Study 97 – The Doctrine of Salvation

Part 1 of 12

From Study 96

1) Four Changes Required. (1) a change in physical nature, (2) a change in position before God, (3) a
change in character, (4) a change in conduct.

• Physical – man is mortal and subject to death. Man needs to be changed to immortality.
• Position – or standing before God we are sinners and under condemnation and wrath. Man
needs to stand before God 'in Christ'
• Character – in character or inward nature, man is sinful. We are governed by self, carnal
nature, the flesh otherwise known as the old man. Instead of being dominated by the self we
need to be directed by Christ through His spirit.
• Conduct – conduct or actions, man sins and produces works of the flesh. We need to live in
righteousness and this happens when we are filled with His spirit which produces 'fruit'.

Our final physical change from mortality to immortality will come at the return of Jesus.

*****

Physical

1 Corinthians 15:50 NASB

50 Now I say this, brethren,
that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;
nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

Man's need for physical change from mortality to immortality is due to Adam's fall in the Garden of
Eden. We are born with a mortal physical body that is subject to temptation, suffering, and eventually
death. In our current state we rely on food, water, and oxygen amongst the main things. This reliance
though comes from being in a constant state of dying which will soon overtake all at one point in time.
It is a result of being in this corrupt state the we are in need of a permanent physical change. This
permanent change cannot happen in it's totality by exercise and diet. These efforts are only proven to
prolong the current state of our bodies but are limited to satisfy our deep desire to live forever and to
not see death.
The apostle Paul exhorts Timothy that physical exercises are of some benefit for this world but
the highest goal of our straining should be for our eternal benefit. Paul writes that it would be better in
the long run to train, or excise, our bodies to be disciplined in godliness as it would be of benefit in this
life and also the life to come. If we discipline ourselves for this world only and fail to tell people of the
coming Kingdom of God then we have not done it for the right reason. There is no future reward laid up
for us in the Kingdom that recognizes the best maintained body. Similarly, I want to ask you why we
pray before a meal? When the kids were young this question came up of why we were saying grace.
More than making it just a ritual before a meal there needs to be some meat on the bones in our
response or it just becomes routine. It was explained to them the same way Paul talks about training our
body.
 1 Corinthians 15:53 NASB
53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable,
and this mortal must put on immortality.

Our mortal body then must be put off if we are to attain immortality. This change can only start to
happen when we first accept the teachings of Jesus and what he expressed as the gospel, or good news.
The gospel is not just about 'getting saved' although that is one important part of a bigger picture. Paul
starts off this dialogue with a statement that is often missed. That one important part is very clearly laid
out at the beginning of chapter 15. That important part is expressed in a translation by Anthony
Buzzard.

1 Corinthians 15:1-4 The One God, One Man Messiah Translation

1 Now brothers and sisters, I want to remind you about the Gospel I proclaimed to you.
You accepted it, and you are standing firmly in it. 2 It is through this Gospel that you
are being saved if, that is, you hold on to the message which I preached as Gospel to you.
Otherwise your belief was futile! 3 I passed on to you what I myself had also
received, as items among those of first importance: the message that Messiah
died for our sins, according to Scripture; 4 that he was buried and that he was raised
from the dead on the third day, again, in accordance with Scripture.

Our physical change will come when Jesus returns. At Christ's second coming, the church will be
completed and glorified. This change in our physical nature will happen to believers whether they are
alive at his coming or dead. ALL will be changed physically. Once again, this same chapter in verses
51-53 presents what will happen.

1 Corinthians 15:51-53 NASB

51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will
sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 NASB

16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice
of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them
in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

Position

When it is mentioned that man is a sinner, it refers to his position before God. All of mankind fit into
one of two positions. We are either 'in the world' or 'in Christ.' There is no in-between position; we are
either a sinner under condemnation or a forgiven believer that is justified before God. If one is outside
Christ then they are a sinner without hope. Our Christian hope is in Christ and his work that will finally
bring immortality to us in the Kingdom of God.
 The non-Christian stands before God as a sinner under condemnation until they accept the good
news. The unbeliever is still under the curse which entered the world through Adam. Although they
may be outwardly good people involved in doing good things they will still experience condemnation
at the final judgement.
The Christian stands before God as justified because of Christ's atoning work for us. It is our
acceptance of the work of Christ and the totality of his message do we then inherit immortality. The
curse that was brought through Adam's rebellion is then lifted and we stand as new creations in Christ.
The Christian can lose this position of immortality, as Paul states in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, if they do not
persevere until the end of their life or the Lord's return while they are still alive. Accepting Christ once
in a time of conversion is only the beginning and we must persevere, stand firm, and hold on despite
obstacles. See the studies on O.S.A.S. #24, #25, #26 (Once Saved Always Saved)

