Author Archives: John Samson

Ordo Salutis

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I am sure at some point you have seen video images of crash dummies in a car as it hits a wall, and from several different angles, cameras record the event to note precisely how the collision impacted both the vehicle and the dummies inside. The videos are slowed down dramatically and observations are made which reveal a great deal. As any new car is introduced into the car market, car companies (as well as outside agency safety inspectors) conduct these kind of tests to measure the level of safety for drivers as well as front and back seat passengers.

With this idea in view, I want us to take a fresh look at salvation from several angles. We will note that although many of the things happen in an instant, if we could slow the camera down (so to speak) we will see that one thing occurred before the other, just as the car had to hit the wall before the dent in the car could be observed. In referring to a sequence with regards to time we also speak of logical and causal order, for the simple reason that although (in time) two things seemed to occur instantly, logically speaking, one thing had to happen before the other – one thing was the cause of the other thing.

Someone might ask, “what is the point of such a study? What is its practical use?” I would reply that the conclusions we come to on these issues have a profound impact on how one views God, the gospel, and the Bible as a whole.

The Bible compares spiritual growth with natural growth, revealing that when we are converted, we are much like spiritual babies who need to grow in our knowledge of God and His word. As we progress in spiritual maturity, things become less fuzzy as we gain a more precise understanding of what the word of God teaches. Hopefully, this will be true for each of us as we study the logical sequence of events regarding salvation in Scripture. Theologians have done this for centuries and employ a specific term for this, namely Ordo Salutis – a Latin phrase which means “the order of salvation.”

THE ORDO SALUTIS

  1. ELECTION– God’s choice of a people to be saved took place before the world was made. To the saints at Ephesus Paul wrote, 1:4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world.
  • PREDESTINATION – Election is God’s choice, and predestination is the pre assigned destination marked out for those He chose, that destination being salvation and full glorification in heaven.
  • GOSPEL CALL (or the outward call of the gospel – outward in that it happens outside of us “ the preaching of the gospel, heard with the physical ear)

The meaning of the words “call,” “called,” or “calling” can be determined by the context in which the words are found. For instance, Jesus said “many are called but few are chosen.” These words make sense when we understand that He is referring to the outward call of the gospel.

God uses means to achieve His ends. The ends are the salvation of His elect people; the means being the proclamation of the gospel. The elect will come to Christ, but they do so by the means of exposure to the gospel.

Romans 9:14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

  • INWARD CALL (where God the Holy Spirit speaks life to the elect’s dead human spirit, even as they hear the outward call of the gospel)

As we examine the writings of the Apostle Paul, it would seem that he uses this word called or calling to describe the inward call that brings the sinner to spiritual life.

1 Cor 1: 22 – For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called (inwardly called), both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

The cross is seen either as a stumbling block or as foolishness to all, except the called. This inward call always results in…

  • REGENERATION (just as Jesus cried out with a loud voice ‘Lazarus come forth’ before Lazarus came to life, logically speaking, number 4 (the inward call) has to come before number 5 (regeneration) the inward call has to come before spiritual life (regeneration or being born again or born from above) is imparted.

Jesus – John 3:3 – unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

2 Cor 4:3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

  • CONVERSION (repentance and faith) – we repent, we put faith in Christ, so this is human activity, but is the result of Divine activity. The old nature (with a heart of stone) is incapable of true repentance and faith (John 6:44; 65; Rom. 8:7,8). Regeneration precedes (comes before) faith.

John 1:12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

1 John 5:1 – “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.” In the original Greek, the verb tenses in this verse are very revealing. A literal translation reads as follows: All the ones going on believing (pisteuon, a present tense, continuous action) that Jesus is the Christ has been born (gennesanta, perfect tense – an action already complete with abiding effects) of God. The fact that someone is presently going on believing in Christ shows that they have first been born again. Faith is the evidence of regeneration, not the cause of it. Since both repentance and faith are possible only because of the work of God (regeneration), both are called the gift of God in Scripture (2 Tim. 2:24-26; Eph. 2:8, 9; Phil. 1:29; Heb. 12:2).

  • JUSTIFICATION – God’s declaration that a person is just (or right) in His sight. All those who put their trust (faith) in Christ for salvation are justified. Logically then, first there is faith, then there is justification.

Romans 5:1 – Therefore having been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

  • ADOPTION – Given the full rights and privileges of sonship in the Father’s house – now and forever.
  • SANCTIFICATION – set apart to God – an on-going process in this life, but perfected the moment we step from this life into the next (1 Cor 15:50-55).
  1. GLORIFICATION – the believer is made fully conformable to the likeness of Christ, given a new body, incapable of sin – see Rom 8:28-30 – the Golden Chain of Redemption has 5 links – foreknown, predestined, called, justified, glorified.

The Ordo Salutis – Election > Predestination > Gospel Call > Inward Call > Regeneration > Conversion (repentance and faith) > Justification > Adoption > Sanctification > Glorification

Why Amillennial?

