We are saved eternally solely by the unconditional, sovereign grace of God bestowed upon his children (2 Tim. 1:9, Eph. 2:8-9), and the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross (John 19:30, Heb. 9:12). However, there are other ways in which the child of God can feel the power of their eternal salvation in their lives here and now. How do we “lay hold” of the eternal life (1 Tim. 6:12) we rightfully have in Christ? For those already given spiritual life by God’s sovereign work in regeneration, how do we live and lay hold on the “abundant life” (John 10:10) that the Lord has for his children here in the kingdom of God? The first step to laying hold on the blessings of eternal life and pressing into the abundant life is to believe in Christ, publicly confess that belief before the church, and be baptized. If we see one professing belief in Christ, that is evidence they have already been born again by the immediate work of the Holy Spirit in their soul. The scriptures consistently affirm that belief is the evidence that one has already been born again (1 John 5:1, John 5:24, 6:47, 1:12-13), never the cause that initiates regeneration. Although belief is not the means of the new birth, there is a powerful deliverance and peace that floods the soul of God’s child when they profess belief and are baptized that they have never felt in their heart and soul before. This powerful experience of joy and peace in their heart feels like they “got saved” the day they believed. That is because they did “get saved” that day they believed and were baptized. That is not when they were born again, but that was the day they felt the power of God’s peace flood their soul that delivered them from bondage, shame, fear, ignorance, and many other things. That is why many of God’s children describe their experience in belief and baptism as “When I got saved…” They felt a deliverance and salvation in their soul they never felt before, but that was the effect of their obedience to God in belief rather than when they were born again from death to life. This salvation in gospel obedience highlights the necessity in distinguishing two different aspects of salvation in scripture: 1) eternal salvation that is accomplished solely by grace and the finished work of Christ, and 2) conditional time salvation where the child of God lays hold on the salvation that is rightfully theirs here in the course of time in their life and they feel deliverance, peace, and joy in their heart in their experience of discipleship.
Considering that gospel belief has no bearing on eternal salvation or regeneration, what actually happens when a born-again child of God believes in Christ’s resurrection, confesses their belief before the church, and is baptized? Let’s look at some descriptions of this powerful experience in the soul of God’s children when they publicly profess a belief in Jesus Christ, confess him before men, and submit to baptism to be a member of the Lord’s church.
Salvation experienced in their heart. The gospel of Christ is the “power” (Greek word where we get the English word “dynamite”) of God to salvation to God’s children who believe. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” (Rom. 1:16) There is a dynamite, explosive, life-rearranging effect in the soul and life of God’s children when they hear and believe the gospel. In Romans 10, we see Paul’s burden for his Jewish kindred who he saw walking around with the yoke of bondage of the law on their necks (Acts 15:10-11, Gal. 5:1) because they placed their hope and assurance in their own works of righteousness instead of their hope in the finished work of Christ as the end of the law for righteousness (Rom. 10:2-4). These Jewish kindred didn’t understand the yoke of bondage they were carrying around their necks, but Paul’s prayer and desire is that they would be delivered and saved from that yoke of bondage into the glorious liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. His prayer was for them to be saved. “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.” (Rom. 10:1) In what sense did Paul desire to see these Jewish kindred saved? He did not desire for them to be born again because he already saw enough fruit of the Spirit in their lives to know they were already God’s children. He already knew they had a “zeal of God” (Rom. 10:2). Their problem was they didn’t have the gospel knowledge they needed. They had not submitted to the gospel of Christ’s righteousness as their only hope, instead of going about and trying to establish their own righteousness by works of the law. Paul saw the misery of soul this caused them, even if they didn’t see and understand the yoke around their neck, and he desired to liberate and save them from this yoke of bondage of the law. Therefore, for those Jews who already had a zeal of God but had a gospel knowledge problem, Paul exhorts them that if they would believe and confess with their mouth the resurrection of Christ, they would experience a salvation and deliverance in their soul from the yoke of bondage that was causing them constant conviction, when they should have been walking in liberty of soul. “[9] That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. [10] For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. [11] For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed… [13] For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Rom. 10:9-13) These born-again Jews would be saved from ignorance (10:3) and from shame (10:11) and from spiritual bondage to now live and walk in the glorious liberty wherewith Christ had already made them free. Not only did they need to believe in their heart, but they also needed to confess Christ’s resurrection before the church, and then they would feel a salvation and deliverance in their soul they had never experienced before.
Sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise. Many times in scripture, the Lord will describe the same event in various different ways to where we can get a more well-rounded picture of what is happening in that event. This true of the power of gospel belief in the heart of God’s children. It is described in many different ways to give us a more comprehensive understanding of the power of deliverance and liberty that occurs in the soul of God’s children when they believe. This “salvation” in the heart of God’s children that occurs in gospel belief is also described as the “sealing of that Holy Spirit of promise”. “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, [14] Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” (Eph. 1:13-14) Notice the gospel is not an invitation to be saved, but the gospel is already “of your salvation”. The gospel is a declaration that God has already saved his people and only touches the heart of those that have already been born again. When a born-again child of God hears the word of truth, when they hear the gospel of their salvation and they believe it, the Holy Spirit delivers a special “seal” of promise upon their heart. A seal in Bible times was a royal token from a king that can be examined by anyone to know the contents containing the seal are authentic and reliable and have the royal approval. When a child of God believes, the Holy Spirit comes with a special “seal of approval” in their heart to testify to them of the “promise” of eternal life. “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;” (Titus 1:2) God has promised his children eternal life, and since he cannot lie, and cannot fail, that seal of promise in our heart proves to us that God has given eternal life to all his children.
The Holy Spirit bears witness with our own spirit, conscience, and heart that we are truly the children of God. This is another similar description of the sealing of the Holy Spirit of promise. “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:” (Rom. 8:16) The Holy Spirit bears witness with the seal of promise in our own spirit, heart, and conscience that we are God’s children and there is nothing that can separate us from our loving Savior. When Satan tempts us to doubt our eternal security, we look at and examine the Lord’s seal of promise and listen to the witness of the Holy Spirit in our hearts to have renewed assurance that we truly are among God’s children, despite our failings and shortcomings.
Receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. In Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost, he described this sealing of the Holy Spirit of promise as “receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost”. “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? [38] Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. [39] For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” (Acts 2:37-39) For those men who were already “devout” (Acts 2:5) who were pricked in the heart by the preaching of the gospel (Acts 2:37) – evidencing they were already born again – Peter told them that if they repented, believed, and were baptized in Christ’s name, they would receive an “experiential” remission of sins in their conscience. These men’s sins were not remitted before God when they believed. Sins can only be remitted by the shed blood of Jesus Christ (Heb. 9:22), not by our belief. This experiential remission of sins in the conscience aligns with 1 Pet. 3:21, we will consider again in just a moment. It is not the putting away of the filth of the flesh (not eternal remission of sins), but now after baptism, they have the answer of a good conscience to “feel forgiven” of their sins where before when their hearts were pricked and convicted, they felt “guilty and condemned in” their sins. “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:” (1 Pet. 3:21) Their sins were not remitted and washed away before God, but their sins were washed away from their conscience by the waters of baptism.
Also, for these men who were seeking peace in their heart (instead of having pricking and conviction in their heart), if they repented, believed, and were baptized, they would “receive the gift of the Holy Ghost”. Notice, they would not receive the Holy Ghost; they would not be born again (they already were). Rather, they would receive the “gift” of the Holy Ghost. What was this “gift”? This gift was the sealing of the Holy Spirit of promise. This gift was the witness of the Holy Spirit testifying to their spirit that they were God’s children. Notice this “promise” (2:39) didn’t just apply to them, but to all who the Lord shall call. For any child of God that hears the gospel, repents, believes, and is baptized, they as well can receive the gift of the sealing and witness of the Holy Spirit of promise, receive an experiential remission and washing of sins in their conscience, and receive God’s peace and assurance for their pricked, convicted, and burdened down heart. When you receive those amazing gifts of the Holy Spirit in your heart, it feels a lot like “salvation” from Rom. 10 that you have never felt before in your heart.
