BIBLE STUDY-4

Peace Methodist Church

BIBLE STUDY-4

 

Salvation(1)

 

◎ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8)

 

◎ Grace is the source of salvation, faith is the condition of salvation.

 

◎ Salvation begins with what is usually termed prevenient grace, including the first wish to please God, the first dawn of light concerning his will, and the first slight transient conviction of having sinned against him.

 

◎ Salvation is carried on by convincing grace, usually in Scripture termed repentance, which brings a larger measure of self-knowledge, and a farther deliverance from the heart of stone.

 

◎ Afterwards we experience the proper Christian salvation, whereby, “by grace we are saved by faith” consisting of those two grand branches, justification and sanctification.

 

◎ By justification we are saved from the guilt of sin, and restored to the favour of God.

 

◎ By sanctification we are saved from the power and root of sin, and restored to the image of God. It begins the moment we are justified, in the holy, humble, gentle, patient love of God and man.

 

◎ It gradually increases from that moment, as “a grain of mustard-seed (Matthew 13:31),” but afterwards becomes a great tree, till the heart is cleansed, from all sin, and filled with pure love to God and man. But even that love increases more and more, till we attain “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13).”

 

◎ Question for Thought and Discussion

Is ‘salvation by faith’ a moment or a process? Let’s discuss and share what I thought of salvation so far.