WWUTT 1283 The Order of Salvation (Romans 8:30)

What is the order of salvation? What is also referred to as the golden chain of redemption?

From the very first step of our salvation to when we enter into heaven, when we understand the text.

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Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We're back to our study in Romans 8, and we're gonna be finishing up the golden chain of redemption, the order of salvation that we have in Romans 8, 28 through 30.

The apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome. And we know that for those who love

God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

For those who before knew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

And those whom he predestined, he also called. And those whom he called, he also justified.

And those whom he justified, he also glorified. That statement that we have there in verse 29, where it says that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Jesus was the first to come back from the dead, and there are many others who will follow him.

So he was the first, and we who are in Christ will likewise be raised from death.

Whenever we read about Christ being the firstborn, this does not mean that Jesus was the first created being.

And that's the way many will take those references, whether it's here in Romans 8, 29, or in Colossians chapter one.

Let me read to you there from Colossians one, starting in verse 15. He is the image of the invisible

God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him, all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him.

And he is before all things, and in him, all things hold together. So when we read there that he is the image of the invisible

God, the firstborn of all creation, it doesn't mean that he is God's first creation.

It means that Christ as the firstborn receives everything given by the father.

Just as we would read in the Old Testament that the oldest son was the recipient of everything that the father has.

So God the father has given all things, everything created has been handed to the son.

It doesn't mean Jesus is created. It means he possesses everything created. For by him, all things were created, as it says in Colossians 1, 16.

If Jesus was himself created, then all things could not have been created by him because he had to be created.

Therefore, all things were created by the father, right? If Jesus himself was a created being, but we know that he is not.

He is eternally existent with the father and with the Holy Spirit. Three persons, one

God, triune, which is difficult for us to understand concepts of the

Trinity, but we will understand those things in glory when we see him as he is, for we will be made to be like him, as it says in 1

John 3, 2. So in the meantime, we are presently being made into the image of Christ, which we were predestined for, not just for salvation, but even for sanctification in order that he,

Christ, might be the firstborn of many brothers, all those who are predestined to be made into the image of the son.

And those whom he predestined, he also called. This is the start of verse 30. Those whom he called, he also justified.

And those whom he justified, he also glorified. So we've been going through the order of salvation.

And I said to you yesterday that I'd go back through this again and I would make a more distinct list for you so you know these things in a particular order.

If you're trying to write these things down, what is it that we have here? And I did a video on the order of salvation.

You can go to YouTube, type in WWUTT Order of Salvation, and that video will come up.

And all of the artwork was done by Reftunes. I love the guy that does Reftunes and managed to grab some of his artwork for this video.

So it looks snazzy in addition to being a quick summary of the order of salvation.

He did this comic which was also featured in his 2020 calendar, the

Reftunes 2020 calendar. And it has Paul sitting on two stones with a golden chain in between them.

And this is the golden chain of redemption. And then the verse that's featured there, of course, is Romans 8, 29 through 30.

So on one stone, it's etched in the stone, eternity past. And on the other stone, it says future glory.

And in between, there's a golden chain. And on each one of those rings of the chain, it has for new, predestined, called, justified, glorified.

Exactly the order that we have here in Romans 8, 29 and 30.

But this is not a comprehensive list. This is actually a short list. There are more things that happen there in the order of salvation.

And maybe you thought of that as well. You thought, well, what about faith? What about repentance? You know, where do those things come in?

So let's go through this together as I have it in the video. And we'll also go through scripture references.

Now, I have 10 steps to the order of salvation. Some would argue that there's 11 because I didn't put for no in here.

I started with predestined and kind of left for no like under the umbrella of predestination.

Here's how we begin. Predestination, number one, that's the first step in the order of salvation that God has predestined.

He has previously determined our destiny. And the Bible says he has done this before he even created all things.

So Ephesians 1, 11 says in him, in Christ, we have obtained an inheritance having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.

It's not our work. It is the work of God, which he set forth in his sovereign decree before time began.

That's number one. Number one is predestination. God has predestined his elect.

So election could fall under that as well. You have foreknowledge, election, predestination.

It's all in that first step in the order of salvation. Number two is atonement.

So first God predetermined whom he is gonna save, whom out of sinful man he would call to himself.

Number two, he atoned for their sins by giving his son to die on the cross for our sins.

And this happened in the fullness of time in God's perfect timing when he had set forth for Christ to come in the likeness of sinful man to die on the cross for our sins, rise again from the grave, and whoever believes in him will be saved.

All who believe in him are those who were predestined for this salvation. We don't know who the elect are, and it's not for us to know who the elect are.

