Are There Steps to Our Salvation? A Study of the Ordo Salutis

“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day” (2 Peter 3:8).

Humans are reasonable people.

Now, I don’t mean humans necessarily act reasonably, but we use reason. As a matter of fact, no matter how unreasonably someone may appear to act, some form of reasoning went into their decisions. It may be faulty reasoning, but it is an attempt at reason nonetheless.

We should expect no different behavior as we approach the Scriptures. We are given the gift of reason by our Creator, and are called to use it wisely to discern the truth in God’s word (2 Timothy 2:15) and our own salvation.

In this spirit I would like to cover an important feature of our redemption in Christ, the Ordo Salutis.

What is the Ordo Salutis?

The Ordo Salutis is simply a Latin term meaning the order of salvation, referring to the logical order of events that comprise our salvation in Christ. The first thing to remember is that because we are reasonable beings, our delineation of these events in no way negates their simultaneous execution. This is simply a way for finite beings to understand the works of a holy and infinite God. While a thousand years is as one day for the Lord, we are temporal creatures, and therefore have no choice but to experience these things in a temporal fashion, even though they happen concurrently.

There are several different takes on the actual order of events in salvation, but I will give the bird’s-eye view as listed in Romans chapter 8, which is supported in its various parts throughout the rest of Scripture.

The passage in question will be Romans 8:28-30, coined the “Golden chain of redemption” by the Westminster divine John Arrowsmith:

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”

Foreknowledge

Suppose you were sitting in an airport watching the news on TV, and someone sits next to you and points at the president on the screen and asks:

“Do you know that guy?”

“Sure,” you’d say, “That’s Donald Trump.”

What you’re actually stating here is that you know of him, you know about him. Donald Trump is well-known. You may even be an expert on him, having studied his life and works. But, does that mean you actually know him? Of course not, he’s still a stranger. You’ve never met him.

When the Bible talks about God’s foreknowledge, it is far more intimate than the mere knowing of facts. Specifically, when we read that God foreknows us, it is much deeper, much more personal than the casual taking in of information. When God foreknows us, he is entering into a relationship with us that transcends the knowledge of our actions. Just as Adam knew Eve, and Abraham knew Sarah, the use of the term “know” is more than a euphemism for sexual activity. It represents the intimacy that is present in the relationship between a husband and wife, a profound love and affection.

This is why when Jesus stands before the false professors at the last day, he will be able to proclaim “I never knew you” (Matthew 7:23). Jesus knows everything about every one of us, he isn’t claiming ignorance of their being or actions. He never knew them.

Predestination

Predestination is probably one of the most misunderstood terms in the bible, directly due to the nature of the word. To predestine anything is completely foreign to us as creatures; we’ve never once been able to guarantee, even for a minute, that anything is going to take place. James makes this clear when he says:

“Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’” James 4:14-15

The very idea is impossible to fully understand while we retain our earthly bodies, but through the light of Scripture we can begin to comprehend this work of our eternal God.

The phrase “to be conformed to the image of his son” signifies what is the object of our predestination. The question we should ask then, is what does that mean, and when does it happen? Paul uses this term in Ephesians 1:4-5 and sheds some light on the matter:

“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love hepredestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.”

We have been predestined to adoption by God since before the foundation of the world, through no good deeds or actions of our own, but by the sheer grace and good pleasure of God. But what does it mean to be adopted? Paul has already shown us earlier in Romans 8:14-15 what it means to be adopted into the family of God:

“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’”

Those who are led by the Spirit of God are his children, by adoption. This has, in Paul’s mind, already been brought about in the lives of believers. In verse 23 Paul differentiates between our spiritual adoption, whereby we receive sonship from God, and our physical adoption, or the redemption of our bodies.

Now we see that predestination takes place prior to our creation, and is a guarantee from God that we will receive spiritual sonship in this life, and redemption of our physical bodies in the next.

Calling

There are two types of call from God, the inward call and the outward call. The call of the gospel is that outward call, which God uses to call all men everywhere to repent (Act 17:30). This takes the form of preaching and gospel presentations, as well as the knowledge of God made plain to men everywhere by His creation (Romans 1:18-20).

The inward call, which Paul is referencing in verse 28, is distinguished by its effect on the recipient: love for God. Those who love God have “been called according to his purpose.” This is that work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the sinner to bring about faith and repentance when presented with the gospel.

The gospel of Christ, and the entire Bible for that matter, are useless without the Spirit of God working to apply its truth to those who hear it. This is manifest in that many scores of non-Christians have read, studied, and even become experts in the Bible, without ever believing a word of it. It is the Spirit of God, by which he calls us, that makes the gospel powerful and effective (1 Corinthians 2:14).

From verse 30 we can see that God will indeed call every person that he has predestined to conform to the image of his son. By this statement it is obvious that God’s calling is a necessary component of our salvation, and without it the truth and power of the gospel would never be known in the heart of a rebellious sinner.

Justification

Numerous texts indicate that we are justified by faith, and faith alone (Romans 3:30, 5:1, Galatians 3:8, Ephesians 2:8). This is where the concept of God’s eternality can become entangled in our very temporal existence. We exist in time, and therefore we perceive all events as having a chronological order. However, God exists outside of time (Isaiah 57:15) and does not measure his actions by the hands of the clock.

Consequently, we perceive our faith as being the first chronological step in the process of our justification, and salvation as a whole. We hear and respond to the gospel call, whatever form that may have taken, and now as believers may rejoice in our salvation through Christ. It is important to remember that God has been at work all along, since before the foundation of the world, to bring about our salvation. While our first experience in salvation is our belief in the gospel and faith in Christ, we are not the catalyst of our justification.

Christ is clearly named as the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), and God as the effectual source of our justification (Romans 3:26). He uses the means of our faith to apply his justification.

To be justified is the goal of every criminal, to be declared no longer in debt for his transgressions. Having established that we are all under sin and guilty before God (Romans 3:10, Galatians 3:22) we require justification from an outside source to be made right with God. Our justification is God pardoning our sins, accepting Christ’s perfect life and sacrifice as the payment for our sins, and giving us a new start. It is more than a clean slate which we must maintain by good works, but rather a forgiveness for all sins, both past and present, which in the eyes of God have already taken place. God declares us just because Christ is righteous, not us.

Glorification

God is at work in the lives of believers, progressively sanctifying them through his word and Spirit. Eventually, when we pass from this world to the next, Christians will experience what it means to be glorified. This represents the fullness of our sanctification, where there will be no further room for improvement in the creature, and we will fully express the perfection of God’s creation without any of the stains of sin.

In verses 17 and 18 Paul states that as sons of God, and joint heirs with Christ, we will be glorified together with him. We can look forward to that day when the glory that Christ now shares at the right hand of God will be shared with us, as fellow children of God.

What does it mean to be glorified? People glorified Jesus when he performed miracles (Matthew 9:8, Luke 23:47) and God when they saw his mighty works (Acts 4:21, Galatians 1:24). John refers to Christ’s resurrection as glorification (John 7:39, 12:16). Jesus speaks of the Father being glorified by his works (John 11:4) and he being glorified in the ones God has given him (John 17:10).

To receive glory is to be held in honor, given praise for that which is good in you. On earth we can receive glory for business accomplishments or athletic prowess, but it is vain and empty compared to God’s glory. When he gives us glory, we can know that he is giving honor to Christ in us, that because of Christ’s work we will be allowed to share in his glory. Our glorification consists of God’s good grace in allowing us to bask in the glory of Christ.

We must keep God in our thoughts all the time (Joshua 1:8, Psalm 77:11) and seek to always improve our understanding of his word and his ways. Bearing in mind the unsearchable riches of Christ and the creaturely finitude of humanity, we should always look to Scripture to clarify the mysteries of God.

Photo credit: Unsplash/Debby Hudson