the earliest book in the NT canon, where do you think he got the phrase “save your souls”? From the OT. Fifth, when Jesus talked of saving the soul he also referred to saving the physical life. Matthew 16:25 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. Finally, when we realize that he has already warned believers of the sin unto death in James 1:14-15 his meaning is obvious here: when a regenerate person puts off sin and receives the word implanted he is in a position to enjoy salvation anew. The kind of salvation the believer will enjoy here is Physical-Salvation. This meaning is so obvious in James 5:19-20 it is hard to imagine why interpreters have ever come to another conclusion! This is a natural reading since it was well known from the OT that righteous living resulted in a prolonged physical life and unrighteous living in a premature physical death. Proverbs 10:27 The fear of the LORD prolongs life, But the years of the wicked will be shortened. (also cf Prov 10:16; 12:28; 19:23) Proverbs 11:19 He who is steadfast in righteousness will attain to life, And he who pursues evil will bring about his own death. (also cf Prov 21:16; Rom 6:23; James 1:15) “Sin is deadly!” And contextually the kind of death in view in James 1:15 is physical and the kind of salvation in view in James 1:21 is also physical. Now, let’s deal some more with Salvation from the Presence of Sin since this is Resurrection Sunday. I want to answer four questions about resurrection. First, what is resurrection? Second, who will be resurrected? Third, what is the gospel? Fourth, does the believer have to continue to believe in resurrection in order to be saved? If so, what kind of salvation will he enjoy? First, what is resurrection? You ought to at least know the basics of what the Bible teaches about resurrection. The Bible teaches that it is not resuscitation. Resuscitation means being revived; coming back in the same body you are in now. When a person is revived by CPR they are resuscitated. This happens in the Bible and it happens today but it’s not the same as resurrection. Also, the Bible teaches that it is not reincarnation. Reincarnation means coming back in a totally different body that has no connection to the old body. The eastern religions often hold to re-incarnation. The Bible teaches resurrection. The English word, coined by William Tyndale in his 1525 NT comes from the Greek word anastasis which means “to stand again” which is derived from anistemi which is used as early as Job of the resurrected Messiah. Job 19:25 “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth. When He takes His stand it will not be in a revived body or a totally new body but a transformed body. Christ’s body that was crucified on the cross was transformed into a new body. His crucified body was not in the tomb but the wrappings were in the tomb and when He was seen He was recognizable. The resurrection body is therefore derived from the natural body. So, resurrection is the transformation of the natural body into a resurrection body in which all men will take their stand at judgment. Your resurrection body will have some of the same qualities as your present body but it will also have different qualities. For example, the natural body is corruptible but the resurrection body is incorruptible. The natural body is perishable but the resurrection body is imperishable. The natural body is made of flesh and blood but the resurrection body is composed of a different substance that has a similar appearance. Second, who will be resurrected? Teaching on the resurrection is important to everyone because whether you believe in Christ or not you’re going to be resurrected. Both the Old and New Testaments teach that all men who have ever lived will be resurrected. Your either going to be resurrected to life or to death. All who are resurrected unto life will be with God and all who are resurrected unto death will be in hell. Hell is a place of separation. People who go there will be separated from God and everyone else too, no friends, no communication. People don’t really have a good idea of what the hell is like because they haven’t consulted the Scriptures. But it’s a terrible place, almost unthinkable but the Bible is clear that it is not God’s fault that people go there. Christ died for the sins of all men but some men don’t believe this and so when they die physically they are spiritually dead and don’t have perfect righteousness. Thus, they go to hell. Is this fair? Well, every person has a chance to respond positively to God. God gave us creation as a clear testimony to His existence and nature (Rom 1:18-20). He says all men know Him. If a person responds positively to this knowledge then God will give them the information they need to believe in Christ and be Saved from the Penalty of Sin. If they suppress this knowledge then God will turn them over to their depravity. Romans 1:20 says that when they stand before God they will be without an apologetic, without a defense. They will have no excuse. They will not have any reasonable arguments that get them off the hook. They will be held responsible for not believing. in Jesus Christ. This is taught in one of the most famous verses in the Bible John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. That word “perish” is a middle voice. That means “perish themselves”. In other words “whoever believes in Him shall not perish himself, but have eternal life”. That middle voice indicates that the person who does not believe is responsible for perishing. God does not send people to hell, people send themselves to hell. That’s the whole point of that word. But a person who believes in Him will receive eternal life. So, everyone is going to be resurrected. Believers will be resurrected to everlasting life and unbelievers to everlasting death. This is why it’s so very important to believe the gospel. And by saying gospel I mean “good news”. I mean there is a front page headline that is not making any front pages today. It used to make front page headlines in Colonial America until the 1930’s but since then it’s a rarity. Now what is the gospel? It’s so rare to hear it today. If you ask a person, “What is the gospel” you might get about 50 different answers. Third, what is the gospel? What is the content of the gospel? Paul reveals the gospel clearly in 1 Cor 15. 1 Corinthians 15:1-2 Now I make known (present active) to you, brethren, the gospel that I myself preached (aorist middle) to you, which also you received (aorist active), in which you stand (perfect active) 2 by which also you are being saved (present passive), if you hold fast (present active) the word which I myself preached (aorist middle) to you, unless you believed (aorist active) in vain. Paul wants to make the gospel known to “brethren”. They are already believers. They’ve believed the gospel that he’s going to expound in verses 3ff. So, there is the necessity of making the gospel known even to believers who’ve already believed the gospel. The verse confuses many believers because verse 2 puts a condition on being saved. It says “if you hold fast the word”. In other words, Paul is saying you are saved by this gospel if you hold fast to it. You wonder, “What if a person believes the gospel and then later they don’t believe it? Will they go to heaven?” The answer I always give you is “Yes”. But what does Paul mean then? What does he mean when he says “if you hold fast the word”? Why is there a condition? Well, remember, I’ve taught you to always ask, “Saved from what?” We have to answer that question right or we get in all kinds of trouble. What kind of salvation is in view here? Physical, Spiritual? Obviously some kind of salvation is conditioned on holding fast the word Paul preached which is the gospel message. Is he warning about loss of salvation if someone doesn’t hold fast to the gospel? Is he warning that they aren’t really believers if they don’t hold fast to the gospel? No. The grammar has the answer. “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel that I myself preached”; aorist middle. Paul himself had preached the gospel to the Corinthians while he was with them. Here he is about to make known that gospel to them again. That gospel “which also you received”; aorist active. The Corinthian’s received Paul’s gospel and it is in that gospel “which you stand”; perfect active. The Corinthian’s, upon hearing the gospel Paul preached received the gospel at that time at which point they began to stand and continue to stand. The sequence so far is Paul Preached-->Corinthian's Received-->Corinthian's Standing Verse 2 “by which also you are being saved”; present tense. This is the present aspect of the Corinthian’s salvation, what I call Deliverance from the Power of Sin. They will be delivered presently “if they hold fast” (present active) to the word which Paul preached, that is “the gospel” which he is about to proclaim (vv 3ff). In other words, it is necessary for a believer to continue believing the essentials of the gospel in order to enjoy a present dimension of salvation. “Unless” of course, he goes on “you believed in vain.” That is, unless they did not believe in the proper object, Christ alone. Perhaps some of them never believed in Christ to begin with, in which case they never entered into the chain of events that followed Paul’s preaching. They simply heard the word but never truly believed in Christ alone. Thus, verse 1 is interested in the gospel’s relationship to Deliverance from the Penalty of Sin (aorist and perfect tenses) and verse 2 is interested in the gospel’s relationship to Deliverance from the Power of Sin (present tenses). The final sequence for all who believed in Christ is… Paul Preached-->Corinthian's Received-->Corinthian's Standing--> If Corinthian’s Hold Fast-->Corinthians Will Be Saved. For those who believed in vain the sequence is simply… Paul Preached There is no spiritual deliverance of any kind