God knows who they are, for he has purposed this from before the foundation of the world. He knew us before we were born.

That's what foreknowledge means. He placed his affection on us before we were born. He foreknew us, knows us in an intimate way.

It's not he foreknows decisions that we are going to make. He foreknows us.

He's placed his love upon us before we were even born. 1 John 4 .10,

in this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Meaning as a propitiation, Christ has satisfied the wrath of God with his death on the cross.

This is atonement. He is atoned for our sins. Now, how is it that we receive the benefits of that atonement?

It's by faith, but we're not to that stage yet in the order of salvation. Number one, we have predestination for knowledge and election.

I'll go under that. Number two, we have atonement, Christ dying for our sins.

Number three is the gospel call. Acts 16 .31

says, believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. The message of the gospel, the good news that God sent his son to die for us and whoever believes in him will not perish, but will have everlasting life.

The message of the gospel. So you have the gospel proclamation. That's the next step. God predestined, then he sent his son to atone and then the message of his gospel had to go out and be preached.

So we hear the gospel proclaimed. That's also called an external calling.

The gospel call is the external call. Number four, the fourth step in the order of salvation is the internal call, also referred to as the effectual calling.

So we hear the gospel outside. That's the evangelist, the guy that's speaking the gospel.

And then in our hearts, we believe it because we received the internal call.

Romans 10 .10, with the heart one believes and is justified.

There are many who will hear the external call, the gospel call and won't believe it because they did not have the internal call.

But those whom God had predestined for salvation, he has placed upon them that internal calling when they hear the gospel.

That's the fourth step. The fifth step is regeneration. We have that internal call of the gospel and the

Holy Spirit regenerates our hearts so that we will believe the gospel.

Titus 3 .5, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the

Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives us a new heart that we may understand the saving message of the gospel of Christ.

Romans 1 .16, I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

But remember, as we also read in Romans 3 .10, no one does anything good.

There is no one who does righteousness. So if there is no one who does good, then how could we believe the gospel, which would be a good thing?

It would be a good thing to believe the gospel, right? But no one does good. So how is it that we believe the gospel?

Because the Holy Spirit has regenerated us, has given a new heart to us that we may believe the gospel.

And I've quoted this one many times, Ezekiel 36, starting in verse 26.

I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a soft heart.

And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

We're reading about regeneration there in Ezekiel 36, which is even described as having clean water sprinkled on us.

And you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses and from all your idols, I will cleanse you.

We're no longer seeking after those things that we worship have placed above God, but now with that regenerated heart, we love

God. Previously, we hated God. We were against God. That's our sinful nature.

And we walked in the nature of Adam. We did not have a nature to love God until the

Holy Spirit changed our nature through that doctrine of regeneration to believe the gospel that we had heard.

This is all the work of God. We would not have been able to do this without that regenerating power of the

Holy Spirit in our hearts. And then we get to conversion. So the fifth step in the order of salvation is regeneration.

The sixth is conversion and that's faith and repentance.

We believe, we turn from sin and we turn to Christ. And I really believe that at conversion, faith and repentance are simultaneous.

We have people who will ask, well, what came first? Did faith come first or did repentance come first? They came at the same time because in order to turn to Christ, you have to turn from sin.

You're not walking in the direction anymore in which you were headed to destruction.

You are now moving in the direction of Christ and you will continue to pursue Christ, that thing that we call sanctification.

That's a step that's coming up here. But in order to have faith in Christ, you have to turn away from something.

So repent and believe are things that happen simultaneously. You're turning away from sin to Christ, away from this toward that.

So therefore they're simultaneous, repent and believe. And these are commands, by the way, repent and believe as Jesus proclaimed this in his very first gospel message,

Matthew 4, 17. The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of heaven is at hand, repent and believe the gospel.

Well, in Matthew 4, 17, he says, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It's in Mark 1 that he says, repent and believe the gospel.

But these commands to repent and believe, they're commandments, not suggestions, they're commands.

Those who are his sheep will obey them, will obey the voice of the shepherd. Those who are not his sheep will not obey them.

And this is all according to God's predestined plan. Those whom he has elected for salvation are the sheep that he has given to the son.

So the sixth step, once again, is conversion, faith and repentance that happens simultaneously there.

The seventh step is justification. Now we are justified in the presence of God.

We have been made innocent, declared innocent by the precious blood of Christ.

Romans 3, 28, one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

And we have received our justification. After justification, now, according to Romans 8, 30, it says we are justified and then we are glorified.

So we've got a couple of things that are missing there. After justification, we actually receive something else that was mentioned in Romans 8.

