Authenticate Your Faith

A parent doesn’t have to ask a teenage son how he is growing. All the parent has to do is to check the length of his pants. Or take him to the shoe store and hear the clerk say, “He needs a size larger.” My mother was never prepared for that comment or for the larger box the clerk brought out. She would exclaim upon seeing the larger box and the larger shoes, “Gunboats!” (I never got the connection, but I got the new shoes.)

As to spiritual growth, over time one can observe the behavior of another individual who claims to be a believer to see if there is development, “fruit,” Jesus called it. We are told to “put on Christ” and that refers to spiritual clothes. Look for spiritual clothes; they are observable. Spiritual clothes are the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

gentleness, self-control.” The exercise of these values is observable behaviors. To ask a newcomer at one’s Christian youth group, “Are you saved?” can be misleading. The question should be “Have you been regenerated?” But since that sounds too theological, try this, “Have you been born again?” That is what the word ‘regenerated’ means.

Regenerated (or, born again) and saved are not synonymous, however. That statement is extremely important to remember. Again, those two terms are not synonymous. Regeneration is part of the plan of salvation but it is not the whole of it. The term salvation is an umbrella term and the other term, regenerated, is more specifically a subset of salvation. It is not wrong to use the one for the other, but it can be misleading. In Chapter 1 of his book, “Salvation,” Louis Sperry Chafer wrote the following; for clarification, I have added in brackets the words he is referring to:

As used in the New Testament, the word salvation may indicate all [regeneration, sanctification, and glorification] or a part of the divine undertaking. When the reference is to all of the work of God, the whole transformation is in view from the estate wherein one is lost and condemned to the final appearance of that one in the image of Christ in glory. This larger use of the word [salvation], therefore, combines in it many separate works of God for the individual, such as Atonement, Grace, Propitiation, Forgiveness, Justification, Imputation, Regeneration, Adoption, Sanctification, Redemption and Glorification.

Chafer adds several words to his list that are all part of salvation, but salvation has three closely connected aspects or stages that are found under salvation’s umbrella. They are regeneration, sanctification, and glorification. All three are available to the entire human race because of atonement, grace, propitiation, forgiveness, justification, imputation, adoption, and redemption. These words are associate with three major concepts found under salvation’s umbrella. They are biblical concepts that are part of God’s agenda for the human race, thanks to His Son, the Savior Jesus Christ. Why wouldn’t Christians want to know all that God has provided and the terms the Bible uses to describe them? Some contemporary writers are calling on Christians to forget these terms and speak more simply. This simple approach is acceptable in evangelism, but not if one is attempting to establish new believers. These terms provide handles for certain concepts of scriptural truth. No secular culture has a right to delete them because they never heard the terms before. And it is not okay for pastor-teachers to delete them because his or her congregation has never heard the terms. Believers should become familiar with them, rejoice over the marvelous plan of God they describe, and be thankful for all that had to be part of God’s plan to allow us to have part in it! Such knowledge is a basis for ‘rational worship.’

Did you know that singing hymns is one way to learn more about these terms? Many hymns were written in an age when hymnbooks were scarce items and being taught hymns was a marvelous way to teach theology. Of course, expository preaching is the most important method a teacher can use to explain these biblical concepts.

Because Christians don’t recognize these terms is never a reason to throw them overboard. To learn them is to understand more about God and His great love for us.

Rev. Oswald J. Smith had it right in his hymn, “Saved!” Repeating the word “Saved!” three times, he covered the plan of salvation well.

Saved! Saved! Saved! my sins are all forgiv’n;

Christ is mine! I’m on my way to heav’n;

Once a guilty sinner, lost, undone,

Now a child of God, saved thro’ His Son.

‘Saved’ is not a once-and-for-all event. Like life, salvation starts with birth and then is an ongoing series of spiritual events (growth). That is true for every faithful believer who is authenticating his or her faith. Christians need to keep in mind ‘I’m saved!’ starts, continues throughout their lives, and culminates in a grand finale! We are “Saved! [and] Saved! [and] Saved!” It is not “Saved!” (regenerated) three times. Rather it is “Saved!” from sin (regeneration); “Saved! from self (sanctification); and “Saved” from the wrath of God to come (glorification).

Let me put it this way. The initial event is regeneration (“I am saved!”); the continuing events are sanctification (“I am being saved!”); and the crowning event will be glorification (“I will be saved!”).