Salvation Applied: The Doctrines of Grace

What you'll learn

• State the order of salvation from election to glory and explain how each link depends on God's grace
• Explain justification by faith alone using imputation, faith as instrument and the great exchange, and distinguish it clearly from sanctification
• Present the doctrines of grace (TULIP) accurately and charitably, including where Arminian brothers differ

The doctrine in one sentence

What Christ accomplished on the cross and in the resurrection (Lesson 6) must be applied to real sinners, and Scripture teaches that the Father chose a people in Christ before the foundation of the world, the Son redeemed them, and the Spirit unites them to Christ so that they are called, born again, brought to faith and repentance, justified, adopted, sanctified, kept and finally glorified.

Put even more simply: salvation is of the Lord (Jonah 2:9), from first to last. Every link in the chain is a gift of grace, and the believer's faith, obedience and perseverance are real human acts that God himself produces.

The theologian John Murray titled his classic book on this subject Redemption Accomplished and Applied. That title is a good map. Lesson 6 was redemption accomplished; this lesson is redemption applied. The Holy Spirit is the one who applies it, and the bond that joins us to every benefit is union with Christ. Everything we receive, we receive in him (Eph 1:3-14 uses the phrase in him or in Christ again and again).

The golden chain: Romans 8:29-30

The clearest single text on the order of salvation (Latin ordo salutis) is Romans 8:29-30: those whom he foreknew he also predestined... and those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. The Puritan William Perkins called this a golden chain. Notice three things in the reasoning.

First, God is the subject of every verb. Paul does not say those who believed, God then justified as if the chain began with us; he says God foreknew, predestined, called, justified and glorified. Second, the number of people stays the same from link to link. Everyone foreknown is predestined, everyone predestined is called, everyone called in this sense is justified, and everyone justified is glorified. Nobody drops out. Third, glorified is in the past tense, though it is still future for us. God speaks of it as done because his purpose cannot fail.

Foreknew here means more than knew in advance what they would do. In Scripture know often means to set one's covenant love on someone (Amos 3:2; Jer 1:5; Matt 7:23 where Jesus says I never knew you to people he knew all about). God foreknew persons, not decisions. The order the Reformed tradition draws from this and related texts is usually: election, effectual calling, regeneration, faith and repentance (conversion), justification, adoption, sanctification, perseverance, glorification. This is a logical order, not mainly a stopwatch order. Calling, regeneration, faith and justification happen together in time, but each depends on the one before it.

Election, calling and the new birth

Election is God's free choice, before creation, of particular sinners to be saved in Christ: he chose us in him before the foundation of the world... In love he predestined us for adoption (Eph 1:4-5). It is unconditional, meaning it was not based on foreseen faith or works: not because of works but because of him who calls (Rom 9:11-16). Election is the reason anyone believes, not the result: as many as were appointed to eternal life believed (Acts 13:48). Election is always in Christ. We never look for it behind Christ's back; we find our election by looking to Christ.

Effectual calling is the inward, Spirit-worked summons that actually brings the sinner to Christ. The gospel goes out to everyone (the general or external call: Matt 22:14; Isa 45:22), and it is a sincere offer. But alongside it God speaks inwardly to his elect so that they come. Jesus says no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day (John 6:44). The one who is drawn is the one who is raised up, so the drawing is not merely an attempt. Lydia illustrates it: The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul (Acts 16:14).

Regeneration is the new birth, the Spirit's act of giving spiritual life to a dead sinner (John 3:3-8; Ezek 36:26-27; Eph 2:4-5). It is monergistic, meaning God alone works in it, just as a baby contributes nothing to its own conception. Regeneration precedes and produces faith: Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God (1 John 5:1, where has been born is a perfect tense, describing birth as the cause of present believing). This does not mean a person is regenerated and then lives for years as an unbeliever. The new heart immediately reaches out to Christ.

