Page 6 - April 2023 - Truth & Tidings

s we conclude this short series on to which our Lord Jesus would go (Joh
the wonderful works of God, we 10:11), “who for the joy that was set be-
Amust not do so without address- fore him endured the cross” (Heb 12:2).
1
ing the subject of salvation. Approaching The lost coin unquestionably represents
the Scriptures, we find there are multiple the helpless condition in which sinners
words in the original languages describ- find themselves, never seeking after God
ing the salvation that God provides. Tak- (Rom 3:11) and lost utterly without hope
ing a dictionary of Bible words and an except for the gracious illuminating light
interlinear concordance and tracing the of the Holy Spirit. Fittingly, the Father who
use of these words, we find them in many waits, looking for and desiring a response
different settings relating to our spiritual, from the individual, runs at the moment of
physical, emotional, mental and moral repentance, covering any ground the lost
wellbeing in connection with time and son intended to make (no penance there!).
eternity. We learn that the theme of salva- Confession is made (Rom 10:9), and the
tion in the Bible is much more than a fire picture is drawn together with another
escape from hell. That the English words threefold image: the best robe outlining
“salvation/saved/save” have to be defined our standing before God in righteousness
by their context is an important distinction (justification), the ring displaying the new
to make as false teachers distort Scriptures relationship (reconciliation), and the shoes
to suit their evil agenda (2Pe 3:16). A depicting the changed walk (sanctifica-
simple example of this is 1 Timothy 2:15, tion). On these grounds alone the fatted
which has been exploited in an attempt calf is killed and fellowship is enjoyed; the
to teach that eternal salvation is obtained son was dead, and is alive again; he was
by good works. With this in mind, let us lost, and is found. Truly this son could say,
focus on the threefold aspect of salvation, “I have been saved.”
highlighted under these headings: Justifi- Sanctification and the Three Persons of
cation (past), Sanctification (present) and the Godhead
Glorification (future). In each instance, we The NT declares that Christians are
find that the entire Godhead is intimately sanctified in each Person of the Godhead
involved. – the Father (Jud 1), the Holy Spirit (1Pe
Justification and the Three Persons of 1:2) and Christ Jesus (1Co 1:2). That is, we
the Godhead have been not only positionally set apart
Luke 15 contains one of the most as holy for God but also provided for to
delightful parables the Lord ever told. make this a practical reality. The Christian
It’s of great importance to note that it is has three great enemies – the flesh, the
a singular yet three-pronged parable. world and the devil, and the Bible declares
There were many lessons our Lord was that these are impossible to conquer by
communicating to His audience that day, human intellect, willpower or physical
but perhaps the most important was il- strength. Sadly, the professing sphere of
lustrating the entire Godhead at work for Christianity is full of groups and individu-
the justification of the sinner. The shep- als who (even to the extent of excluding
herd going after the lost sheep “until he ¹ Bible quotations in this article are from the
finds it” graphically portrays the lengths KJV.

102 TRUTH kTidings April 2023