Salvation Not by Chance

W. T. Conner wrote, "Our salvation is not a matter of chance nor accident. We are saved because God meant for us to be saved. He saves us and he does so on purpose. He works through the unceasing ages to carry out his purpose."

I have heard people ask, Does everyone have a chance to be saved? Understand that no one is saved by chance. Dr. Conner made what is taught in Scripture very clear. God saves no one by chance nor accident. God foreknows his people in Christ. He saves us on purpose, even his eternal purpose in Christ (Romans 8:28-30). God's providence works in all things to accomplish his purpose (Romans 11:36; Ephesians 1:11).

God shuts no one out. His salvation is offered freely in the gospel to all people everywhere (Mark 16:15). He commands all people everywhere to repent and believe in Christ (Acts 16:30-31; 17:30). However, God who knows all things, the end from the beginning, foreknows his people in Christ. Not one of them is saved by chance nor accident.

God foreknows his people in a loving covenant relationship. God foreknows his people, and we shall all know him (Hebrews 8:10-11). We know God through our great Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, in the everlasting covenant (Hebrews 13:20-21). In the day of judgement, the Lord says to all who are lost, "I never knew you" (Matthew 7:23).

Be Justified In Christ

Justification is a legal term. In court, one accused of a crime is either condemned or justified. Based upon the merits of Christ, God justifies sinners. The sinless life and substitutionary death of Jesus at the cross for believers is the basis for our justification from all sin (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Be justified by faith alone in Christ alone. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1). Faith is trust and confidence, relying upon Christ alone. By faith in Christ, you are justified with God.

Be justified by grace through faith in Christ. Faith receives the grace of God in Christ. Faith is the evidence that we are justified before God. It is our assurance of faith. Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed (Romans 4:16).

Be justified by faith in Christ unto righteousness. The only way a sinner can become righteous before God is by faith alone. Righteousness is the gift of God to you in Christ alone. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness (Romans 4:5). Self-righteousness can never be good enough to justify you. Be justified by faith in the perfect obedience and righteousness of Christ alone. He is every believer's justification.

The Lamb of God

Four times in Revelation 21:22-22:5 we see God the Father and the Son mentioned together. The Son of God is referred to as the Lamb of God. In New Jerusalem, believers from all the ages of history see the Father and Son enthroned together. It is an answer to the prayer of Jesus our Lord in John 17:24. "Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved me before the foundation of the world."

The Lamb is the light of New Jerusalem. "The city had no need of the sun or the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is the light" (Rev. 21:23). There is no night there in God's one eternal day. In the New Jerusalem, "its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there)." (Rev. 21:25).

Who will live forever in New Jerusalem? The Bible clearly states, "only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life" (Rev. 21:27). They are the redeemed of the Lord by the blood of the Lamb. Jesus our Lord is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of every believer (Rev. 12:10-11).

In that eternal day, "there shall be no more curse, but the throne of  God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him" (Rev. 22:3). The curse of sin is forever removed, by the Lamb of God. He was slain at the cross and redeemed us to God by His blood, out of every nation (Rev. 5:9).

Rapture of the Church

John MacArthur saw a difference between the rapture of the church and the second coming of Christ. He wrote, "The second coming must be distinguished from the rapture of the church prior to the seven year tribulation. At the rapture Christ comes for His saints. At the second coming He comes with them. At the rapture Christ meets His saints in the air to take them to heaven. At the second coming  He descends with them to the earth."

MacArthur further identified a major difference between the rapture and the second coming. He wrote, "There is not a hint of judgment in passages describing the rapture (John 14:1-3; 1 Thess. 4:13-18), but judgment plays a prominent role in the second coming (Rev. 19:11, 15, 17-21).

John MacArthur observed even more obvious differences between the rapture and the second coming of Christ. He states, "The dramatic signs accompanying the second coming such as the darkening of the sun and the moon and the disruptions of the 'powers of the heavens' (Matthew 24:29-30) are not mentioned in the passages describing the rapture."

MacArthur noticed that Revelation 19, which describes the second coming of Christ, "does not mention either a rapture of living believers (1 Cor. 15:51-52), or a resurrection of dead believers (1 Thess. 4:16)." In all these observations, he points out the differences between the rapture of the church before the tribulation and the second coming of Christ after the tribulation.

Be Saved In Christ

Be saved by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. God's salvation is simple, plain, and clear. Believe and confess your faith in God the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9).

God gives us the assurance of our salvation (2 Peter 1:10). In the Bible it is made sure and clear. The Holy Spirit will give you the assurance of salvation, as you confess, Jesus is Lord. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God (Romans 8:16). Confess your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

You can only believe in your heart when the Holy Spirit does something within you. No one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3). The Holy Spirit leads you to believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is Lord, which means Jesus is risen from the dead.

With your mouth, confess what is in your heart. The word confess means to speak the same thing. You speak the same thing that is in God's word, that which the Holy Spirit has worked in your heart. Your confession that Jesus is Lord agrees with the Spirit of God and the word of God. Confess your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Be saved by faith in Christ.

Hell Is a Choice

Millard Erickson wrote, "We should also observe that God does not send anyone to hell. He desires that none should perish (2 Peter 3:9). It is the choice of humans to experience the agony of hell. Their sin sends them there, and their rejection of the benefits of Christ's death prevents their escaping." 

If anyone takes the Bible seriously, as well as the teaching of Jesus, the agony of hell cannot be ignored nor denied. The same Bible that teaches about heaven likewise warns of hell. The same Savior who taught the love of God likewise taught about the wrath of God (John 3:16, 36).

God's love for sinners is found in Christ at the cross. God proves His love for sinners through the death of His Son (Romans 5:8). Millard Erickson said, "Rejection of the benefits of Christ's death prevents their escaping." God's love provides the escape from the judgment of our sins. Erickson concludes, "It is the choice of humans to experience the agony of hell."

"Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture" (1 Corinthians 15:3). God's love invites everyone to trust the full atonement of Christ to take away all of our sins (John 3:16). Through the cross of Jesus, God is both just and the justifier of all who believe. However, the agony of hell is a choice for those who reject Christ. 

What God Foreordained

What God foreordained works in the details of life. God's eternal purpose was foreordained before time began. What God foreordained works in time and history. What God foreordained in your life does not exclude personal choices and actions. What  God foreordained in your life works concurrently with your choices and actions.

What God foreordained was before time began (Romans 8:28-30; Ephesians 1:4-6; 2:10). All that God has foreordained works concurrently with your choices (Philippians 2:12-13). What God foreordained works together for good to those who love Him and for His glory. Those good things are experienced in the lives of God's people.

What God foreordained in life does not take away your choice. God allows us to make choices, even bad choices. He neither condones nor approves sin. Yet, God works to bring good out of evil and glory to God's justice, love, and mercy. Be assured as a believer that God is at work in all the details of our lives. What God foreordained is for your good and God's glory (Genesis 50:20-21; Romans 11:36).

God's work is foreordained in our Lord Jesus Christ. His death on the cross for every believer's sin was determined before time began (1 Peter 1:20; Revelation 13:8). The determinate counsel of God was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, as the Savior for all who believe (Acts 2:23). God foreknows His people in Christ, yet the gospel is offered freely to all (Romans 8:29; 10:13).