Faith, repentance and justification by faith alone

Faith is receiving and resting upon Christ alone for salvation. It has three historic elements: knowledge (notitia, knowing who Christ is and what he did), assent (assensus, agreeing it is true) and trust (fiducia, personally relying on him). Demons have the first two (James 2:19); saving faith adds the third. Repentance is the other side of the same coin: a Spirit-given turning from sin to God, with grief and hatred of sin and a resolve to new obedience (Acts 11:18; 2 Cor 7:10). Both are gifts (Eph 2:8; 2 Tim 2:25), and both are truly our acts. God does not believe for us; he enables us to believe.

Justification is God's legal declaration that a sinner is righteous in his sight. It is a courtroom word, the opposite of condemn (Deut 25:1; Prov 17:15; Rom 8:33-34). It does not mean to make inwardly righteous; it means to declare righteous. It has two parts: pardon of all sins, and acceptance as righteous. The ground of it is not anything in us but the righteousness of Christ, his perfect obedience to the law and his sin-bearing death, which is imputed (credited, reckoned) to us. Paul builds the case from Abraham: Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness (Rom 4:3, quoting Gen 15:6), and God justifies the ungodly (Rom 4:5), which is the scandal of grace.

Faith is the instrument, not the ground. It is the empty hand that receives Christ; it adds nothing to his work. That is why the Reformers insisted on sola fide, faith alone. A person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ (Gal 2:16); one is justified by faith apart from works of the law (Rom 3:28). The heart of it is the great exchange: For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21). Our sin was imputed to Christ; his righteousness is imputed to us. Luther called this the joyful exchange. Phil 3:9 shows Paul resting not in a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ.

Justification is a once-for-all verdict. It does not grow or shrink. A believer of one hour is as justified as an apostle, because both stand in the same righteousness, Christ's. For the defence of this doctrine against Roman Catholic and other objections, see Doctrines Under Fire, Lesson 3, and Roman Catholicism, Lesson 3; here our aim is to be able to state it precisely.

Adoption, sanctification, perseverance and assurance

Adoption goes beyond justification. A judge can acquit a criminal without taking him home; God does both. In adoption we are received into God's family with all the rights of sons and daughters (Gal 4:4-7; Rom 8:15-17; 1 John 3:1). Justification answers our guilt; adoption answers our alienation. The Spirit of adoption teaches us to cry Abba! Father!

Sanctification is the Spirit's ongoing work of renewing the whole person after the image of God, so that we increasingly die to sin and live to righteousness. It has a definitive side (believers have died to sin's reign once for all, Rom 6:1-14; 1 Cor 6:11) and a progressive side (we are being transformed... from one degree of glory to another, 2 Cor 3:18). Unlike justification, sanctification is a process, it is never complete in this life, and we actively cooperate in it: work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you (Phil 2:12-13). The text holds both truths together and so must we.

Perseverance of the saints means that those truly born again will never totally or finally fall away, but will continue in faith to the end. The ground is God's keeping, not our grip: no one will snatch them out of my hand (John 10:28-29); he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion (Phil 1:6); we are being guarded through faith (1 Pet 1:5). Notice that God guards us through faith: perseverance is not once saved, live as you like. The warning passages (Heb 6:4-8; 10:26-31) are real means God uses to keep his people, and they also describe those who looked like believers but never were (1 John 2:19).

Assurance is the believer's confidence that he is in a state of grace. Scripture wants Christians to know they have eternal life (1 John 5:13). Assurance rests first on the promises of the gospel, then on the evidence of grace in our lives (1 John 2:3), and on the inner witness of the Spirit (Rom 8:16). A true believer can lack assurance for a time; assurance is the fruit of faith, not the root of it.

Law and gospel, and good works as fruit

The Reformers taught that Scripture speaks two kinds of word. The law tells us what God requires and, for sinners, condemns and drives us to Christ (Rom 3:20; Gal 3:24). The gospel tells us what God has done in Christ and freely gives what the law requires. Confusing them is deadly. If the gospel is turned into law (do this and you will be accepted), grace disappears. If the law is thrown away, holiness disappears.

