The Plan of Salvation
Part I Lesson 5
“What must I do to
be saved?” No question has ever
provoked so many different answers. A few
years ago, a Gallup poll was conducted on the
subject of salvation. Eighty-seven percent
of the people questioned were convinced they were
going to heaven. Ninety percent of the
people responding knew someone going to hell!
“What must I do to
be saved?” Is a universal
question? People of every culture, language
and nation ask the question. The problem is
not the question but the answer. Ask a
Catholic, Baptist, Jew, Muslim, and a Hindu and
you’ll get different answers! Is there
one correct answer? Is there only one-way to
heaven?
From heaven’s point
of view
Consider the issue of
salvation from heaven’s point of view.There
are 6+ billion people on this planet and
“God” is not willing that anyone should
perish.” II Peter 3:9 God foreknew
that people on earth would speak different
languages, have diverse customs, and think
differently about religion. God therefore
prepared a plan of salvation that would encompass
every human being that would ever live before He
created the world.
The subject of God’s
foreknowledge can get very confusing and bizarre
if misunderstood. But a few moments spent
on this matter to properly appreciate what God is
like will be very beneficial. There are
three critical points that must be understood to
bring God’s foreknowledge into focus.
- Jesus
is omniscient or all knowing. He
knows the future. He knows the
outcome and process and all things.
He knew Adam and Eve would sin before He
created them. He knew Cain would
kill Abel. He knew He would have to die
on Calvary before He created the
world! He knew Judas would betray
Him for 30 pieces of silver. Jesus
knows who will be saved and who will
not. The Godhead knows everything
about everything! They knew
everything that would happen on this
planet before it was created! Jesus
says, “I make known the end from the
beginning, from ancient times, what is
still to come…What I have said, that
will I bring about; what I have planned,
that will I do.” Isaiah 46:10,11
Jesus said to Jeremiah, “Before I
formed you in the womb I knew you, before
you were born I set you apart; I
appointed you as a prophet to the
nations.” Jeremiah 1:5
- Jesus
does not use His foreknowledge to force
or cause an outcome. Jesus was not
responsible for the sin of Adam and
Eve. They chose to disobey.
Jesus was not responsible for Cain
killing Abel. Cain chose to kill
Abel. Jesus did not make Judas a
traitor; Judas chose to betray Jesus for
a little money. The point is that
Jesus gives the power of choice to each
of His created subjects. They are
free to choose to do whatever they
wish. Even though He knows what
each person will choose He does not use
His foreknowledge to force the outcome.
Bottom line
Here is the bottom
line: the essential difference between
foreknowledge and predestination is that
predestination causes the outcome whereas
foreknowledge knows the outcome.
The Old Testament story
of Israel clearly points out that Jesus does not
use His foreknowledge to change the
outcome. Notice this prophecy, “And
the Lord said to Moses: ‘You are going
to rest with your fathers, and these people will
soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of
the land they are entering. They will
forsake me and break the covenant I made with
them. On that day I will become angry with
them and forsake them; I will hide my face from
them, and they will be destroyed. Many
disasters and difficulties will come upon them,
and on that day they will ask, ‘Have not
these disasters come upon us because our God is
not with us?’ And I will certainly
hide my face on the at day because all their
wickedness in turning to other gods.”
Deuteronomy 31: 16-18
Jesus knew what Israel
would do in the future. 1,800 years of
Jewish history clearly confirms the foreknowledge
of Jesus in this prophecy. But the same
eighteen hundred years of Jewish history confirms
that Jesus did not use His foreknowledge to make
Israel a stubborn and stiff-necked people.
In fact the Old Testament verifies that God did
everything possible to save Israel – time
after time! Israel chose to rebel against
God and He knew they would.
One day Jesus stood
overlooking Jerusalem and reflecting on His
relationship of many centuries with Israel he
said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill
the prophets and stone those sent to you, how
often I have longed to gather your children
together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her
wings, but you were not willing. Look, your
house is left to you desolate. For I tell
you, you will not see me again until you say
‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the
Lord’.” Matthew 23:37-39
If there is one lesson in
the Bible that stands out more clearly than any
other, it is the sad truth that God’s people
have often been less than responsive to the
condescending love of God. In fact, history
confirms the repetitive process of
“God’s people” treating God’s
messengers worse than heathen treat their
enemies!
The last point about
God’s foreknowledge is an important
synthesis from Revelation about the two points
just made. The Father, knowing earth’s
history before the world was created, wrote down
the history of Earth. He then sealed up the
story with seven seals so that no one might
change or alter the script. This book,
called the book of life, was perfectly sealed up
with seven seals. It contains among other
things the names of all shall choose to be
saved! (This will be studied in greater
depth when we reach the study on the seven
seals.) When the book is finally opened,
then every person will see that God knew
everything about everything before the world was
created and that He did not use His foreknowledge
to force alter or manipulate any person’s
power of choice. At that time, each person
will see clear confirmation that their eternal
destiny was their decision!
