Lesson 21
Doctrines of Salvation
The sinner occupies a sevenfold position before God. He is a debtor, a condemned criminal, an
enemy, a slave, defiled and unholy, dead, and a poor stranger.
Man in his sevenfold position as sinner needs the sevenfold salvation God has provided through
His Son. As debtors, sinners need forgiveness. As condemned criminals, they need
justification. As enemies of God, they need reconciliation. As slaves to sin, they need
redemption. As defiled and unholy, they need sanctification. As dead, they need newness of
life. As poor strangers, they need adoption. The seven doctrines of salvation are forgiveness,
justification, reconciliation, redemption, sanctification, newness of life, and adoption.
The seven elements or doctrines of salvation are divine works; they designate the divine side of
salvation. The human side of salvation, as we have seen, is conversion, which includes
repentance, faith, and baptism. The seven doctrines of salvation are works which God performs
when the sinner properly enters into Christ. When the sinner accepts God's gift of salvation
through repentance, faith, and baptism, God lifts him out of the world, places him in Christ,
and bestows upon him spiritual riches indicated by the seven doctrines of salvation.
I. Forgiveness
An outstanding blessing included in God's gift of salvation is the forgiveness of sins. The
forgiven sinner's past life, regardless of what might have been included, exists no more.
Bridges are burned behind him; gates of yesterdays are closed. He is dead to the past. His
life history previous to conversion is considered non-existent. He is treated as if the day he
became a Christian were the first day of his life.
Through divine forgiveness, man's sins have been washed away (Acts 22:16) ; he has become as
"white as snow" (Isa. 1:18; Psa. 51:7). His sins have been removed from him " as far as the
east is from the west" (Psa. 103:12). His iniquities have been subdued, and his sins have been
cast into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:19.) They have been "blotted out" (lsa. 44:22),
"sought for . . . and not found" (Jer. 50:20), cast behind God's back (Isa. 38:17), and
remembered no more (Jer. 31:34).
II. Justification
The scene is the supreme court of the universe. The sinner, on his own merit, stands before
his holy Judge as a condemned criminal, guilty of sin and worthy of destruction. God's holy
nature requires Him to condemn and to punish the sinner.
As an act of grace, however, God has ordered a stay in the execution of sin's penalty, eternal
death. Sinners, therefore, do not fall dead the moment they sin today. The execution of sin's
penalty has been postponed until the second death so that sinners can have opportunity to accept
God's plan of salvation. Apart from God's grace, the total human race would have been
destroyed. Through infinite love, God provided that His sinless and perfect Son, Jesus Christ,
would become the sinner's Substitute. As the sinner's Substitute, Christ perfectly satisfied
all the requirements of the law. He obeyed the law's precepts and suffered the law's penalty.
This He did, not for Himself, but for sinners. "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who
knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Cor. 5:21). The
believer's sin is imputed to Christ, and Christ's righteousness is imputed to the believer.
When repentant believers receive Jesus as their Substitute, they become vitally united to Him.
They enter into Christ, and Christ enters into them. The saving work that Christ performed for
them is then actually applied to them. In consequence of this vital relationship with Christ,
God can justly treat the sinner as if he himself had done those things which his Substitute did
for him. The sinner is treated as if he himself had obeyed the law's precepts, and as if he
himself had suffered the law's penalty.
In view of the sinner's relation to his Substitute, God imputes Christ's righteousness to the
sinner. On the basis of this imputed righteousness, which the sinner receives through faith,
God as Judge declares that the sinner is righteous in relation to the law. He is justified;
he is without condemnation.
III. Reconciliation
Sinners are enemies of God. They live in opposition to God's government. Man, in sin, asserts
self in active hostility and antagonism to the Ruler of the universe. Self and God move in
opposite directions. There can be no fellowship between man and God as long as man is
determined to live contrary to Him. " Men are at war among themselves, and man is at war
within himself because there is no peace with God. " Enemies of God need reconciliation.
"When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son" (Rom. 5:10).
"Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God" (Rom. 8:7, 8).
"And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath
he reconciled" (Col. 1:21).
