The Language of Salvation

The nature of salvation, how it is accomplished, and the roles played in it are hotly debated. Scriptures are scoured and finely examined to try and produce a verdict, some conclusion that we can all agree on and that fully explains everything.

Why does it matter? Well, what you believe about salvation effects what you believe about God and His relationship with man, and your conclusions will (or at least, should) determine your entire worldview and the way you live your life. The implications are enormous.

Ultimately, I am of the opinion that we will never fully understand every aspect of salvation and how it works until we reach heaven. How does God change a black and sinful heart of stone into one of flesh? How does God's sovereignty work together with man's will? We don't know how. We just know that it does, and that it works, because we see and feel the effects.

However, there are some basic truths that we can infer about salvation just by looking at the words, examples, metaphors, and analogies that the Bible uses to describe the salvation process. And, not surprisingly, they favor a Reformed view of Salvation. Take a look:

Adopted: Romans 8:15, 8:23; 9:4; Galatians 4:5; Ephesians 1:5.
Who does the work in the process of adoption? The adopted, or he adopters? We don't adopt God, He adopts us. God is the one who works salvation, and thus He deserves the glory.

Bought/Purchased: Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 6:20, 7:23; Revelation 5:9.
What role does an item play in being purchased? Christ purchased us with His blood. What part did we play in that? None.

Inherited: Acts 20:32, 26:18; Ephesians 1:11, 1:14, 1:18, 5:5, Colossians 1:12, 3:24; Hebrews 9:15; 1 Peter 1:4.
The Kingdom of heaven is referred to as our inheritance. An inheritance is something that is given to you whether you want it or not, and is not something you earn. It is bequeathed to you, typically by your parents. In the same way, our heavenly Father who has adopted us, has prepared an inheritance for us.

Made Alive/Raised: 1 Corinthians 15:22; Ephesians 2:1, 2:5-6; Colossians 2:12-13, 3:1.
What can a dead man do to raise himself up? What choice can he make to be raised up? And can He resist being made alive? No, he can do nothing, for He is dead. Who raises Him up? Who does the work? God, of course. Look at the raising of Lazarus or the raising of Jairus' daughter. Jesus says "Come forth" and "Arise" (respectively) and the corpses, made alive, obey. They don't sit and say "You know, it's my choice, I'll make it when I'm good and ready." They come. A dead man cannot choose to be made alive, a dead man cannot make himself alive or play any active part in doing so, and a dead man cannot resist being made alive. It's the same when God goes to make us spiritually alive in Him.

Born: John 1:13, 3:3-8; 1 Peter 1:23; 1 John 2:29, 3:9, 4:7, 5:1, 5:18.
A baby does not give birth to itself, nor does his birth hinge upon his decision to be born or not. The same is true of our new birth in Christ.

The list goes on. The scripture is bursting with examples like these. The words used in the Bible to describe the salvation process and man's relationship with God constantly affirm the Five Solas and the Five Points of Calvinism: specifically, that salvation is of God, and not of man.

"The only thing of our very own which we contribute to our salvation is the sin which makes it necessary." --William Temple

Using the Bible to Defend Life

John Barros (left) and Scott Klusendorf (right)

My stomach churned. It always does in situations like that. The donuts I'd had for breakfast weren't helping. Even though it was early December, the light of the sun was warm on my shoulders. But such is Florida.

I was with a group of other homeschooled Christian teens -- all close friends of mine -- helping pastor John Barros to convince people not to kill their babies at an abortion clinic in Downtown Orlando. John Barros had been doing this about six days a week for years now. He had experience. Me? This was my first time.

John Barros uses an interesting method. He reads and quotes scripture, a lot. It's very normal for Pastor Barros to take a megaphone, turn to the book of Revelation, and preach judgement upon those inside the clinic (he let my friend Jacob do the reading on that day). And it gets results: people walk out of there, convicted of their sin, too scared of hell to follow through with killing their baby.

To be honest, I felt uneasy about this method. However, I bowed to Pastor Barros' authority and experience, and went along with it. I mean, come on: He'd been doing this six days a week for years, and this was my first time. He knows what he's doing, I don't.

But one thing Pastor Barros said really stood out to me. My friend Jacob and I had just failed to convince a Haitian man to let his baby live. What had we done wrong? John Barros old us this:

"You can't reason with them. You just need to keep giving them scriptures."

Several months later, I was at a homsechool convention in Cincinatti, Ohio. Scott Klusendorf, pro-life advocate and president of Life Training Institute, gave several talks on how to engage people on the topic of abortion and present a water-tight case for life.

His approach was totally different from Pastor Barros'.

Mr. Klusendorf's argument for life does not involve ANY scripture verses. Instead, he relies almost exclusively on science and logic to make his case. You can see for yourself on his website.

Mr. Klusendorf's method, like John Barros' method, also gets results. He speaks at schools, churches, and conventions, and also debates leading "pro-choice" advocates. Many people are convinced by his flawless logic.

These two prominent pro-life heroes use completely different methods to combat the same evil. Who uses the correct method?

This blog hasn't seen any lively discussion in a while (the forums have been silent for almost a year), and so I'd like for people to post their opinions in the comments and let me know what they think.

Which man has the better method? Are they both right? Are they both wrong? Should we use scripture only and not try to reason with people, or should we reason with them using science and logic and leave the Bible out of things? What do you think?

In my opinion, I think both men are right, but I think Scott's method is more sound. Why? Well, the Bible has little to no weight with the unbeliever. They couldn't care less what a 2,000 year old book says about how they should live their lives. Trying to use the Bible to convince them abortion is wrong would be a waste of time.

Should we still use the Bible? Yes. And Scott does use it to present the gospel --as we always should when engaging unbelievers-- he simply doesn't use it when making his case for life.

I'm still forming my own opinion on the matter, but I would like to hear yours. What part does the Bible play in making the case for life?

Warning: Incoming Passion

I just finished attending the great Midwest homeschool convention in Cincinnati, Ohio. After listening to speakers such as Alex McFarland, Scott Klusendorf, and Ben Carson, I can say that I have a burning passion to go out and do whatever I can to advance Christ's kingdom on this earth and stamp out evil wherever it show its face, which, sadly, is everywhere.

I may not be special and I may not have a special education, but I can write and I can speak and I am a special child of God with a special mission, just like every other Christian. I'm going to use that to the best of my ability to serve His purposes.

And so I'm bringing this blog back up. And I am going to be making a few changes. But mainly, I'm just going to start posting regularly again. And I have a lot of cool stuff planned, and be forewarned: I am going to try to involve at least a few of you in it. You'll see how in the coming weeks.

I've been praying lately for God to show me what He wants me to do, and I've been asking Him to use me. I think that He has begun to answer those prayers. I feel like a plan, a purpose, a mission is being written out and put together, piece by piece, in my heart. So I would appreciate your prayers for me in the following weeks.

So get ready. I have an obligation and an ability to serve Christ which I have not been fulfilling to the bet of my ability. That's all about to change.