Is the Salvation experience of Paul typical?

Unless you are a new convert (welcome) or have been living in a cave with only a paraphrase version (if that is indeed a version) you will no doubt be familiar with the conversion of Paul.  It’s a classic sovereign election work of art.  But is Paul's experience the pattern for biblical conversions?  And if so what elements are typical or not typical?  And from the outset I know that most of you belong to the choir but sometimes I just can’t resist.

Having stated prior that “It’s a classic sovereign election work of art” may just have tipped my position but Paul’s conversion experience is not only typical but exactly the same for all believers who come to Christ.  The Scriptures declare very clearly that as unbelievers we all seek our on way, “They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one (Ps 14:3).  They further very clearly state that no one is seeking after God and rightly so for all, in their natural state, are dead spiritually (Eph 2:1-5). 

We must note that Paul in outward appearance had a zeal for God; however his zeal was not for God but for the Law.  Paul’s zeal left him blameless “as to the righteousness which is in the Law” (Phil 3:6) yet left him unrighteous before God (Rom 3:20, 28; Gal 2:16; 3:2-10).  It was God who sought Paul since he was on his way to persecute the Church.  It was God who gave him light to see since he was blinded by hatred (but well let it slide as he states “zeal”).  It was God who gave him life and justified Paul imputing His righteous upon him.

Now what is atypical is his visitation by Christ in direct challenge to his persecution of Christ (His Church).  We today do not experience such as it is the foolishness of preaching which draws men to God (10:13-15).  Nor do unbelievers suffer miraculous blindness as a result of salvation.

Now for a very clear picture of the salvic process we only need look a Lazarus.  He was dead not seeking God for indeed he could not; it was outside his ability being dead.  But God who is rich in mercy called him by name “Lazarus come forth,” …Lazarus came.  God commanded the bonds of the grave to be removed “unbind him and let him go” and he was loosed  At the command to “remove the stone” Martha rightly states in essence “Lord he stinks” and such is the condition of the unbeliever, they are dead and stinking for that is all a dead man can do…stink.  “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:4-7).

 

My friend it is all of God or it is none of God on this the Scriptures are clear.

So that by Sola Gratia through Sola Fide in Solus Christus from Sola Scriptura to Soli Deo Gloria are any redeemed.

SDG

Terminology Thursdays - Being Saved

I was made aware of the ignorance of some to terminology that is basic to the Christian faith.  Ignorance here is not necessarily a bad thing it simply means unaware in the sense of not being exposed to something.  So I thought that for the next several Thursdays I would attempt to define some basic terms, yep its Terminology Thursdays. 

Being Saved –

Call it salvation, being born again, moving from death to life, or coming out of darkness into light, etc. each term means basically the same thing … you are … well … no longer lost (how’s that).  But the term “to be saved” implies that you were/are in danger and without getting into the specifics of the “danger” that is exactly the picture that is intended to be painted.

I will on occasion (only as I am flipping channels) catch the show The Deadliest Catch

and remember seeing a guy on the side of the boat adjusting the pots when a wave swept him overboard.  Needless to say he was in danger; but as it would happen another boat was close by and seeing him being swept overboard came to his rescue and, you guessed it, SAVED him.  And this is exactly the picture the Bible paints of everyone, at some point they are in deadly peril and in need of someone to save them.  And this is the offer of Jesus Christ “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.  If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land” (Isa 1:18-19).

So this is what is meant in the use of “saved”

Salvation from the Presence of Sin

Here is your weekly dose from the dearly departed... A.W. Pink from his work A Fourfold Salvation. Continuing from last week we now look at the final segment part 4 Salvation from the Presence of Sin

We now turn to that aspect of our subject which has to do solely with the future. Sin is yet to be completely eradicated from the believer’s being, so that he shall appear before God without any spot or blemish. True, this is his legal status even now, yet it has not become so in his state or experience. As God views the believer in Christ, he appears before Him in all the excellency of his Sponsor; but as God views him as he yet is in himself (and that he does do so is proved by His chastenings), he beholds all the ruin which the Fall has wrought in him. But this will not always be the case: no, blessed be His name, the Lord is reserving the best wine for the last. And even now we have tasted that He is gracious, but the fullness of His grace will only be entered into and enjoyed by us after this world is left behind.

Those Scriptures which present our salvation as a future prospect are all concerned with our final deliverance from the very inbeing of sin. To this Paul referred when he said, "Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed" (Rom. 13:11)—not our salvation from the pleasure, the penalty, or the power of sin, but from its very presence. "For our citizenship is in heaven: from whence we also look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Phil. 3:20). Yes, it is the "Saviour" we await, for it is at His return that the whole election of grace shall enter into their full salvation; as it is written, "Unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation" (Heb. 9:28). In like manner, when another apostle declares, "We are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed at the last time" (1 Pet. 1:5), he had reference to this grand consummation of the believer’s salvation, when he shall be forever rid of the very presence of sin.

Salvation from the Power of Sin

Here is your weekly dose from the dearly departed... A.W. Pink from his work A Fourfold Salvation we last looked at part 2 Salvation from the Penalty of Sin we now look at part 3 Salvation from the Power of Sin

This is a present and protracted process, and is as yet incomplete. It is the most difficult part of our subject, and upon it the greatest confusion of thought prevails, especially among young Christians. Many there are who, having learned that the Lord Jesus is the Saviour of sinners, have jumped to the erroneous conclusion that if they but exercise faith in Him, surrender to His Lordship, commit their souls into His keeping, He will remove their corrupt nature and destroy their evil propensities. But after they have really trusted in Him, they discover that evil is still present with them, that their hearts are still deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, and that no matter how they strive to resist temptation, pray for overcoming grace, and use the means of God’s appointing, they seem to grow worse and worse instead of better, until they seriously doubt if they are saved at all. They are not being saved.

Even when a person has been regenerated and justified, the flesh or corrupt nature remains within him, and ceaselessly harasses him. Yet this ought not to perplex hint To the saints at Rome Paul said, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body" (6:12), which would be entirely meaningless had sin been eradicated from them. Writing to the Corinthian saints he said, "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2 Cor. 7:1): obviously such an exhortation is needless if sin has been purged from our beings. "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time" (1 Pet. 5:6): what need have Christians for such a word as this, except pride lurks and works within them. But all room for controversy on this point is excluded if we bow to that inspired declaration, "If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8).