Justified by Faith. Another description of this deliverance and peace in the soul of God’s children in belief is justification by faith. If we believe on Christ’s resurrection, then we have peace with God and now have access into the grace wherein we already stand. “[23] Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; [24] But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; [25] Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. [5:1] Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: [2] By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Rom. 4:23-5:2) When we exhibit belief (active faith), that is not when God is made at peace with us. We are not eternally justified (declared righteous) before God by faith. We were made at peace with God and eternally justified when Christ reconciled us to him by his death (Eph. 2:13-17). However, the question is, do you feel at peace with God in your heart? For those men pricked in their hearts in Acts 2:37, did they feel at peace with God in that moment when they asked what shall we do? No, they did not. However, after they repented, believed, baptized, and now had the answer of a good conscience before God, now they felt “at peace with God” when they came up out of that water of baptism. Even before their belief, they already stood in grace, saved by the unconditional grace of Christ on the cross. But for the first time in their lives, they now had “full access” to the grace wherein they already stood because they approached their assurance by faith in Christ instead of through their own works. For the first time, they felt at peace with God, even though God had always been at peace with them. Belief is how we are justified by faith, and we feel at peace with God in our hearts and have full access into the grace of the earnest of our inheritance of the Spirit that is rightfully ours already. Belief and faith are how we “lay hold” on the grace wherein we already stand and feel at peace with God.
For the publican in Luke 18:13-14, he is showing by his prayer he is already born again, but he did not “feel at peace with God”. He certainly didn’t feel much access into the grace wherein he stood legally and positionally saved by Christ. But after he expressed repentance, belief and faith, and requested God’s mercy on a sinner like him, he “went down to his house justified” (Luke 18:14). That was not when that publican was declared righteous or was eternally justified before God. He was declared righteous before God at the same time as every other child of God, when Jesus Christ said “It is finished!” on the cross (John 19:30). However, the publican left his house “not feeling at peace with God” in his heart, but after his prayer of faith and belief, he came home to his house that night “feeling justified and feeling at peace with God” and now having full access into the grace where he already stood both when he left that morning with a pricked heart and when he came home that night with a peaceful heart.
We saw earlier when we believe in Christ we are sealed with the Holy Spirit “of promise”. We also see the “promise” in Acts 2:39 as well. The “end” result – “to the end” – of justification by faith is that the “promise” would be made sure to all the seed. “Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all.” (Rom. 4:16) When we believe, the Holy Ghost comes to witness and testify to our conscience to make God’s promise of eternal life sure to the child of God. The Holy Spirit comes to seal our pricked hearts with the Holy Spirit of promise to make us feel at peace with God and to now have full access into the grace wherein we already stand.
Salvation of the answer of a good conscience towards God. When we publicly confess our belief in the resurrection of Christ and are baptized, we are saved “now” – doth now save us – by the liberation of our conscience from bondage and sorrow and delivered unto the answer of a good conscience before God. “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:” (1 Pet. 3:21) The children of God in Acts 2 and the publican in Luke 18 were all “pricked in the heart”. They did not have a clear conscience before God, did not have peace in their heart, but were convicted in their heart over their sins. When the devout men in Acts 2 were baptized, they went from a “pricked conscience” to the “answer of a good conscience” towards God. They received the “now salvation” of a peaceful and clear conscience before God when they came up from the waters of baptism and were delivered from the pricked and heavy-laden conscience they had before.
Salvation of yourself from the untoward generation around you. For the children of God who repented and were baptized in Acts 2:37-39, Peter also promises that they can save themselves from the untoward generation around them. “And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.” (Acts 2:40) It’s evident this salvation is different than eternal salvation because we certainly cannot save ourselves eternally to heaven. We can save and deliver ourselves from great perils in the world around us by following the command to believe and be baptized. Simply by submitting to baptism, these men had now submitted to the accountability of godly living as a member of the church. They were obligated to change their manner of life to conform to Christ’s teaching in his word and in his church. By these men implementing the word of God in their life, it would save them from great suffering and destruction that the worldly generation around them would be susceptible to. Take a simple example of following the Biblical command to not be drunken to intoxication. Just by following the scriptures to avoid drunkenness which is required to be a member of the church in good standing and being sober, you can save yourself from all the heartache that can come in people’s lives around you because they continually partake of alcohol to excess. You are avoiding the problems in your family, marriage, and employment; the hangovers; the liver problems; the mistakes in actions and words you will inevitably make when you are intoxicated; possible DUI or worse if you drive intoxicated. Everyone around you is plunging headlong into all these mistakes by not controlling their alcoholic consumption in moderation, and you are saving and protecting yourself from all these perils simply by following the command of God’s word and requirement of church membership. The same could be said for all type of moral sins – adultery, drugs, sodomy, transgenderism, theft, covetousness, and hosts of other besetting sins. Destruction is associated with all these sins of the flesh, and if the whole untoward generation around you is plunging headlong into the destruction of these sins, you will be delivered from all that peril of those around you by simply following the commands of the scriptures and the requirements for church membership.