Christ's sacrifice provided the basis of reconciliation of God, the King of the universe, and
His enemies. God is propitiated; sinners are reconciled. Sinners have peace with God through
the Lord Jesus Christ. No longer are they God's enemies; they are His friends.
IV. Redemption
Redemption is liberation of a slave from bondage by payment of a price. The word "redeem" is
translated from three Greek words: agorazo, to acquire at the forum (Rev. 5:9; 14:3, 4),
exagorazo, to acquire out of the forum (Gal. 3:13; 4:5), and lutroo, to loose by
a price (Luke 24:21; Titus 2:14; 1 Pet. 1:18). God, the Redeemer, performs His work of
redemption through Jesus, the Redeemer. The scene is the agora, the market place. Slaves of
sin are in bondage, "sold under sin" (Rom. 7:14). God, the Redeemer, purchases slaves of sin
in the market place with the precious blood of His Son, who voluntarily gave His life as a
ransom price for sinners. Having paid the purchase price, the Redeemer removes the redeemed
from the market place so that they will never again be exposed to sale. The Redeemer, then,
sets the prisoners free; they are given perfect freedom. Out of appreciation and love for the
Redeemer, the redeemed give themselves to Him as His servants. (1 Pet. 2:16.)
In forgiveness, God is Creditor; in justification, He is Judge; in reconciliation, He is King;
in redemption, He is Redeemer. The debtor is in the banking house with indebtedness. The
criminal is in the law court with condemnation. The enemy is in the king's palace with enmity.
The slave is in the market place under bondage. The debtor receives forgiveness; the criminal,
righteousness; the enemy, peace; the slave, freedom.
V. Sanctification
Sinners need sanctification. They are unholy, desecrated, polluted, and profane.
(1 Tim. 1:9; 2 Tim. 3:2.) In that condition, they cannot abide in God's holy presence nor
be used in His sacred service. Like old silverware in a rubbish heap, they were made for the
Master's use, but, in their present condition, they are not suited for that purpose. They
need to be separated from sin, dedicated to God, and consecrated for service.
Sanctification originates in God's grace; it is based upon Christ's sacrifice
(Heb. 10:10, 14, 29; 13:12); it is conditional upon man's faith (Acts 26:18). God performs
this work of sanctification through His Son, Jesus Christ. "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption"
(1 Cor. 1:30). Christ is the sinner's sanctification. In other words, Christ's holiness is
imputed to the believer at conversion. Through his vital relationship with Christ, the
believer is holy before God. When a person enters into Christ, he stands on holy ground.
He is separated from the world and is dedicated unto God. He has been sanctified; he is a
saint.
VI. Newness of Life
Sinners are dead in sin. They are "dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:1, 5), "without God
in the world" (Eph. 2:12), and "alienated from the life of God" (Eph. 4:18). They are dead to
the spiritual realm of life. There is no redemptive contact between the sinner and God.
Blind men are dead to the realm of sight; deaf men are dead to the world of sound; paralyzed
men are dead to the realm of touch; sinners are dead to the things of God. The windows of
the heart are closed heavenward. Sinners have horizontal existence, but no vertical life.
For them, life is without a third dimension.
When sinners enter into Christ, they become new creatures. When Christ enters into them, they
receive newness of life. Having established a union with Christ, believers receive a special
quality of life from Him. They are on a new level of existence. Life for them acquires a new
dimension; to the horizontal is added the vertical. They sustain relationships not only with
men, but also with God. Life is not merely extended to the around; it is lifted to the
above. Windows of heart and mind are flung open Godward, and through them enters the
sunshine of God's life, light, and love.
VII. Adoption
Adoption is that act of God in salvation wherein He, as Father, places His begotten child in
the position of an adult son with all the privileges of legal inheritance. He who is adopted
is an heir. Newness of life and adoption are linked together. Newness of life gives the
nature of sonship; adoption gives the position of sonship.
As begotten children and adopted sons, believers are heirs of God. "He that overcometh shall
inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son" (Rev. 21:7). "The Spirit
itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then
heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ" (Rom. 8:16, 17).
(Adapted from Systematic Theology, by Alva Huffer, published by Church of God General
Conference, Oregon, Illinois 61061, U.S.A.)
© Church of God General Conference. This lesson may be reproduced
without change for non-commercial purposes without prior permission.