A few verses from
Revelation are provided to demonstrate that the
book of life was written before the world was
created:
“…The
inhabitants of the earth whose names have not
been written in the book of life from the
creation of the world will be astonished when
they see the beast, because he once was, now is
not, and yet will come.” Revelation
17:8
“All inhabitants of
the earth will worship the beast – all whose
names have not been written from the creation of
the world in the book of life belonging to the
Lamb that was slain.” Revelation 13:8
(Note: verse 8 can
also be translated, “All inhabitants of the
earth will worship the beast – all whose
names have not been written in the book of life
belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the
creation of the world.” The phrase
“from the creation of the world’, can
grammatically apply either the “book of life
that was written” or “the Lamb that was
slain.” Applying the phrase to the
book of life appears to be better choice since
the meaning clearly harmonizes with John’s
remark in Revelation 17:8
Book of Life in the Old
Testament
King David knew about
God’s foreknowledge and the book written
before the world! “For you created my inmost
being; you knit me together in my mother’s
womb. I praise you because I am fearfully
and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I
know that full well. My frame was hidden
from you when I was made in a secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the
earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All
the days ordained for me were written in your
book before one of them came to be.”
Psalm 139:13-16
The Apostle Paul confirms
that God anticipated the rise of sin before the
world was created and was prepared for it!
Paul says, “Praise be to the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed
us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual
blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him
before the creation of the world to be holy and
blameless in his sight. In love, he
predestined us to be adopted as his sons through
Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and
will… In him we have redemption through his
blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance
with the riches of God’s grace that he
lavished on us with all wisdom and
understanding.” Ephesians 1:3-8
The Biblical meaning of
the word “predestined” does not mean
forced. Rather, God planned before the
creation of the world for the human race to be
adopted as His sons through Jesus because He knew
sin was coming. But, if any person does not
want to be adopted as a child of God, they will
not be adopted. It’s that simple.
Consider the significance
of Jesus’ remark to the living saints at the
second coming, “Then the King will say to
those on His right… take your inheritance,
the kingdom prepared for you since the creation
of the world.” Matthew 25:34
John recognized that the
choice of salvation is ours to make. He
wrote, “The spirit and the bride say
‘Come!’ Whosoever is thirsty, let him
come; and whosoever wishes, let him take the free
gift of the water of life.” Revelation
22:17 Can there be any doubt that eternal life is
open to any who want it?
Back to the question
The question, “What
must I do to be saved?” implies a condition
of being “unsaved.” So what is the
human race “unsaved” from? It has
been noticed that life lasts about 70 years and
then man dies. What follows? Why must man
die? The Psalmist wrote, “The length
of your days is seventy years – or eighty,
if we have the strength; yet their span is but
trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we
fly away.” Psalm 90:10
The Bible gives a very
clear explanation of who man is, why man dies,
and what follows.
God created man and
placed him in the Garden of Eden where he had
access to the tree of life. As long as man
remained in the garden he could live forever
because the fruit of the tree of life sustained
life indefinitely. The point is made that
Jesus created man as a mortal being. Jesus
plainly told Adam, “…You are free to
eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not
eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, for when you eat of it you will surely
die.” Genesis 2:16,17
Both the tree of life and
the tree of knowledge of good and evil were in
the middle of Eden. Genesis 2:9 When Adam
and Eve were created, they had a natural
attraction for righteousness, holiness and
joy. As children today possess biological
traits from their parents, so Adam and Eve
possessed the traits of their Creator –
Jesus. The Bible says, “So God created
man in his own image, in the image of God he
created him; male and female he created
them.” Genesis 1:27
A test of loyalty
A test was placed in the
Garden of Eden to see if Adam and Eve would
choose to obey or disobey. They were
clearly informed that they were not to eat of the
fruit of one tree in the middle of the
garden. One day, as Eve went grocery
shopping to get fruit from the tree of life,
which was also in the middle of the garden, a
serpent startled her by calling to her from the
forbidden tree. Now the serpent in the
Garden of Eden was the most beautiful and
intelligent of all creatures. (Some
scholars believe the serpent could fly until he
was cursed to crawl upon his belly. Genesis
3:14 Satan had transformed himself into the most
beautiful creature on earth to tempt Eve.
Wouldn’t you be curious if you heard a
beautiful creature speak and carry on a
remarkably intelligent conversation?