We receive adoption, Galatians 4, 5, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

So you would understand that this way. Let me put Romans 3, 28 and Galatians 4, 5 together. One is justified by faith apart from works of the law so that we might receive adoption as sons.

When you go through the Baptist confession of faith, you go through the 1689 London Baptist confession of faith, adoption is the step that's in there between justification and then sanctification.

So we are justified, we're declared innocent before God. And another way to understand that term justification or to understand justified is it's justified, never done it.

Not really, it's kind of a crude way to say it, but that is how we're presented before God.

We're declared innocent because Christ has paid for our sins with his death on the cross.

Number seven, justification. Number eight, adoption. We're now made sons and daughters of God.

We are adopted into the family of God through the precious blood of Christ. And as we have read here in Romans chapter eight, we've received that adoption as sons by whom we cry, by the spirit we cry,

Abba father. That was back in verse 15. And then as we read in verse 29 about being the firstborn among many brothers, that's a reference to adoption as well.

That word adoption isn't used there, but adoption is there in the sense that Christ is the firstborn among many brothers and we are those brothers who have been adopted in Christ.

Therefore we've received adoption. So that step is mentioned here in Romans 8, 29 and 30, though it may not be in that exact word, adoption.

The ninth step is sanctification. And it's a little out of order here in Romans 8, 29 and 30, because in 29, it says those whom he foreknew, he predestined to be conformed to the image of the son.

So that understanding that we're being conformed to the image of Christ is sanctification. And that word literally means to be made holy.

So we're being made perfect as we pursue godliness and love and steadfastness, and we endure suffering and cling to Christ.

And we look all the more toward his kingdom and we grow in the knowledge of God according to his word.

All of these things contribute to our sanctification. And Jesus said in John 17, 17, sanctify them in your truth.

Your word is truth. That prayer that Jesus prayed to the father on our behalf.

Ephesians 1, 4 says, he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him.

Not just that we would be converted, but that we would be made holy through this process that we're undergoing even now called sanctification.

That's number nine. Number 10 now in the order of salvation is finally glorification.

And glorification is not just something that we're gonna receive when we pass from this life into glory.

It's something that we have right now. It just hasn't come to its fruition or its final state, you might say.

But we have received glorification, the promise of eternal life in Christ. We have eternal life now, not when you enter heaven.

You gained eternal life when you came to Christ. Colossians 3, 4 says, when Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

So let's go back through these again. Here's our 10 steps in the order of salvation.

Number one, or you might say 10 rings in the golden chain of redemption. Is that a little bit better?

10 links. Number one, predestination. And election and foreknowledge are all right there under that first one of predestination.

Number two, atonement. Christ died on the cross for our sins. God sent his son to pay the ransom of those whom

God had predestined for salvation. Number three, we have the gospel call. An evangelist tells us, repent of your sin, believe in the

Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Number four, we have the internal call that we actually hear that gospel message with our hearts, with our spirits, not just with our ears.

And number five is regeneration. The Holy Spirit brings those dead spirits to life because of the gospel proclamation that we heard.

Repent of your sin and live. Number six, conversion. We have faith and repentance.

We now believe in Jesus and we have turned from sin. We've turned from the way of destruction that we were on to the way of eternal life.

Number seven, justification. We are now justified in the presence of God, wearing the righteousness of Christ.

And when God looks at us, he doesn't see the sin that we were in worthy of the wrath of God.

He sees the righteousness of Christ worthy of the love of God. Now, then number eight is adoption.

And these four steps here, five, six, seven, and eight, regeneration, conversion, justification, and adoption, they actually can, you might argue that they've all happened simultaneously.

So it's difficult to say which one of those will happen first, but you could surely argue that all of those happen in that, like at the same time, all right?

When you came to faith in Jesus Christ, you're now an adopted son or daughter of God. Number nine, the ninth step in the order of salvation is sanctification, growing in righteousness and holiness.

And finally, number 10 is glorification. Salvation is from beginning to end the gracious work of God, and he will save all whom he means to save.

Let's close in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the salvation that we have in Christ Jesus. And I pray that we would remember these things.

They would be written on our hearts. They are our hope and our peace that you work all things together for good for those who love you and are called according to your purpose.

And we, whom you have foreknown, you have predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ in order that Christ would be glorified, that he would be the firstborn among many brothers.

And those whom he predestined, those whom you have predestined, you have also called. Those whom you have called, you've justified.

And those whom you've justified, you have glorified. And we will ultimately receive that final glorification in the end.

May we have eyes that seek first the kingdom of God and your righteousness and all the things that we need here on earth will be added to us as well.

Thank you for your grace. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the

Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study.

Then on Thursday, we look at an Old Testament book. On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers.