| How Much Doctrine?, Part 3 |
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| Written by David Lawrence |
| Monday, January 18 2010 00:00 |
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We continue this week with the question of how much we must know in order to be saved. In the last devotional, I pointed out that Holy Scripture teaches plainly that we are justified, declared righteous in the sight of God, by faith, not by works. Although God graciously grants His people insight and understanding, the pursuit of knowledge lies in the area of works. Thus to say that knowledge is required for justification would mean that we are justified, to some degree, by works. If we may add knowledge as a requirement, then we could add other requirements. Peter lists knowledge, virtue, self-control, and other qualities in 2 Pet. 1:5ff. We could add all of them. May I suggest that the reason for the confusion lies in a simple misunderstanding. However, this misunderstanding is the root of all kinds of false, erroneous, and mistaken ideas in the church today, as it has been for centuries. I speak of the failure to distinguish between justification and sanctification. Justification is clearly a once-and-for-all act completed at the point of faith. Rom. 5:1 uses a tense that indicates clearly a point of action that has been completed in the past: “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God…” Justification means that our sins are forgiven and that no sin shall ever again be imputed to us (Rom. 4:4-8). Justification is, of course, necessary for our final salvation. Justification grants us peace with God, access into His grace in which we stand, and hope of glory (Rom. 5:1-2). Sanctification, on the other hand, is a life-long process for the Christian, beginning at the point of his regeneration, and never complete in this life. It shall be complete, however, in glory when the Lord comes (1 Thess. 5:23-24). Sanctification is the process of our being changed into the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29-30, 2 Cor. 3:18)). It is the ongoing presenting of our bodies as a living sacrifice based on the saving mercies of God (Rom. 12:1-2). Sanctification is necessary for our final salvation as well as justification. Both are “pieces of the pie of salvation.” Neither is optional or unnecessary. Justification is the one-time act of God, never to be repeated. Sanctification is the ongoing process of the Holy Spirit, which results in a life-long growth in holiness, to the point that we reach the degree of restoration of the image of God through Jesus Christ that God has ordained for our lives. Knowledge of doctrine belongs to the process of sanctification, not justification. As such it is a necessary component part of sanctification and, therefore, necessary for the eventual and final salvation of our souls. But it is not related to nor necessary to our justification. If we can keep these two Biblical concepts separate, while at the same time seeing their necessary relationship to each other, we can avoid so many misunderstandings. Certainly, all who are justified will be sanctified, and we shall never find one without the other, but the distinction must always be kept before us. In our next study we shall turn to our responsibility to pursue knowledge of true doctrine as a part of our sanctification. |
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