Character

One's inward character must precede his physical change. Physical change shows an inward change of
mind which is known as repentance. Our character will also be changed inwardly through
perseverance, holding fast especially in times of distress that we will inevitably face. Baptism is known
as an outward expression of inward change of mind. We read of John the baptist preparing the way
meaning the people were called out to remove any obstacles that would cause them to not believe the
message of the arrival of the Kingdom of God. It was this inward change of mind that preceded their
baptism. They now accepted the fact that their coming Messiah was now their in their midst.
This same call to an inward change must be ours also. First, man's inward corruption has to
change in order for his outward conduct to follow. What man does is a reflection of what he is inside.
People sin because their inward nature is corrupted by sin. (Matt. 15:19) (Matt. 7:17) (Luke 6:45)

Jeremiah 17:9 NASB

“The heart is more deceitful than all else
And is desperately sick;
Who can understand it?

• Sins are symptoms; sin is the disease (Jer. 17:9)

• Sins are the fruit; sin is the root (Matt. 3:10 , 7:19 ; Lk. 3:9 )
• Sins are the water; sin is the fountain (Jhn. 7:38 ; Prov. 4:23)
• Sins refer to what man does; sin refers to what man is (Matt. 12:34 ; Lk. 6:45)

When character is governed by what we desire, the flesh, (Gal. 5:16-17), the result is that our conduct
will be the works of the flesh. When we allow ourselves to be motivated by our selfish desires, which
are only self-serving, then there is no lasting value (Gal. 5:19-21). On the positive side of this issue we
read that there are some earthly benefits to our character but ultimately there will be future value as
indicated by Paul in verses 22-23.
The Biblical terms used to designate man's natural disposition are the flesh, and, the carnal
mind. These are indicated using various terms, or synonyms, of the same concept. Rom. 8:4-5, 8-9,
12-13 ; 13:14 ; Gal. 3:3 ; 5:16-17, 19, 24 ; 6:8 ; 2 Peter 2:10.

The phrase carnal mind is found in Rom. 7:14 ; 8:6-7 ; 1 Cor. 3:1, 3-4. (Note that these are in the King
James Version which uses a different English. In modern translations it is usually written as mind,
thinking, thought etc,)
Paul describes man three different ways in his writings; the natural man, as outside of Christ; the
carnal man, is in Christ but Christ is not active in him. Also the carnal man is out of the world but the
world and it's pleasures are still in him; the spiritual man, is in Christ and Christ is in him.

Another term used is the old man found in Rom. 6:6 where it expresses the old nature in itself. These
last two verses refer to the old nature as it expresses itself in the conduct of the sinner. Eph. 4:22 ; Col.
3:9. (All three of these verses are also in the King James Version).

Man's corrupt nature is written by the use of words such as; I and self . Jesus said in Matthew 16:24,
“ Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up
his cross, and follow me.” Paul also said the same thing in Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with
Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I
live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

An additional term commonly used to refer to our nature is the world. As believers we are not to be of
the world. Friendships of the world is enmity with God. The world refers to the Adamic nature as
expressed in social relationships. John writes of this in John 17:16.

The Flesh, does not always refer to the physical body. The Bible uses this term in three ways: man's
physical body, animal life, and most commonly to the controlling nature of the sinner. The controlling
nature specifically refers to man's anti-God principle which governs all humans. When expressed in the
Greek it is seen as two different senses. The first one being is soma which is our actual body. The
second term sarx refers to our carnal mind or 'the flesh.' When Paul told the Roman believer that they
were not in the flesh he was not saying they did not have a body. Here Paul was telling them that as
believers they were no longer in the realm of their anti-God nature with its controlling influence. There
should be no opportunity of the Christian to be left open to this nature. The same thinking is carried
over in Galatians 5:24 as he was not indicating that the believer actually experiences real physical
crucifixion. Simply stated, it would mean that as believers we should put to death the carnal mind and
give it no opportunity to influence our thoughts and conduct.

Conduct

The fourth factor that needs to be addressed is the conduct of the believer. It needs to cause change in
the deeds, and actions, the things which are done.
The sinner needs to experience a change in physical nature from mortality to immortality. This
final change will ultimately come at Christ's return. The sinner needs to experience a change in their
legal standing before God from condemnation to justification. Instead of being dominated by the self or
the carnal mind they need to stand before God in Christ. There needs to be a change to the inner nature
and not be dominated by the controlling nature of our flesh. Instead of committing acts of sin and
failing to perform works of righteousness, the Christian needs to live in righteousness and to be filled
with the fruit of the spirit. Those whose life is filled with sin will not be saved. A change of conduct is
required.