Saved When?
QUESTION
Hey Brother! Fellow PB here and new to the PB’s. Have a question. I thought that we were already saved when Jesus died on the cross, and that the act of regeneration was simply God quickening is to Obedience to himself not the actual application of salvation. Can you help me with my confusion? Scriptural support would be greatly appreciated. (Anonymous)
ANSWER
This is a question that requires us to be very precise in how we define terms like “salvation.” Without some measure of precision, we run the risk of getting wrapped around the axle because of careless equivocation. There are many facets or aspects of salvation including, for example, election, redemption, regeneration, final glorification, etc. Consider the following assertions…
ELECTION is COVENANTAL SALVATION (Ephesians 1:4-6) – it is salvation in the mind and purpose of God. It is certain that when God chose a people to save, he was planning their eternal salvation in advance of all of the temporal events involved in bringing it to fruition. Before God’s elect were even born they could be said to be ETERNALLY SAVED IN COVENANT, because God had already purposed and promised their salvation beforehand.
REDEMPTION is TRANSACTIONAL SALVATION (Colossians 1:20, Hebrews 10:11,14) – it is salvation described in the terminology of a commercial transaction (payment, atonement, redemption) where payment for the sin debt was made in full. It is certain that all of God’s elect for whom Christ died had their debt paid at Calvary, long before many of them ever even existed, or before they ever had any spiritual inclination or sensibility. In that sense we can say that they were all atoned for at Calvary and that is where their salvation was purchased.
REGENERATION is VITAL SALVATION (Titus 3:5) – it is the point in time when salvation is imparted to one of God’s elect in the form of God’s spirit taking residence in one of his sheep. This is the moment in time when someone’s spiritual experience begins which may be manifest in thoughts of one’s guilt in the commission of sin, the reality that God is holy and real, and the dreadful thought of those two when considered together.
So with proper qualification all of the following statements are true…
“God’s people are saved covenantally in eternity past.”
“God’s people are saved transactionally at Calvary.”
“God’s people are saved vitally at regeneration.”
Where we run into trouble is when we unnecessarily shoehorn all aspects of eternal salvation into only one facet. This raises debates among Christians who will get fighting mad saying “We were saved at CALVARY!” and “NO! We were saved BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD in election!” while still others scream, “WRONG! We are not saved until we have the faith to believe!” I’m reminded of the proverb of the blind men and the elephant. When properly considered, they are all right, but they are describing different components that make up the whole of salvation. We only rightly divide the topic of salvation when we consider it’s different facets and speak about those facets in a way that is consistent with the bible’s testimony, that avoids logical contradictions. Recognizing the covenantal, transactional, and vital dimensions is very helpful in this regard. It accommodates all the biblical data without creating untenable contradictions or stirring up vain, short-sighted contention among the brethren.
Good question. Thanks for making a thoughtful contribution.
- Elder Daniel Samons