Howard Taylor.

93. Q. Is our salvation complete in this life?

A. It is  not complete,  but it is nonetheless real. In this life we have the first fruits of the Spirit, but we still wait for the hope of righteousness. Until that day we are sealed with the Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it.

94. Q. In answer to question 79 you briefly referred to the results in our lives of faith and new birth in Christ. Can you expand on them?

A. I would like to expand on them under the headings, justification, liberation and sanctification, all of which are given to us when we are baptised by the one Spirit into the one Lord Jesus Christ.

95. Q. What is justification?

A. Justification is a legal term from the ancient law courts. It means being put in the right relationship with the court. The wonder of the gospel is that sinful humans through the death and ascension of Christ are put in the right relationship with the Judge of all the earth. In Christ we are forgiven and  brought  into the presence of God. Because we are now in a right relationship with God, we have peace with God through Jesus Christ. In a word we could say that justification is forgiveness and reconciliation with God. We noted earlier (Q. & A. 35) that one of the consequences of our breach of faith and rebellion was our separation from God.

96. Q. What is liberation?

A. We also noted in Q. and A. 35 that another consequence of our fall into sin was our bondage to forces of evil. Christ our King did battle with the forces of evil and defeated them in his death on the cross, where he died in our place. He sets us free from bondage to Satan, sin and fear of death, so we are free to do his will.

97. Q. Does this mean that the Christian is not bothered by Satan?

A. No. Satan still tempts us to sin, but has no power over us. Similarly, although the Christian does not practise sin any more, we still are not so free that we do not need daily to ask for forgiveness. The prayer 'Forgive us our trespasses and deliver us from evil' is the prayer of the Christian community until the Lord comes.

98. Q. What is sanctification?

A. We saw that a third consequence of the fall of humankind was that our nature became spoilt by sin. We are by nature unclean. But the Son of God became one of us and brought us cleansing through his blood. In union with him we share his holiness and love. He plants his seed of love in our hearts and puts his axe at the root of sin in our hearts.

99. Q. Does this mean we need to cultivate the new seed of love and put to death the evil in our hearts?

A. Yes, for the one who sows in the field of his own natural desires will gather a harvest of death, but the one who sows in the field of the Spirit will gather the harvest of eternal life.

REFERENCES

93. Rom. 8:23-25; Eph. 1:13,14; Gal. 5:5; Phil. 3:12-16.

94. Rom. 8:1-2; 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 2:20; 1 Pet. 1:2; Rom. 6:17-18; Col. 1:13-14.

95. Rom. 3:21 - 5:2.

96. Col. 1:13-14; John 8:34-36; Heb. 2:14-15; 1 John 3:8.

97 1 Cor. 10:13; Heb. 2:18; 4:15; 1 Pet. 5:8; Eph. 6:10-17; 1 John 3:9; 1John 1:7 - 2:2; Luke 11:4;             Matt. 6:12-13.

98. Matt. 3:10; Rom. 5:5; 1 Cor. 1:2.

99. Gal. 5:16-26.