Ations

There are those who want to dumb down the Bible for people because "some words just don't make sense today to the post-modern man" or some such other nonsense. Typically these are in the same group who want to embrace those in groups teaching false doctrine, who want to deny the vital importance of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, who want to call the deity of Christ into question, who want to deny the reality of judgment and hell. Of course they want to dumb down the Bible -- because they want a watered down Christianity that is on par with other religions of the world that should be considered as valid as Christianity. Rubbish.

Enough ranting, I thought I'd just take the time to clear up some of the big "ations" that are at the heart of the gospel.

Salvation. This is the gospel in a word. In a sentence I would say that Jesus came into the world to die as an atoning sacrifice to pay for the sins of the world and then rose again, so that those who put their faith in him and follow him will be made right with God and inherit eternal life. Salvation is gained by grace through faith in Christ.

Interesting though that when the Bible talks about being saved, it talks about it in three ways. We've been saved, we're being saved, and we will be saved. And all three can be summed up with a few more ations:

Justification. We've been saved. We're freed from the guilt and bondage of sin and made right with God. We get Christ's righteousness imputed to us. It happens the moment we receive God's free gift. I remember when it happened for me distinctly. I have experiential evidence that God took my heart of stone out and put in a heart of flesh.

Sanctification. We're being saved. Though we're freed from sin, we're not perfect. Sanctification is being free from the pollution of sin. This is a lifelong process that starts the moment we receive Christ and makes us more like him. We have to cooperate in this process and some days go better than others. The Holy Spirit prompts us to move in certain directions and do or not do certain things and we should listen to him.

Glorification. We will be saved. This is when we're completely freed from the presence of sin and will happens when Christ returns and we go to be with the Lord.

A website I came across put it this way:

Justification delivers us from the penalty of sin and requires one act of faith, establishing our position with God. Sanctification delivers us from the power of sin and requires many acts of faith, transforming our condition. Glorification delivers us from the presence of sin and requires no act of faith, matching our condition with our position.

That doesn't seem so complicated to me. I think some just want to make the word of God fit their beliefs and can't do that without dumbing it down to make their false beliefs about Christ square up. Some even think the word "saved" is "too harsh". Well, its used all over the New Testament, so I think we'll stick with that -- and keep the rest of it too.

Grace and Peace