This difficulty is similar to the previous one. The answer will be simplified if we remember that our soul’s salvation depends entirely upon the value of what Christ did for us on the cross. There can be no progress in the believer’s security, no progress in deliverance “from the wrath to come,” since there can be no progress in a work already “finished.”
“The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men” (Titus 2:11).
“Now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).
“This day is salvation come to this house” (Luke 19:9).
“Who hath saved us” (2 Timothy 1:9).
“By grace ye are saved” (Ephesians 2:8).
It should be noticed, however, that besides this present aspect of salvation, though not our subject here, there is the future salvation of the body at the Lord’s coming (Philippians 3:21), and the daily preservation of those who are reconciled (Romans 5:10).
God had long before declared that He would not allow steps to His altar where mankind could approach Him.
“Thou shalt not build it of hewn stone; for if thou lift thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. Neither shalt thou go up by steps to mine altar” (Exodus 20:25-26). Notice! No skillful handwork (hewn stone), no progressive foot-work (go up by steps), is the teaching here! In figurative language it is, “Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.” This altar (way to approach God) suited the dying thief crucified next to the Lord Jesus. What could he have done if any activity of hand or foot had been required? His were nailed to a cross. He could look to Jesus Christ — that was all. His sin brought him face to face with the Lamb of God — God’s approved sacrifice for sin. The Light of Life awakened the thief’s conscience; love attracted his heart; and without waiting for one day’s progress, he was made suitable for paradise there and then. Not only that on the best authority, God’s word, he knew it.
Is there no such thing as Christian progress or growth? Thank God, there is, but there is no progress in our suitableness for heaven, or our deliverance from judgment to come. Who “delivered us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10). “Who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness” (Colossians 1:12-13).
Consider this illustration. A man unable to swim falls into a deep river. A gentleman, unknown to the drowning man, hurries along the banks to where he is struggling and sinking. Throwing off coat and hat, he boldly plunges to the rescue. His bravery is rewarded. The man is saved. A few words are exchanged of congratulation by the rescuer and grateful thanks from the rescued, and the deliverer and delivered separate to go to their different homes.
A third person has witnessed the whole occurrence, and, overtaking the rescued man, says: “Do you know who that person is who has just saved your life?”
“He told me his name,” the man replies, “but I would like to know him a little better.”
“Should I visit you sometime, and tell you more about him then? He is a wonderful person.”
“Do, please, by all means. Come and spend an hour this evening.”
The invitation is accepted, and it is renewed and accepted every night for a month, and each evening their one theme is the person who saved him from a watery grave. Wouldn’t he, at the end of the month, know a great deal more about his deliverer than he did at the beginning? Certainly! But would there have been any progress in the actual deliverance itself? No. And yet there has been growth. He has grown in the knowledge of the one who saved him.
Now let’s apply our illustration. The blessed Son of God saw that unless He interfered on our behalf, we would sink forever into the depths of God’s judgment for sin. There was no other eye to pity, no other arm to save. But “love moved Him to die,” and in the fullness of time He came.
He took charge of the work of our salvation. He entered death’s dark waters. The floods of judgment rose against Him. The waves of wrath rolled all their crushing weight over Him; so that for Him and His sheltered people there are none left. Justice is now satisfied. God is glorified in that sin atoning sacrifice; and by that finished work, every guilty one, who trusts Him, stands as clear of condemnation as Christ does who bore that condemnation for the sinner. He is “delivered from the wrath to come.” He is made a son of God through faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26), and because he is a son, God sends forth the Spirit of His Son into his heart, crying, Abba, Father (Galatians 4:6). Notice, we do not receive the Spirit to make us sons, but “because ye are sons.” Our bodies then become the temples of the Holy Ghost. (See 1 Corinthians 4:19.) He takes up His residence in us, and seals us to “the day of redemption,” that is, the “redemption of our body.” (Compare Ephesians 4:30 with Romans 8:23.)
He is not a mere visitor, making an occasional visit, like the man in the illustration. He comes to stay. He shall “abide with you forever” was the faithful promise (John 14:16). And what is His one great theme as the constant Indweller? It is Christ. “He shall testify of Me” (John 15:26). “He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you” (John 16:14).
A very aged Christian died in Lincolnshire, England having been saved for seventy-five years. He served as a local preacher for fifty years. He had walked in his Master’s service, at the lowest estimate, about 15,000 miles. Yet he had no better right to salvation, after those many years of service, than the day he began. No doubt in seventy-five years he had been safely brought through many trials, saved from many traps, helped in many difficulties; and no doubt he had learned a great deal, both about himself and about his Master, that he didn’t know at the beginning. However, only Christ’s blood was his right to enter heaven at the start and only the blood remained his right at the end. His growth in grace during those long years depended upon the measure in which he walked in the fellowship of the Spirit; but unless you could add to the value of the precious blood, His right to glory could not grow. Impossible! If the saved man in our illustration had kept his visitor mostly occupied in correcting his own misconduct, there would have been very little growth in his knowledge of his deliverer. Sadly isn’t it that way with many of us? Our behavior makes the Holy Ghost grieved, for He has to be more occupied with correcting our crookedness than in His delightful function of unfolding Christ’s glories. It’s no wonder we don’t grow as Christians. But while the saved one ought to grow, growth in grace is not salvation from the judgment due to our sins.
It is noteworthy that the Apostle Peter not only exhorts us to “grow,” but tells us how to grow. “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2). Someone might ask, How is it that we grow by feeding on the Word? It is because the Scriptures speak of Christ, “They are they which testify of Me” (John 5:39).
In this way —
The Spirit testifies of Christ
The Scriptures testify of Christ.
Both bring Christ before us, or rather the Spirit uses the Word to do it, and so causes us to grow in personal acquaintance with Christ Himself. But, let us repeat, there is no progress in our security. In the water the man needed deliverance, and would have died if he hadn’t got it; out of the water and on dry land he was safe.
In our sins we are unsaved.
Out of our sins, through the precious blood of Christ, we are saved. From then on the Holy Ghost resides in us. And what greater witness could we have that we are suitable for the presence of God than that the Holy Ghost can live in our bodies now? But, remember, He does so, not because of what we are in ourselves, but because of what the blood is. The oil (figure of the Spirit) was placed upon the blood of the trespass-offering when the leper was cleansed (Leviticus 14:17), not upon his bare flesh.