Proceed With the Process Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone. This is not in dispute for the committed Protestant Christian. Justification is instantaneous— the moment a sinner accepts the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as his only hope, he is accounted as righteous. In the inimitable words of Ellen White in Steps to Christ, “If you give yourself to Him, and accept Him as your Saviour, then, sinful as your life may have been, for His sake you are accounted righteous. Christ’s character stands in place of your character, and you are accepted before God just as if you had not sinned” (page 64). No one would seriously deny that Paul of Tarsus was the consummate champion of the Good News (Gospel) of righteousness by faith. Paul’s advocacy of the evangel of faith included the notion that salvation involves an ongoing process. The following excerpts are representative, being some of the best known and best loved Pauline passages: For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. Romans 1:16, 17. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:18. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16. Notice the phrases: “from faith to faith,” “from glory to glory,” and “day by day.” What grammatical and theological function do these phrases serve in each of these respective passages? The answer is incontrovertible. They each communicate a process. For Paul, salvation involved a process. The dictionary defines process as “a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end.” Salvation involves steps. Doesn’t the name Steps to Christ make very good sense? Indeed, it does!
Posted on: Fri, 12 Jul 2013 20:03:23 +0000