Books

Focus On The Fundamentals Of The Faith

By W. Douglass Harris

The Gospel Plan of Salvation

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

In this text the gospel plan of salvation is stated in miniature, which may make it the greatest text in all the Bible. In it three great personalities are suggested: (1) God, the designer, (2) Christ, the executor, and (3) man, the beneficiary of the divine plan of salvation. There are other things suggested and implied in the text which the denominational world does not grasp.

1. One plan of salvation is implied: Christ is revealed in the text as the only Redeemer, the Way, thus the one Redeemer has only one plan, which includes the one church (Cf. John 14:6). Some say that this limits God, but such is not true for several reasons: (a) We have no desire to limit God; (b) We could not limit God if we so desired; and (c) The truth is, God limits man. For example, God limited Noah and his contemporaries to one ark to escape the destruction of the flood. Was Noah narrow-minded? God limited Naaman to one river to be healed of his leprosy (2 Kings 5). God limits us now to one church for salvation. Christ promised to build only one church — His church, singular number and possessive case (Matthew 16:18). We are limited to one God, one Christ, and one Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:4,6). This is conceded by all Bible believers, but in the same context we are limited to one body (church). In fact, the mercy of God is demonstrated in His designing only one way. Suppose God had designed 200 ways, what would have been the result? Confusion would have reigned supreme.

2. Text also suggest the nature of God’s commands: They have been revealed and arranged so that man can understand them, obey them, receive the blessing promised, and know that his salvation was not by his own meritorious work. Good examples would be those of Noah (Cf. Genesis 6:8; Hebrews 11:7) and Naaman. The same is true of the command of baptism (Mark 16:16). Stated in a mathematical equation its says that faith plus baptism equals salvation. It is not a matter of interpretation, but a question of simply accepting what it says. All the rationalizing that can be done does not change what it says.

3. The text suggests the danger of over-emphasizing one factor in the plan of salvation. To teach salvation by God’s grace alone is to ignore the work of Christ, the Holy Spirit, and man in salvation. God gave His Son, which provides us grace (John 1:17). Christ gave His life, which provides us with atonement (2 Corinthians 5:19; Romans 5:10). The Holy Spirit revealed and confirmed the word, which provides us with revelation of the plan (Ephesians 3:1-7; 1 Corinthians 2:9-14). Man renders obedience to the stipulated conditions which appropriates salvation. “For by grace (God’s part) have ye been saved through faith (man’s part) and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). The gift is a conditional gift, as the following shows conclusively.

Man renders obedience to the conditions stipulated, which brings salvation (Acts 2:40; Hebrews 5:8,9; Matthew 7:21; Luke 6:45). It is the obedient believer in John 3:16 that is contemplated . In the last verse of the same chapter it is said, “He that obeyeth not, shall not see life” (V. 35 ASV). There is something that man must do to be saved (Acts 2:37; Acts 22:10; Acts 9:6; Acts 16:30).

Baptism is no more a meritorious work than faith or repentance, as they are all acts of man in responding to God’s grace. It is said of Apollos that “he helped them much who believed through grace” (Acts 18:27). We not only believe through grace, but we also repent and are baptized for remission of sins through grace (Acts 2:38). Anything done by faith is a matter of grace (Romans 4:16). Repenting is faith’s turning; baptism is faith’s submitting. Baptism, preceded by genuine faith and repentance are appropriative works, not meritorious works by which we earn salvation. Unless we learn to make this distinction, we will never understand what the Bible teaches on works.

Note: The late John D. Cox was the first that was heard by this writer to use this approach, and I have never heard anything better.