The Reformed tradition also speaks of a third use of the law: for the believer the moral law, summarised in the Ten Commandments, is no longer a covenant of works that condemns but a guide for grateful living (Rom 13:8-10; Ps 119). Lutherans and Reformed broadly agree on the first two uses; the Reformed emphasise the third more strongly. Lesson 12 develops the place of God's law in the Christian life more fully.

Good works are therefore the fruit of salvation, never its root. By grace you have been saved through faith... not a result of works... For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works (Eph 2:8-10). James 2 does not contradict Paul. James is answering people who claim a dead, workless faith, and he shows that true faith is demonstrated by works before others (James 2:18). Paul asks how a sinner is right with God; James asks how a claim to faith is shown to be real. As the Reformers put it, we are justified by faith alone, but the faith that justifies is never alone.

TULIP explained carefully

The five points of Calvinism come from the Synod of Dort (1618-1619), which answered five objections raised by the followers of Jacobus Arminius in the Remonstrance of 1610. The acronym TULIP is a much later teaching device, and its words can mislead, so each needs careful definition.

Many Reformed teachers prefer clearer labels: radical depravity, sovereign election, definite or particular redemption, effectual grace and preservation of the saints. Whatever the labels, the five points are not the whole of Calvinism. They are five answers to five specific questions, and the system they defend is simply that God saves sinners.

• Total depravity: not that people are as wicked as they could be, but that sin has affected every part of human nature, so that no one can, of himself, turn to God or please him (Rom 3:10-11; 8:7-8; John 6:44).
• Unconditional election: God's choice rests on his own will and mercy, not on foreseen faith (Eph 1:4-5; Rom 9:11-16). Faith is the result of election, not the cause.
• Limited atonement (better: definite atonement): Christ died with the intention of actually saving his people, his sheep, his bride (John 10:11, 15; Eph 5:25). His death is sufficient for all and is offered to all; it was designed to secure the salvation of the elect. Many evangelicals who agree on the other points hold a different view here (see Lesson 6).
• Irresistible grace (better: effectual grace): not that God drags people kicking and screaming, but that the Spirit so renews the heart that the sinner comes willingly (John 6:37; Ps 110:3). People do resist the Spirit (Acts 7:51); they do not finally resist his saving work.
• Perseverance of the saints: all who are truly born again will be kept by God's power and will continue in faith to the end (John 10:28-29; Phil 1:6).

Arminian brothers: where they differ and what unites us

Many evangelical Christians are not Calvinists. Wesleyan Methodists, many Pentecostals and many Baptists, including a large number of Southern Baptists, hold an Arminian or partly Arminian view, and some well-known preachers you may listen to belong here. In its classic form the view says: God elects those he foresees will believe; Christ died to make salvation possible for every person; God gives prevenient grace to all, restoring the ability to accept or resist the gospel; and a true believer can finally fall away. Many non-Calvinist Baptists, however, firmly hold that true believers will persevere: the Baptist Faith and Message (2000) says, 'All true believers endure to the end.'

Be clear about what unites us. Arminian brothers and sisters confess salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone. They affirm the deity of Christ, his substitutionary death and bodily resurrection, the need for the new birth, and the authority of Scripture. They do not deny grace; they understand differently how grace works in the human heart, and their concern for God's love and for real human responsibility is a biblical concern.

The Reformed reply is that Scripture grounds election in God's purpose, not our choice (Rom 9:11-16; Eph 1:4-5), and that grace does not merely make salvation possible but actually saves (John 6:37, 44). This is a serious in-house disagreement among Christians who share the gospel, not a line between believers and unbelievers. Argue it with Scripture, humility and warmth, and never suggest that a brother who differs believes in salvation by works.

Why it matters, and where others depart

These doctrines are meant to produce worship, humility and boldness. If salvation is wholly of grace, no one can boast (1 Cor 1:29-31; Eph 2:9). If God has his elect and calls them through the gospel, evangelism is not hopeless; it is guaranteed to bear fruit (Acts 18:9-10; Rom 10:14-17). If justification rests on Christ's righteousness, a struggling believer can have peace with God today (Rom 5:1). If God keeps his people, assurance is possible, and fear gives way to love. And if sanctification is real, grace never becomes an excuse for sin (Rom 6:1-2; Titus 2:11-14).

Here is where the other groups in the course depart, briefly. Roman Catholicism teaches that justification includes inner renewal, is first received in baptism, can be lost through mortal sin and increased by good works (Council of Trent, session 6; CCC 1987-1995, 2010); see the Roman Catholicism module. Latter-day Saints teach that grace saves after all we can do (2 Nephi 25:23) and tie exaltation to ordinances and obedience; see the Latter-day Saints module. Jehovah's Witnesses teach that faith must be joined to faithful service in the organisation and that only the 144,000 are born again; see the Jehovah's Witnesses module. Islam has no atonement or imputed righteousness: deeds are weighed (Quran 7:8-9) and forgiveness rests on God's will; see the Islam module. Hebrew Israelite groups typically make law-keeping and ethnic identity central to salvation; see the Hebrew Israelites module. Secular thought sees no need for salvation from God at all, only self-improvement; see the Secular Society module. In every case the fault line is the same: is salvation God's gift in Christ, received by faith alone, or a human achievement that God assists?

Key texts

• Romans 8:29-30: The golden chain: God is the subject of every link, and the same people run from foreknowledge to glory. Use it to show both the order of salvation and its certainty.
• Ephesians 1:3-14: Election in him before the foundation of the world, adoption, redemption and the sealing of the Spirit, all to the praise of his glorious grace. Shows the Trinitarian shape of salvation.
• John 6:37-44: All the Father gives come; no one can come unless drawn; the drawn are raised up on the last day. The single best text on effectual grace and perseverance together.
• Ephesians 2:1-10: Dead in sin, made alive by God, saved by grace through faith, created for good works. The whole doctrine in ten verses: depravity, regeneration, faith, and works as fruit.
• Romans 3:21-28; 4:1-8: Righteousness from God apart from the law, received through faith; Abraham credited with righteousness; God justifies the ungodly. The foundation of sola fide and imputation.
• 2 Corinthians 5:21: The great exchange in one sentence: our sin reckoned to Christ, his righteousness reckoned to us.
• Philippians 2:12-13: Work out your salvation, for God works in you to will and to work. Shows that sanctification is both God's work and ours, without competition.
• John 10:27-30: Christ's sheep hear his voice, receive eternal life and will never perish; no one can snatch them from the Son's or the Father's hand. The ground of perseverance and assurance.
• James 2:14-26: Faith without works is dead. Use it to show that true faith is always fruitful, while distinguishing James's question (showing faith) from Paul's (the ground of acceptance).

Objections and answers

Try answering each one yourself before you open the response.

Written task

A new Christian in your youth group asks: What actually happened to me when I got saved? Write a 300-400 word explanation in your own words that walks through the order of salvation (at least: election, calling, regeneration, faith and repentance, justification, adoption, sanctification, perseverance), showing how each step is a gift of grace. Give at least one Scripture reference for each step, explain the great exchange clearly, and end with what difference this should make to how they live and how sure they can be.

Hand this in to Mr Scott. He will look for:

• Covers at least eight links in the order of salvation in a sensible logical order, each supported by an apt Scripture reference
• Defines justification as a legal declaration grounded in Christ's imputed righteousness, with faith as instrument, and keeps it distinct from sanctification
• Explains the great exchange accurately (2 Cor 5:21 or equivalent)
• Shows that good works and holiness are the fruit, not the root, of salvation
• Written warmly and plainly for a new believer, with a pastoral word about assurance

Further reading

• Redemption Accomplished and Applied by John Murray: The classic short treatment of the atonement and each step of the order of salvation; essential for this lesson.
• Chosen by God by R. C. Sproul: A clear, readable defence of predestination and the doctrines of grace that also deals fairly with common objections.
• The Whole Christ by Sinclair B. Ferguson: Explores law, gospel, legalism, antinomianism and assurance through the Marrow Controversy; deep and pastoral.