for those who have believed in vain. Let’s see why it is so important for a believer, and these verses are written to Paul’s brethren at Corinth, he assumes they are believers unless of course they believed in vain. But, let’s see why it is important for a believer to continue to believe the gospel. If the Corinthian believers deny the resurrection then they will not be Saved from the Power of Sin (see 15:13-19, 34). He is not saying they are not Saved from the Penalty of Sin. They already received that salvation but a salvation they still need is contingent upon remaining true to the gospel essentials. This illustrates the principle of how closely related right doctrine is to right practice. A departure from sound doctrine will result in a departure from sound living (see 15:12 & 34). A departure from orthodoxy results in departure from orthopraxy and vice versa. Adherence to sound doctrine is a pre-requisite for sound living. Adherence to orthodoxy should result in orthopraxy. Note how some believers who departed from the doctrine of resurrection were considered ungodly and upset the faith of others. 2 Timothy 2:16-18 But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some. Hymenaeus and Philetus (both believers) taught that the resurrection was in the past and this teaching was considered worldly and empty and leads to ungodliness, the opposite of being Saved from the Power of Sin! When we adopt false teaching it leads to ungodly living and this leads to divine discipline and even sin unto death. Thus, the gospel essentials are now proclaimed by Paul in verses 3-5. 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 For I delivered (aorist active) to you first, what I also received (aorist active), that Christ died (aorist active) for our sins according to the Scriptures 4 and that he was buried (aorist passive) and that he is raised (perfect passive) the third day according to the Scriptures 5 and that he appeared (aorist passive) to Kephas and then to the twelve; The Greek structure here makes clear the essentials of the gospel. 1. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures He was buried 2. He is raised on the third day according to the Scriptures He appeared The phrase “according to the Scriptures” is only attached to two of the four phrases. This indicates that Paul’s gospel had two essential elements: 1) Christ died and 2) He was raised.ii This is just what the OT predicted. After each of these Paul gives a historical evidence. The historical evidence of His death was “He was buried”. The historic evidence of His resurrection was “He appeared”. Christianity is established in history. It is not just what some people want to blindly believe. Christianity is not a “leap of faith”. It is founded on historical events in the plain sight of men. History itself is the vindication of Christianity! No matter how kind or enthusiastic a preacher may be, no matter how many nice things he has to say about Jesus, if he does not teach that Christ died a substitutionary death and rose bodily from the tomb he has not preached the gospel! This is what a person must believe in order to be Saved from the Penalty of Sin which is eternal death and which one must continue to believe in order to be Saved from the Power of Sin. First, what is resurrection? It is the transformation of the natural body into a new body. Second, who will be resurrected? All men, believers and unbelievers. Believers unto life and unbelievers unto death. Third, what is the gospel? It is that Christ died and was raised. The historical evidence of His death is His burial. The historical evidence of His resurrection is His appearance to many. Fourth, does the believer have to continue to believe in resurrection in order to be saved? Yes, right doctrine is essential to being saved. But the salvation is from the Power of Sin and not from the Penalty of Sin. All who believe in Christ alone enjoy Salvation from the Penalty of Sin and this salvation is irreversible. But believer’s still need to be saved from the Power of Sin over their lives and essential to this is believing right doctrine, especially the essentials of the gospel. Note how Romans 5:9 makes justification distinct from being saved. We’ve been taught from childhood a narrow view of salvation, that salvation only has to do with that initial deliverance from hell so we can go to heaven and I’m telling you it’s much more than that. I’m telling you there are believers who will go to heaven one day but still need salvation today. “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.” Now, in this verse the people have been “justified” but they haven’t been “saved”! See, you’re going to have a real problem here if you think justification is a synonym for salvation. They’ve been justified but they still need to be saved. ii His death and resurrection were predicted by the OT Scriptures (e.g. Ps 16:10; Isa 53:8-10). i Back To The Top Copyright (c) Fredericksburg Bible Church 2007