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Article: 7 Reasons Tom Schreiner (Tentatively) Holds to Amillennialism by Justin Taylor – Original source: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/7-reasons-tom-schreiner-tentatively-holds-amillennialism/

It would be hard to find a more gracious and humble commentator than Tom Schreiner. This is especially true when it comes to the controversy of what Revelation 20 teaches on the millennium.

Schreiner has recently written a full-length commentary on Revelation in the ESV Expository Commentary series. Schreiner’s colleague Rob Plummer—who wrote the commentary on James—calls it “the clearest and most helpful commentary on Revelation I’ve ever read.”

When it comes to the various and disputed end-time paradigms, Schreiner admits that he does not regard the exegesis behind the dispensational premillennial view or the postmillennial view very compelling.

Against dispensational premillennialism, he notes:

  • The notion of a rapture seven years before Jesus returns is quite unlikely. (1 Thessalonians 4:16 does not describe a secret rapture. 2 Thessalonians 1–2 teaches that the punishment of the wicked, deliverance of the righteous, and gathering of the saints occur at the same time.)
  • The notion of promises specially fulfilled for the Jews in the millennium is not even mentioned by John in Revelation 20. Nor is this idea found in the rest of the NT. Dispensationalists read their interpretations of OT prophecies into Revelation 20, but their interpretation is flawed, for the NT maintains that Jews and Gentiles are equally members of the people of God (e.g., Eph. 2:11–3:13). The notion of Jews having a special place in the millennium contradicts the NT witness that all believers are children of Abraham (cf. Rom. 4:9–17; Gal. 3:6–9).

Against postmillennialism, he writes:

  • Scripture clearly indicates that evil will intensify before the end (cf. Matt. 24:9–31; 1 Tim. 4:1–3; 2 Tim. 3:1–5).
  • Revelation 19:11–21 almost certainly refers to the second coming—not, as postmillennialists claim, to the routing of God’s enemies, leading to a long period of peace and prosperity on earth.

Therefore, he focuses on the historic premillennial and amillennial readings of the passage.

Contrary to the rhetoric of partisans on either side, he writes: “I include both views equally since it is difficult to decipher which view is correct, and readers should appreciate this difficulty.”

“Still,” he notes, “for the following reasons I tentatively opt for the amillennial view, although I have changed my mind more than once and feel uncertainty as I write.”

Here are his seven reasons.

[1. Scripture Nowhere Else Clearly Teaches a Thousand-Year Millennium]

First, nowhere else in Scripture is a thousand-year millennium clearly taught, and a new doctrine should not be founded on an intensely controversial text, especially from an apocalyptic book full of symbolism.

[2. Revelation 20 Might Be Telling the Story of Revelation 19:11–21 from Another Perspective]

Second, we have seen that Revelation is recursive and recapitulatory, coming to the end and then telling the same story again from a fresh perspective. John might be doing the same thing in Revelation 20, telling the story of Revelation 19:11–21 from another perspective.

[3. The Supposed Millennium Texts of the OT Don’t Appear in Revelation 20—But They Do in the New Creation Texts of Revelation 21–22]

Third, many of the texts allegedly speaking of the millennium in the OT (e.g., Isaiah 60 and Ezekiel 40–48) are not alluded to in Revelation 20.

What is even more striking is that these same chapters are copiously alluded to in Revelation 21:1–22:5. In other words, the so-called millennial texts are fulfilled in the new creation! This suggests the promises of a renewed world and new temple in the OT are fulfilled in the new creation, not in a millennium.

Some want to say the fulfillment is in both the millennium and the new creation, but it is hard to see how the new temple prophesied in Ezekiel 40–48 is fulfilled in any way in the millennium.

[4. The Early Church Fathers Were Divided on This Question]

Fourth, the early church fathers were divided on the millennium. Sometimes it is claimed the earliest fathers were premillennial, but Charles Hill has demonstrated the matter was disputed, and many were amillennialists. Hence, we cannot appeal to the early church to find a consensus on the matter.

[5. Who Are the Unglorified People in the Millennium If Jesus Destroys All His Enemies at the End of Revelation 19?]

Fifth, the historic premillennial view has difficulty explaining the unglorified people in the millennium, for when Jesus returns at the end of chapter 19, he destroys all his enemies.

It is straining to say that some were left on earth who survived Jesus’s return.

The NT clearly teaches Jesus’s return is the day of reward and judgment for all (Matt. 25:31–46).

[6. Scripture Nowhere Separates Out the Timing of the Final Resurrection, Final Judgment, Victory over Death, Arrival of the New Creation, and Second Coming of Christ]

Sixth, in Scripture the final resurrection, final judgment, victory over death, arrival of the new creation, and second coming of Christ are part of a total package.

There is no indication in any other text that these great events are separated.

[7. Amillennialism Fits Best with the Rest of the Scriptures]

Finally, we will see below that the premillennial reading of Revelation 20 has some very good arguments, but the amillennial reading has remarkable strengths too. And since the latter fits best with the rest of the scriptural witness, it should be favored.

Unfortunately, clarity will be lacking on this issue until Jesus returns. Fortunately, the central truth is that Jesus is indeed returning!