Five Phases of Salvation from Sin

The Five Phases of Salvation From Sin “...and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” (MAT 1:21) I. The Planning Phase: Salvation from the plan of sin. A. EPH 1:3-5. 1. God planned that mankind would be represented in Adam. Knowing that Adam would fall, He purposed to impute Adam's sin to the human race. ROM 5:12-19; 1CO 15:22. 2. God chose a people and purposed to make them holy, thus saving them from the effects of the fall. B. The time of the planning phase: before the foundation of the world. 2TI 1:9; REV 17:8. C. Obviously, this phase was accomplished without any human resolve or cooperation. God's plan to save sinners was not based on his foreknowledge of the dead sinner's obedience, repentance or seeking God. ISA 64:6; ROM 3:10-12; 9:16. II. The Legal Phase: Salvation from the penalty of sin. A. The breakdown of the legal phase: 1. Christ took on the nature of the elect that He might represent them before the law. HEB 2:14-17; 7:26; GAL 4:4-5. 2. Christ assumed the sin of the elect and bore the curse of the law for them. 2CO 5:21; GAL 3:13; 1PE 3:18. 3. The elect were judged by the law in Christ, their Representative. GAL 2:19-20; ROM 7:4; EPH 2:15-16. 4. God's wrath against sin is satisfied through Christ's death for the elect. ROM 5:8-10; COL 1:20-22. 5. Through the death of Christ the elect are forgiven, freed from the claims of the law against them, and constituted legally holy before God. HEB 9:12; EPH 1:7; HEB 1:3; 10:10-14. 6. Christ enters heaven victorious to appear as the elects’ advocate. HEB 9:24; 1JO 2:1. B. The time of the legal phase: the death of Jesus Christ. C. The legal phase is based on the planning phase. 1PE 1:2, 20. D. Again, human will, resolve, or works play no part in this legal transaction. 1CO 1:30. III. The Vital Phase: Salvation from the power of sin. A. In this phase the elect are made spiritually alive and their inward parts are made personally holy. ROM 8:10; EPH 2:1-6; 4:24; ROM 7:22; 2CO 5:17. 1. This phase is also known as regeneration (TIT 3:5), the new birth (JOH 3:3), or the effectual call (JOH 5:25). 2. As a result of this phase, sin is no longer the uncontested master of the life. EZE 11:19-20; ROM 6:20. 3. As a result of this phase, men can believe the gospel. 1CO 1:18; 2:13-14. B. The time of the vital phase: the new birth. JOH 3:8. C. The vital phase is based on the planning phase. 2TI 1:9. D. The vital phase is based on the legal phase. EPH 5:25-26. E. In the vital phase, man's will, resolve, or work plays no part. This is a sovereign act of God quickening a dead sinner by the voice of Jesus Christ. JOH 5:21, 25; EPH 2:10. F. Every single person considered in the planning phase will receive this call unto eternal life. None are overlooked. ROM 8:29-30. The Five Phases of Salvation 11-27-16 Page 1 IV. The Practical or Evidential Phase: Salvation from the practice of sin. A. In this phase the born-again elect utilize their spiritual life by practicing holiness. 1TH 4:3-7; EPH 2:10; TIT 2:14. 1. 2. 3. B. In 1. 2. C. The time of the practical phase: when a child of God obeys the Lord. HEB 3:13-15. D. The practical phase is based on the planning phase. COL 3:12. E. The practical phase is based on the legal phase (ROM 6:2, 6, 11-12) and assures inclusion in the legal phase. ROM 8:1. F. The practical phase is based on the vital phase. EPH 5:1, 8; 1JO 2:29. G. This is the only phase in the salvation process where man plays an active role. His faith and good works do not cause his new birth in Christ, but rather are the result of it. MAT 12:33; 7:18; PHIL 2:12-13. V. The Final Phase: Salvation from the presence and possibility of sin. A. In this phase the bodies of the elect will be raised in the likeness of Jesus Christ. The elect will then be holy in their entire person. 1JO 3:1-2; PHIL 3:21; ROM 8:23. B. The time of the final phase: the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. 1CO 15:52-53. C. The final phase is based on the planning phase. ROM 8:29-30; 9:23. D. The final phase is based on the legal phase. EPH 5:25-27. E. The final phase is based on the vital phase. ROM 8:11. F. The final phase is assured in the practical phase. JOH 5:28-29; 2TH 1:10; 2PE 1:10-11. G. Like the vital phase (the new birth), this phase is accomplished by the life-giving voice of the son of God. The body of the man is obviously passive here. H. Every single person considered in the planning phase, purchased in the legal phase, and called to new life in Christ in the vital phase will unfailingly end up here. None will be lost. JOH 6:37-39; 10:27-29. I. Note that the practical phase of human involvement is the only phase which is excluded where God considers the steps He takes to bring a person to eternal glory. ROM 8:30. They exercise faith which evidences they are born of God. 1JO 5:1; GAL 5:22. They show their faith by holy living and so give evidence that they are the children of God. JAM 2:18; 1JO 3:7, 10; 2PE 1:5-10; MAT 5:44-45. There is salvation in practicing holiness. ACT 2:40; LUK 12:47; HEB 12:6; 1TI 4:16. this phase, the born-again elect enters into Christ in practice as a disciple. GAL 3:27. He takes his place with Christ in His body, the local church. ACT 2:41; 1CO 12:27. The church is IN Christ. Being joined to it is being joined into Christ. 1TH 1:1. VI. In A. He is saved from the plan of sin because God chose him IN Christ. EPH 1:4. B. He is saved from the penalty of sin because God judged him IN Christ. 2CO 5:21. C. He is saved from the power of sin because God called him from death to life and to being a new creature IN Christ. EPH 2:10; 2CO 5:17. D. He is saved from the practice of sin by putting on Christ in conformity to His word and so being IN Christ. One is in what one has put on. GAL 3:27; 2TI 2:10. E. He is saved from the presence and possibility of sin because God considers him IN Christ at the resurrection and for all eternity. 1CO 15:22; EPH 1:10-11. F. The record shows that those who are saved from their sins have eternal life which is IN Christ. 1JO 5:11, 20. G. All salvation from sin is owing to God's love, which is IN Christ. ROM 8:38-39. summation, if a man be saved from his sins, it is because he is IN Christ. The Five Phases of Salvation 11-27-16 Page 2