Satan engaged Eve in a
conversation and then lied to her. He
deceived her into eating the fruit of the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil. Satan said,
“You will not surely die. For God
knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be
opened, and you will be like God, knowing good
from evil.” Genesis 3:4,5 Satan led
Eve to believe that God didn’t want her to
experience the knowledge of evil. (This part of
Satan’s comment was true for God did not
want Adam and eve to experience the knowledge of
evil.) The knowledge of good was
enough! But Satan lied about the fatal
consequence of evil. Notice the clever
mixture of error with truth in his statement!
Eve ate the fruit.
Then she gave some of the forbidden fruit to Adam
and he also ate also. Now a very important
point must be made between Adam and Eve.
Eve was led to believe a lie. Adam
willfully chooses to eat and die. Therefore
Adam’s sin is greater than Eve’s for
God had directly spoken to Adam about this
matter. “And the Lord God commanded
the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree
in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you
eat of it you will surely die’.”
Genesis 2:16,17
Passing the blame
That evening, Adam and
Eve were confronted with their sin. They
ran and hid themselves as Jesus came to visit
with them. They were ashamed, naked and
defensive. When confronted with their deed,
they were strangely unrepentant! Eve blamed
her act on the serpent. She said, “The
serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Genesis 3:13 Even worse, Adam blamed his act of
rebellion on his Creator and the on Eve!
Adam said, “The women you put here with me
– she gave me some fruit from the tree and I
ate it.” Genesis 3:12 The Jesus turned
to Adam and said, “…because you
listened to your wife and ate from the tree about
which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of
it’, cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toll you will eat of it all the
days of your life…By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food until you return to the
ground, since from it you were taken; for dust
you are and dust you will return.”
Genesis 3:17-19
Access denied
Adam and Eve were driven
from the Garden of Eden so they might not have
access to the tree of life! The Bible says,
“The Lord God said, ‘The man has now
become like one of us, knowing good from
evil. He must not be allowed to reach out
his hand and take also from the tree of life and
eat, and live forever.’ So the Lord
God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work
the ground from which he had been taken.
After he drove the man out, he placed on the east
side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming
sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to
the tree of life.” Genesis 3:22-24
Because of their sins,
Adam and Eve became “doomed” to eternal
death. “For the wages of sin is
death.” Romans 6:23 They had literally
tasted sin and would forever be sinners.
They were banished from the garden and denied
access to the life sustaining fruit of the tree
of life and God mercifully prevents sinners from
living forever. The trait of rebellion
against God (just like a biological trait) was
passed on to the offspring of Adam and Eve.
In fact, their firstborn,
Cain, became a murderer! Adam’s sin
was greater than Eve’s sin. Adam was
not deceived. He willfully and
intentionally disobeyed God. Therefore his
suffering would be greater than Eve’s.
The words of the Apostle Paul make a lot of
sense. “Therefore, just as sin entered
the world through one man, and death through sin,
and in this way death came to all men, because
all have sinned.” Romans 5:12
Think of Adam’s
suffering. The Bible says that Adam lived
930 years. (Genesis 5:5) Imagine living
that long and observing the terrible consequences
of your own wrongdoing! In every death,
suffering and sadness, Adam beheld the
consequences of his deed. He saw the blight
of sin upon nature. For more than nine
centuries Adam lived with the effects of his
willful wrong.
Jesus was not caught by
surprise
The sin of Adam and Eve
did not catch heaven by surprise. In fact,
the very day Adam and Eve sinned, Jesus told the
guilty pair there was a way back to Eden. Ever
since that day, the way back has been called the
“Plan of Salvation.”
Since all the inhabitants
of earth are direct descendants of Adam and Eve,
and since God knew when he created the world that
someday the world would be populated with
billions of people holding to different customs
and religious beliefs, the plan of salvation must
be broad and inclusive. The plan must work
for the Chinese, Russians, Americans and all
peoples in every country. How can billions
of people holding diverse beliefs find their way
to Eden?
Because of God’s
love, the answer is quite simple. When each
person is born, God places within that person a
“basic law” of right and wrong.
This law enables people to distinguish or
recognize right from wrong. Jefferson in
our Bill of Rights eloquently said this.
“We hold certain truths to be self
evident…” The point of creating human
beings with reasoning powers is summed up in
their ability to distinguish good from
evil. If a person strives to do all he
believes is good (operating within his basic
law), in God’s sight that is all that is
asked of him. Paul says, “Indeed, when
Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature
things required by the law, they are a law for
themselves, even though they do not have the law,
since they show that the requirements of the law
are written on their hearts, their consciences
also bearing witness, and their thoughts now
accusing, now even defending them. This
will take place on the day when God will judge
men’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my
gospel declares.” Romans 2:14-16
(Note: the word
“law” as used in this text includes the
larger meaning of the word, i.e., all
scriptures.)
James also supports the
concept of basic law. He says, “Anyone, then
who knows the good he ought to do and
doesn’t do it, sins.” James 4:17
Salvation includes full
restoration
The Plan of Salvation
does not stop with “basic law.”
