The verb “to save” and noun “salvation” are used in the Bible in the past, present and future tense. For example, Ephesians 2:8 says I have been saved. 1 Corinthians 1:18 says “are being saved”. Acts 15:11 says we “will be saved”. These three facets of salvation are justification – past; sanctification – present; glorification – future.

The most famous text regarding salvation is of course John 3:16. The word believe here indicates an action that began in the past and continues through the present time into the future. Young’s Literal Translation puts it this way, “ … that every one who is believing in him may not perish, …” “By believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.” is how Eugene Peterson phrases it in the Message. Both of these versions render the Greek verb for believe with a present participle in English, indicating an ongoing action.

John 3:14 indicates what kind of believing Jesus had in mind. It is the kind of trust, or faith, that was required of the Israelites during the plague of serpents. See Numbers 21:8. These passages show that there was a plague of venomous snakes that were biting the Israelites. Moses made a bronze serpent and lifted it up in the middle of the camp. Everyone who fixed their eyes on that bronze serpent and continued to look at it, lived. F.F. Bosworth refers to this passage a number of times in his classic book “Christ the Healer”.

My mentor, the late Kenneth E. Hagin, used to refer often to this note on Romans 1:16 from the Scofield reference Bible:

The Heb. and Gr. words for salvation imply the ideas of deliverance, safety, preservation, healing, and soundness. Salvation is the great inclusive word of the Gospel, gathering into itself all the redemptive acts and processes: as justification, redemption, grace, propitiation, imputation, forgiveness, sanctification, and glorification. Salvation is in three tenses: (1) The believer has been saved from the guilt and penalty of sin (Lk. 7:50; 1 Cor. 1:18; 2 Cor. 2:15; Eph. 2:5, 8; 2 Tim. 1:9) and is safe. (2) The believer is being saved from the habit and dominion of sin (Rom. 6:14; Phil. 1:19; 2:12, 13; 2 Thes. 2:13; Rom. 8:2; Gal. 2:19, 20; 2 Cor. 3:18). (3) The believer is to be saved in the sense of entire conformity to Christ (Rom. 13:11; Heb. 10:36; 1 Pet. 1:5; 1 John 3:2). Salvation is by grace through faith, is a free gift, and wholly without works (Rom. 3:27, 28; 4:1-8; 6:23; Eph. 2:8). The divine order is: first salvation, then works (Eph. 2:9, 10; Tit. 3:5-8).

I have trusted, am trusting and will trust Christ to save me. He has saved, is saving and will save me. Thank God!

John 6:27-29

Observation

Do not waste your efforts by spending them on too small a goal – food that perishes. Work for food that endures to eternal life. Jesus is the only one who gives this food. He gives this food to those who believe. The work God requires of us is to believe in Jesus.

Application

There is a progression in these verses that I need to follow. First, I must stop working for earthly, temporary satisfaction. Next, I believe Jesus and the Truth He reveals through His Word. This takes effort – effort to discover and discern the truth and effort to cling to it during the trials life brings. The effort is worthwhile though as Jesus promises eternal life as my reward.

Prayer

Lord God, help me see areas where I have been working for food that perishes and forgive me for that wasted effort. I choose to put forth the effort to believe You, no matter what challenges I face. Thank you for giving me spiritual food that truly satisfies and endures to everlasting life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

How can anyone claim to have the truth? Can anyone really prove the existence of God? Isn’t it naive to believe in miracles? Doesn’t evolution prove that the Bible’s creation story is false? If God is so powerful and good, why is there so much suffering in the world? These are crucial questions that many Christians wrestle with. They are also the type of questions asked by skeptics of the faith. Why I Am a Christian offers compelling answers that will free Christians from doubt and clear away obstacles to faith for unbelievers. Beginning with the topics of moral relativism and knowable truth, the book progresses to questions about belief in God, the reliability of the Bible, and the identity of Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God. It concludes with three chapters on what it means to make a commitment to follow Christ. Some of today’s leading Christian thinkers offer clear and convincing arguments in Why I Am a Christian. Norman L. Geisler Hugh Ross J. P. Moreland Paul K. Hoffman Walter Bradley Ravi Zacharias Francis Beckwith Winfried Corduan Josh McDowell William Lane Craig Barry R. Leventhal Peter Kreeft R. Douglas Geivett Gary R. Habermas John S. Feinberg

Ex-newspaperman Strobel’s Christian apologetics read like feature interviews in the religion pages rather than a theological treatise. To knock down what he calls "the Big Eight" roadblocks to faith, he questions experts about them rather than logically bulldozing his way to solutions. He grills Catholic lay philosopher Peter Kreeft about the problem of evil, Indian-born evangelist Ravi Zacharias about Christian exclusivism, historian John Woodbridge about oppression in the name of Christ, and other authorities about the truth of miracles, God’s callousness in the Hebrew Bible, the justice of Hell, the challenge of evolution, and the struggle with persistent doubt. Each conversation is pointed and engaging, so much so that Strobel’s occasional melodramatic note (did he really speak "in a voice laden with sarcasm" to any of these, his fellow believers?) seems ridiculous. Kreeft and Woodbridge are Strobel’s least doctrinaire interlocutors. The others, staunch evangelicals all, may interest fewer readers, though Zacharias on the exclusivisms of the other major religions touches on matters Americans too rarely hear discussed. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved ]]> http://mattbennett.ca/the-case-for-faith/feed/ 0