Every rational human being recognizes that he has a “Threefold Need.” (1). In regard to YESTERDAY. Why? Because “yesterday” was the day of SIN. What are we to do with the past years? We cannot live them over again, nor balance them by “Works of” Supererogation.” (2). In regard to TO-DAY. If I have managed to provide for the sin of yesterday, what am I to do for today? For today if there is no change in my nature I will sin as yesterday. (3). In regard to TOMORROW. Suppose that I have been able to make provision for the past and the present, for yesterday and today, what am I to do for tomorrow? for tomorow will come with the same old forms of temptation, the same old suggestions to evil, the same helplessness to overcome sin as in the past. From this we see that we need PARDON for the Past, PURITY for the Present, and POWER for the Future. Where are we to get them?
If, as we have seen, SIN is the World’s “BLOOD POISON,” and every human being born into the world has inherited the disease, then as there is a remedy somewhere for every disease, there must be a remedy for the “Disease of Sin,” and this remedy is found in the Gospel. “For I am not ashamed of the ‘Gospel of Christ;’ for it is the POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION to every one that believeth.” Romans 1:16. The “Power” of the Gospel lies in the “BLOOD OF JESUS. “ ”The BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7. This is fully explained in the Chapter on “Atonement and Redemption,” and so need not be more fully dwelt on here.
Salvation is a “threefold process.” It begins in “Justification,” proceeds through “Sanctification,” and ends in “Glorification.” Titus 2:11-13. So we can say that we are saved, that we are being saved, and that we will be saved.
1. We are saved from the PENALTY of Sin.
This we get by “Faith.” Faith leads to our JUSTIFICATION. “Therefore being JUSTIFIED BY FAITH, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1. The word “Justification” is a legal term and means to declare not guilty. It can best be defined by an illustration. We will suppose that a man has been charged with murder and tried and found guilty and been sentenced to die. Before the hour of execution a man appears at the prison and asks to see the Sheriff, to whom he hands an official document, which when the Sheriff reads he finds to be a pardon. The man at once is set at liberty and walks out of the prison a free man, but not a justified man for the guilt of the crime still remains on him. He is simply a pardoned CRIMINAL. On the other hand we will suppose that the condemned criminal was really innocent, having been condemned on circumstantial evidence, and that before the date set for execution the real murderer surrenders himself to the Sheriff and produces evidence that he is the real criminal. What then must the Sheriff do? He cannot any longer hold the first man, for he is not guilty, he therefore sets him free, and he walks out of the prison a JUSTIFIED man because he is innocent of the crime charged against him. That is the legal meaning of “Justification” and that is the Scriptural meaning. Here is the “Mystery of Salvation.” It would be impossible for an innocent man to satisfy the law, for while he might take ihe criminal’s place he could not take his GUILT. But uns is what Jesus Christ does. “He hath made Him to be SIN FOR US, who know no sin: that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21.
The moment a sinner accepts by faith the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour he is JUSTIFIED. “Verily, verily,Isay unto you, He that heareth my word, and BELIEVETH on Him that sent me, HATH EVERLASTING LIFE, and shall not come into condemnation (Judgment), but IS PASSED from death unto life.” John 5:24. The result of Justification is that we have peace WITH God. Romans 5:1. We must distinguish between “peace WITH God,” and the “peace OF God.” Philippians 4:7. Here an illustration will best serve our purpose. We will suppose that during the Civil War President Lincoln had issued a proclamation that any person in rebellion against the Government would be pardoned the moment that, coming from the South, he should step over the “Mason and Dixon Line.” Suppose such a person had crossed the line at 12 o’clock midnight unknown to himself, at once he would have been at peace WITH the Government, but not knowing that he had crossed the line he continued on in fear of arrest and imprisonment until, as the day began to dawn, he realized that for hours he had been safe. What joy and peace of mind would then fill his soul. So the very moment we accept with saving faith the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour we have “peace WITH God,” but it may be days, weeks, and even years before we know this, and have the “peace OF God” that passeth all understanding.
2. We are saved from the POWER of Sin.
When the angel announced to Joseph that Mary was to have a son, he said – “Thou shalt call his name JESUS; for He shall save His people from their SINS.” Matthew 1:21. So we see that Jesus is not only a Saviour from SIN, but also from SINS. From our daily besetting, or as the colored preacher said, upsetting sins. Writing to the Philippians Paul said – “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is GOD WHICH WORKETH IN YOU both to WILL and to DO of His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:12-13. Now this does not mean” that we are to be saved by our works. It means that having received Salvation through faith we are to now work it out. That is, having been saved from the “Penalty” of Sin, we must work to be delivered from its “Power.” And in this, though we do it with fear and trembling, conscious of our own weakness, we will be aided by God, for it is God who worketh in us, to WILL and DO of His good pleasure. What we need to do then is to co-operate with God in His work of Sanctification, to let Him will and do in us what is necessary to save us from the “Power” of Sin.
The revelation of sin is progressive. It is not until after conversion that we really begin to realize what sin is. When you awake in the morning twilight you see a few conspicuous articles of furniture. As the light increases you see taking form the pictures on the wall and the toilet articles on the dressing table ; but it is not until the sun is up that you see smaller articles as pins, pieces of thread and particles of dust. When we came to Christ we were conscious of a few sinful habits. We gave them up. But as we grew in grace other things in our lives were seen as wrong and laid aside. And so it has gone on. Things that we did five years ago we would not do today, and what we do today, we will not do five years from now. Writing to the Corinthians eighteen years after his conversion, Paul said—“I am not meet to be called an Apostle.” 1 Corinthians 15:9. Six years later he wrote to the Ephesians—“I am less than the least of all saints.” Ephesians 3:8. And five years later he wrote to Timothy – “I am the chief of sinners.” 1 Timothy 1:15. What was the matter with Paul? Had he grown worse? No, he only realized more than ever his own sinfulness. Paul never professed complete sanctification. He said that he was not “already perfect” or had “attained” unto that for which he had been “apprehended by Christ,” but he was “reaching forth” and “pressing toward” the mark. Philippians 3:12-14. From this we see that Sanctification is a progressive Acts, and that our complete deliverance from the “Power” of Sin will not be until the death of the body, though we may have to a large extent “Victory. over Sin” if we surrender absolutely to the “Will of God,” and permit Him to will and to do of His good pleasure in us.
3. We are to be saved from the PRESENCE of Sin.
Jesus died on the Cross to save our soul from death, He is coming back to complete our salvation by redeeming our body from the grave, or to change it into an immortal body at the Rapture. Not until then shall we be saved from the “Presence” of Sin. So we see that Salvation is a “threefold process.” That it begins in “Justification” and ends in “Glorification.” Justification being instant and complete deliverance from the “Penalty” of Sin; “Sanctification” being a progressive deliverance from the “Power” of Sin, and “Glorification” our final deliverance from the “Presence” of Sin.
By Clarence Larkin
