Originally posted on 4.26.20
The Christian Plan Of Salvation Revealed
The plan of salvation was revealed on the first day of the Christian era, known as the Day of Pentecost. It contained all the essentials of salvation— repentance, remission of sins, and the infilling of the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38). Jesus personally introduced and emphasized these three tenets and also placed them in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-18; Luke 24:45-49; John 20:21-23). Acts 2:38 is, therefore, concise and complete. It lacks nothing that is necessary for salvation. And no part is superfluous. In fact, nearly everyone who believes in Christ, whether his conversion experience is biblically sound or not, pays homage to Acts 2:38 as the plan of salvation by claiming to have received remission of sins and God’s Spirit. Moreover, it was stated by Peter to be the means by which God would call all men to salvation throughout the Church age (Acts 2:39). Who can disagree that, if the devil is going to effectively strike at Christianity, he must strike here? Actually, there is no more effective way to nullify Christianity for salvation purposes than to keep people from receiving and obeying Acts 2:38.
The devil must strike at Acts 2:38.
Since salvation is the most important thing a person will ever do, it has been the object of the devil’s most cunning and wicked vehemence, to the detriment of many. To be sure, Jesus assured us that the devil cannot prevail against His Church (Matthew 16:18). And we’re not suggesting he has. There is a thriving Christ-filled, Apostolic Church in our day. But the devil has introduced a false religious system, intended to supplant the truth, based on false salvation doctrine, as Jesus predicted in His parable of the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13). (I intend to post a study of this parable at a later date.) This fact is corroborated by Jesus’ statement that many people of “faith” would not be saved (Matthew 7:21-23). What this indicates is that there is a true form of Christianity and a false.
It’s important to understand that Christianity is comprised, not only of sound teaching regarding the Person of Christ, but also of the teaching He prescribed for salvation— tenets that are based on His death, burial, and resurrection. Both doctrinal categories make up the Gospel (Luke 24:45-47). In other words, we must believe correctly regarding the Person of Christ but we must also believe and accept what He taught regarding the tenets of salvation. We touched on this fact in Post 4 under the heading, Christian Salvation Doctrine. Therefore, true Christianity is based on the Person of Christ and true salvation doctrine. You can’t have one without the other because it all boils down to Christ. Jesus was not a speechless idol; He was a Teacher. Therefore, at a minimum, it can be said that true Christianity is based on true Christology and true salvation doctrine. That is the “wheat” in Jesus’ parable. What doesn’t hold to this requirement is the devil’s tares, or, a false Christianity.
Salvation is a legal standing with God.
The previous paragraph may sound radical or narrow to someone who has not considered that the Gospel is a gracious, but legal, offer from God for individuals to obtain salvation. The Bible itself is a precise legal document by which all souls will either be saved or judged. (We will look at this point in a later post.) Salvation is a legal standing with God. So is condemnation. Salvation in Christ, technically, is a legal transaction, involving very specific terms whereby a condemned sinner can have his sins washed away (justification) and be in right standing with God. That is covenant Christianity, which is the only true kind of Christianity there is.
The devil has tampered with the legal terms of salvation.
If you ponder the evil cunning of the devil to interfere with redemption and the fierce opposition he mounts against the souls of men, it is only logical that he would attempt to create a false brand of Christianity by which souls could be most profoundly deceived. No deception could be more sinister or effective. Sadly, this is the often-unsuspected spiritual reality in our world. And because it is out of the range of suspicion by most people, it is almost impossible to alert them to it. Most people believe that anything in religion that bears the name of Christ is legitimate— or at least legitimate enough. And what they deem orthodox due to popularity or longevity of practice is never questioned or scrutinized. Surprisingly to many, false Christianity has so pervaded human history in the last two thousand years that it is now considered orthodox and the original message of salvation preached by the Apostles of Christ, beginning on the Day of Pentecost, is considered heresy. That was precisely the devil’s goal in introducing the tares.
I don’t want to give the devil credit, but his cunning against our race has been phenomenal. First, he managed, against all odds in that perfect world of the Garden of Eden, to bring down two perfect human beings— our original parents, Adam and Eve. And, secondly, even after all that Christ has done on our behalf on Calvary, the devil has managed to devise a counterfeit to Christ’s salvation in order to keep our race down. And many people embrace it, overlooking the only inspired witness of true Christianity— that which is recorded in the book of Acts, beginning on the Day of Pentecost when Christianity began. In both cases, the devil supplanted God’s saving truth with his vicious lies.
What can we do?
The devil’s treachery against our race should make us furious against false doctrine and earnest in our commitment to the truth which was once and for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3). (The point of reference in Jude 3, by the way, is Acts 2:38. There is no other option.) God has entrusted us with faithfully sharing the Gospel to those in our generation (1Thessalonians 2:4). Every sinner for whom Christ died deserves the fullness of what was purchased by Christ for him on the cross. Consequent to Calvary is the Pentecostal experience witnessed on the Day of Pentecost and proclaimed to be for every single person until Jesus returns (Acts 2:38-39).
God bless you all. Be well.