Additional Salvations in Faithful Discipleship
In addition to these powerful deliverances for God’s children in their initial belief and baptism, we find additional subsequent deliverances and salvations in their walk of discipleship by the child of God remaining faithful to serve the Lord in a godly way in the church.
Save yourself and others by taking heed to the scriptures and doctrine. Any verse that says you can save yourself, and certainly can save others, manifests clearly it has to be talking about some degree of conditional time salvation, and not eternal salvation to heaven. We find Paul’s exhortation to Timothy that applies to all of God’s children, not just the ministry, that we can save ourselves and others by taking heed to the scriptures and to sound doctrine. “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” (1 Tim. 4:16) This aligns closely with saving yourself from the untoward generation around you. By taking heed to the standards of God’s word as the sole authority in our lives, we will be saved from all types of perils that come as a result of engaging in sins of the flesh. We will also save ourselves and others from the yoke of bondage of a works salvation that we have already discussed. If we put the word of God as the first filter and decision maker in our life and encourage others to do the same, we will all be delivered from many dangers in both a spiritual and physical sense.
Saved by keeping in memory the gospel and God’s word. Here we find that not just do we receive a salvation in our original belief of the gospel, but there is also a continual salvation in keeping in memory the gospel, lest we should let it slip at any time. “By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.” (1 Cor. 15:2) This verse again makes it very clear that there is a salvation here in time is our discipleship that is in addition to eternal salvation. If our eternal salvation is contingent upon us keeping the gospel in memory, what about those whose memory fades and get Alzhemier’s later in their life and have no recollection of the gospel they once believed? The lesson here is that if we keep the gospel in the forefront of our mind and memory, then we will receive a continual deliverance from all the things we have already noted before. If we go into false doctrine as the Galatians did, we are entangling ourselves again with a yoke of bondage we had already been liberated from (Gal. 5:1). The remedy from that entanglement again with spiritual bondage is to keep the gospel in your memory and reject any false doctrines when they come your way.
Can save an erring brother from death of fellowship if they do not take heed to God’s word and keep the gospel in memory. If we do not keep the gospel in our memory, we might be tempted to go back and backslide into our former mistakes of either incorrect doctrine or immoral living. If that is the case and a brother does backslide and err from the truth, then we can bring the word of God to that brother and call on him to repent, and if he is converted, then we have saved a soul from death and hidden a multitude of sins. “Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; [20] Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.” (James 5:19-20) Our intervening in the life of an erring brother in Christ is not what keeps him out of hell (not eternal, second death) but it saves him from a death to fellowship of the brethren and the church, and if he repents, it shall save him from the multitude of sins he might commit in the future if he continued headlong into a life of immorality or false doctrine.
Conclusion
Therefore, for the child of God that hears the gospel and is pricked in their hearts, if they belief, confess, repent, and are baptized, they are saved from ignorance, shame, bondage and conviction; they receive the gift of the Holy Spirit of promise; they receive an experiential feeling of remission of sins; they receive the witness of the Holy Spirit to their spirit that they are God’s child; they are justified by faith and feel at peace with God and have full access into the grace wherein they already stand; they have salvation of conscience and the answer of a good conscience before God; and they save themselves from the perils of the untoward generation around them by living godly. When all of that is experienced in the heart of the child of God, that is why it is called “salvation”! When one believes and is baptized, that is the greatest day in their spiritual experience they have ever felt! They feel the deliverance of all these things, and thus their testimony is that “I got saved that day”. Not that they were born again, but they experienced all these powerful deliverances and salvations in their heart that gave them for their first time in their spiritual walk of discipleship a peace that passes all understanding in their heart and joy unspeakable and full of glory in their soul. Then, if they continue in the gospel and continue in following the word of God, they can save themselves and others by keeping in memory the word and can even help save an erring brother from possible destruction in their discipleship if they are not vigilant to keep the gospel and word as a priority in their life. Repentance, faith, belief and baptism are not how we are eternally justified; it’s not how we are born again; but it’s how the born again child of God lays hold on the eternal life they already have and lives in joy, peace, and good answer in their soul, instead of constantly living with a pricked heart carrying around a spiritual yoke of bondage around the neck of their souls.
Sermon
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