The Ways of God – The Process of Salvation (Part 3)
Show me Your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
On You I wait all the day. Psalm 25:4-5
God has a way for everything! The God of our salvation will show, teach, and lead us into His ways, as we wait on Him. Not a casual or distracted waiting, but a waiting with anticipation and desire to hear, obey, and respond to the words we receive.
Those who have been following along in this series will recognize the reference here to the hearing of faith, obedience to the faith, and the work of faith. In this final article on the process of salvation, we will explore the work of faith for salvation, suggest a few disciplines, and tie up a couple of loose ends.
Before digging into our main topic, let’s take a look at this matter of waiting on God, for it is one of the most important disciplines in our relationship with Him.
For since the beginning of the world
Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear,
Nor has the eye seen any God besides You,
Who acts for the one who waits for Him. Isaiah 64:4
In context, this verse also relates to our need for God’s salvation from our sinfulness. But what is most important to our exploration here is what this verse says about God and His working relationship with His people. There is something here that differentiates our God from every other god.
Now, what is it about our God that is different? The answer is actually quite incredible and perhaps different than you may have been led to think. Our God is not waiting on us to act. On the contrary, He is waiting on us to wait, so He can act on our behalf. Let that sink in. Here’s another reference from Isaiah:
Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you;
And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
Blessed are all those who wait for Him. Isaiah 30:18
Truly, these two passages from Isaiah, and many more like them found throughout the Bible, turn our ideas about the work of faith on their heads. As we’ve come to learn, the process of salvation is quite the mystery.
Striving and Diligence
In our previous article, we made a rather strong statement regarding the striving of Luke 13:23-24 and the diligence of 2Peter 1:5-11 – that they “mean something critically important.” My apologies. I should have at least provided a link or two for those interested (one of those loose ends). Here you go:
Call to Action: Strive to Enter
Strive to Enter into Community
Please note: Striving to enter the narrow gate and adding to our faith with all diligence are not the works of faith (or parts thereof). They are the inward pursuit of humility, surrender, sacrifice, and submission – in participation with God’s inward will and work (Philippians 2:13) – that characterize our obedience to the faith.
Before we participate with God in the work of faith for our salvation, we must strive to discover and receive the desire of our heart (Psalm 37:4), trust God’s way for it (v. 5), and be transformed by the renewing of our mind for the work (Romans 12:2). Only then will God accomplish and receive the glory for the outward work of faith for salvation (Matthew 5:16).
Just to be clear at this point, the striving and diligence are “waiting on God” activities. They are accomplished in our prayer closets AND in community prayer meetings. The work of faith for salvation is absolutely impossible without a life disciplined in prayer.
The Work of Faith for Salvation
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s prayerfully consider the work of faith for our salvation. As we begin, keep this in mind: Because salvation is a life-long process, we should expect the work of faith for salvation to be the same.
Many references to the work of faith specifically indicate or infer works that occur immediately (e.g., talk to that person) or through a season of life (e.g., start a ministry for workplace leaders). These include Ephesians 2:10, where we learn we are saved to walk in the good works God created for us, and James 2:14-24, that sobering passage tying our salvation to specific acts of love and ministry to others.
Even Jesus’ parable of the sheep and goats, which is clearly about our salvation, focuses on individual works of faith: feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, caring for those in prison, and taking in strangers. These are “first dimension” works of faith, all important for the building of our faith, but they are not the life-long (“second dimension”) workS of faith for salvation.
NOTE FROM THE PEN: Please forgive me if this is confusing. Some mysteries are difficult to explain with my limited vocabulary.
So, where do we go to search out this matter? Three passages warrant our attention.
The Life of a Disciple
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16
Notice that the command here is not, “go do good works”. Jesus commands us to let our light shine before men. Our light is Christ Himself (John 1:4). “We just want people to see more of Jesus” is what this verse is all about. The work of letting the life of Christ shine before men is both continuous and expanding.