On the contrary, basic law is where it all
begins. Salvation consists of much more
than the promise of eternal life because the
human race lost more than eternal life!
God not only wants to
restore eternal life to all people, but even
more, he wants to restore the traits of holiness,
righteousness and divine love within man!
He wants us restored back to His image! To
do this, God has patiently worked through the
human race in various ways to inform man of what
He is like – hoping that people would
respond. In God’s economy, it is not
enough to save man in his sins. God
intends to save man from his sins.
So the plan of salvation
has two parts. Theologians have termed
these two elements as “Justification”
and “Sanctification.”
Justification means that God has personally paid
the price for the salvation of the world.
Sanctification means that God wants to restore
His image (traits) in human beings.
Actually, sanctification works two ways.
First, holiness brings fullness of life,
happiness, and joys never ending. (What a
contrast to the harvest of evil.) Second,
sanctification serves as public relations for the
Kingdom of Heaven. Those who experience the
joy and fullness of life that comes through
sanctification become living examples of what
heaven is all about. Thus uninformed people
are brought to a knowledge of the God of Heaven
through examples of what God offers!
These two concepts of
sanctification are wonderfully explained in the
Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5:3-7:29 For
example, Jesus said, “You have heard that it
was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your
enemy.’ But I tell you:
‘Love your enemies and pray for those who
persecute you, that you may be sons of your
Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise
on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the
righteous and the unrighteous. If you love
those who love you, what reward will you
get? Are not the tax collectors doing
that? And if you greet only your brothers,
what are you doing more than others? Do not
even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore,
as your heavenly Father is
perfect’.” Matthew 5:43-48
How the pieces fit
As mentioned before,
every person is born with “basic
law.” This provides the ability to
understand the difference between right and
wrong. Appealing to this basic ability of
man, God works to reveal more and more light
about Himself to every person so that all may be
delivered from sin’s darkness.
But some people
don’t want more light about God and His
ways. Jesus told Nicodemus, “This is
the verdict: Light has come into the world, but
men loved darkness instead of light because their
deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil
hates the light for fear that his deeds will be
exposed. But whoever lived by the truth
comes into the light, so that it may be seen
plainly that what he has done has been done
through God.” John 3:19-21
The rejection of light
can be corporate too. Entire cities or
nations can rebel against truth! Jesus
denounced Capernaum saying, “And you,
Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the
skies? No, you will go down to the
depths. If the miracles that were performed
in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have
remained to this day. But I tell you that
it will be more bearable for Sodom on the Day of
Judgment than for you.” Matthew
11:23,24 In other words, Sodom’s evil was
not as great as Capernaum’s evil because
Capernaum had greater evidence of truth!
The conclusion of the
matter
Some people want to know
more about God. Some people don’t want
to know anything about God. Jesus made it clear
to Nicodemus that those who live up to all they
know will find more light while those who do evil
will not want any more light for fear their deeds
will be exposed as evil.
Salvation then comes to
any person, in any culture, in any language and
in any religious body when they are willing to
follow all the light they have. It’s
that simple and that universal. From
“basic law”, God attempts to lead each
person into greater and greater light so that
every person may become more like Him.
The final exam
Revelation indicates that
God has prepared a final exam for all the people
of the world living at the end of time. In
the next study, we’ll begin to see how this
exam will work. In effect, God is going to
send a powerful testimony of truth throughout the
world during a very short time to see who will
follow it. Those living up to all the light
they have and looking for more light will quickly
see the beauty of this simple but powerful
testimony and many will accept it even at great
peril to life itself.
The final exam is
carefully designed so that all who are living up
to the light they have now will be separated from
the three classes of people:
- Those
refusing more light.
- Those
professing to walk in the light.
- Those
indifferent to more light.
The final exam will
separate the sheep from the goats. The
circumstances during which this exam is
administered will be awesome. Those who
pass the exam will be those who are willing to
follow more light. The courage to do this
only comes by faith! Jesus said,
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be
preached in the whole world as a testimony to all
nations, and then the end will come.”
Matthew 24:14 Will you have the faith to receive
more light? Jesus, knowing the testing time
that is coming upon the earth, asked,”When
the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the
earth?” Luke 18:8
Think about it
Am I following all the
light that God has given me? Am I willing to
follow greater light? How is my faith in
God?
Quiz:
- What
are the two elements of salvation?
- How
are they different?
- What
does “basic law” mean?
- According
to Jesus, some people hate more
light. Why?
- Would
God be fair if He used His foreknowledge
to avert or prevent something from
happening?
Memory Verse:
Matthew 24:14
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be
preached in the whole world as a testimony to all
nations, and then the end will come.”
Notes:
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