2Corinthians 3:18 speaks to this ongoing transformation.
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
We will search out the transformation process in a future article. For now, it’s important to recognize that our Father in heaven will be glorified in ever increasing measure as we walk in this particular work of faith for salvation. Now get this: The Father is glorified because He is doing the good works.
Christians are simply vessels, instruments, and weapons of God. All good works are God’s work. Our blessing comes as we learn to be available when required. We do not remove ourselves from the toolbox or weapon cabinet; nor do we attempt to work in our own power.
We do not take a break – for a season or a moment – for fear of missing out on a glorifying work. That’s not how vessels, instruments, and weapons think. They simply wait on God to use them. Waiting on the LORD is a discipline we must develop and exercise. For “active” Americans, waiting is hard – which leads us to our second passage.
The Death of a Disciple
When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.” Mark 8:34-35
The process of salvation is a life-long, continuous death march. That’s not something we hear much these days, but a truth Jesus made perfectly clear. In fact, the four gospels record Him addressing this matter of losing and saving our lives six times. He knew we needed the constant reminder.
Some (or many) have made the mistake of relating this passage (and those like it) to the beginning event of our salvation (i.e., justification). Luke’s account addresses this potential misunderstanding.
Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23
Jesus commanded us to deny ourself and take up our cross daily. Our initial crucifixion with Christ must be followed by continuous and progressive death to self.
The disciplines associated with this work of faith for salvation include solitude, silence, fasting, frugality, chastity, and sacrifice (from Dallas Willard’s The Spirit of the Disciplines; HarperOne). Warning: These works become ineffectual – even sinful (Romans 14:23) – when done in our own will and power. All good work is God’s work. He promises to lead us by His Holy Spirit.
The Work of a Disciple
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
Without proper instruction, Christians tend to make two mistakes when applying the Great Commission to their lives. First, they assume the commission is for a certain class of Christian: the more mature and/or salaried professional. This kind of thinking is a deception of our carnal mind… and often an excuse.
The Lord Jesus Christ, with all authority, commissioned all of His followers to make disciples. As Paul stated:
I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 1Corinthians 3:6-8
Again, we are merely instruments, and God uses every instrument to advance His kingdom.
The second mistake many Christians make when applying the Great Commission to their lives is applying an event mentality to disciple-making. Yes, evangelistic crusades and weekly Bible studies are events God uses to disciple those He loves. However, He also uses kind words and hugs. He even uses the presence of peace to change the atmosphere in a room.
As we shared above, the life of Christ is our continual light unto men. We are commanded to die to ourselves, that His life might be manifested in every moment and season. If we will “let go, and let God”, He will make disciples in ways we cannot think or imagine.
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21
Action Step: Perhaps more than any phase or step in God’s way for salvation, applying the work of faith requires repentance (i.e., to change one’s mind). With that in mind (no pun intended), we suggest you block real time on your calendar to set your mind on things above (Colossians 3:1-3) and consider the passages listed here from the heavenly perspective you have been given (Ephesians 2:4-7). Then go out and do what He commands.
A Couple of Closing Thoughts
…for whatever is not from faith is sin. Romans 14:23
The ways of God are structured and dynamic. He has proven through both Bible narratives and real-life adventures that His prescribed processes defy hard-and-fast formula or recipe. However, the general order is important. Consequently, the work of faith for salvation does not work without the hearing of faith and obedience to it. You may want to go back and study this out from the beginning of this series.
Second, rest assured in knowing the process of salvation is a life-long process. Each one of us is in process, and God is the Processor. This is a wonderful, freeing truth. While we certainly want to avoid loitering around at the narrow gate or drifting off the difficult path, there is hope for us all in this great adventure we know as the process of salvation.
God bless you with grace and courage for the adventure. Let me know how I can help (it’s what we do).
Humbly yours and forever His,
Rob
#iamjustthepen