Mystery of Salvation

By Professor P. V. Ntintili

It is important for us to know that the doctrine of salvation, just as is the case with other doctrines, is a mystery. Mystery does not refer to something that is esoteric and ethereal, which can be known only by a select few who have an exclusive exposure and access to what the uninitiated do not have. Mystery simply refers to something that has not been revealed and which, after it has been unveiled, ceases to be a mystery. There are deep truths about salvation which can be easily missed if dealt with superficially. This book probes into the depths of such revelational truths. We thank God that they have been revealed in the Bible.

What does it mean to be saved? What are the various dimensions of salvation? What happens to the sinful nature, which we all inherited from our forebears, when we get saved? What does it really mean to receive Christ as one’s Lord and Saviour? What does John 10:10b mean which says, ‘I have come so that you might have life and have it abundantly?’ Is it possible for the fallen sinful nature to cohabit the same space with Christ? Is it really possible to live a consistent victorious life? These and other questions are probed and answered in the book. If you wish to gain clarity on the issue of salvation, then this book is a must. But for you to benefit from it, you need to approach it with an open mind. You must not read it with your preconceived presuppositions on salvation. It quotes quite copiously from the Bible and this is deliberate. It forces the reader to interact with the Word of God in order to ascertain whether these things are so or not. It is hoped that you will read it not only for the purpose of broadening your intellectual horizons but, even more importantly, in order to deepen your personal walk with God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Professor P. V. Ntintili
• Release date: May 8, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463844243

Book preview

Mystery of Salvation

Mystery of Salvation

Professor P. V. Ntintili, Ph.D.; Th.D.

Copyright © 2018 Professor P. V. Ntintili

Published by Professor P. V. Ntintili Publishing at Smashwords

First edition 2018

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without permission from the copyright holder.

The Author has made every effort to trace and acknowledge sources/resources/individuals. In the event that any images/information have been incorrectly attributed or credited, the Author will be pleased to rectify these omissions at the earliest opportunity.

Published by Author using Reach Publishers’ services,

P O Box 1384, Wandsbeck, South Africa, 3631

Edited by Brenda van Rensburg and Hugo Chandler for Reach Publishers

Cover designed by Reach Publishers

Website: www.reachpublishers.co.za

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dedication

Preface

Introduction

1. Salvation is on the Heart of God

2. The Mystery of Salvation

3. The Pre-Fall Nature of Man

4. How the Pre-Fall Man Was Created

5. The Post Fall-Man

6. Four Types of People On Earth

7. Accessing All the Gifts of God

8. Accessing Salvation

9. The Role of the Word in Salvation

10. The Role of the Holy Spirit in Salvation

11. The Role of Faith in Salvation

12. The Role of the Cross in Salvation

13. False Salvation

14. Assurance of Salvation

15. Categories of People On Earth

16. Necessary Mysteries for Salvation

17. Five Central Mysteries

18. Salvation And Great Exchanges

19. Salvation and Brokenness

20. The Primary Purpose of Salvation

21. The Core Message of This Book

22. Your Personal Response to Salvation

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Dedication

This book is dedicated, first and foremost, to Christ who revealed Himself to me and saved my life. I cannot thank Him sufficiently for what He did for me. I shudder to think of what could have happened to me and with my life if He had not saved me. I also dedicate it, with much appreciation, to Brother GbileAkanni, my discipler, from whom I have learned so much. Christ used him to help my life and that of my dear wife, Felicia. Without his input into my life I could never have written this book. I could have probably written a book that was extremely erudite and theologically sound (according to my theological persuasion) but void of any personal revelation from the Spirit of God. While I deeply appreciate His contribution to my spiritual development, I totally absolve Him from any error that might be found in the book. Errors are part of my personal growth in my walk with the Lord.

Preface

The Bible is an inexhaustible source of teaching on so many areas of our lives. Christ told His disciples that whosoever hears His words and puts them to practice is like a wise person who builds his or her house on a rock (Matt. 7:24-25). When the storms of life hit that house, it will not fall because it was built on rock. The Word of God tells us in 2 Tim. 3:15 that the Scriptures make us wise for salvation. Any person who wishes to be saved needs to prayerfully read the Bible and put into practice all that it says. If we were to read the Bible without the preconceived interpretations that we get from our various denominations, we would be correctly saved. If all of us read the Bible and took it at face value, our understanding of salvation would be the same.

The biggest problem is that we read the Bible through the spectacles of our denomination’s theology. It is for this reason that we have so many divergent notions of salvation. If we do not fastidiously hang on to what the Bible teaches on salvation, we may think that we are saved when in fact we are not saved at all. It is also possible to have inadequate or incomplete information on salvation. The problem with this is that a truncated Gospel cannot bring about complete salvation. Inevitably, it will bring about, at best, truncated Christian life. To be properly saved, we should base our understanding of salvation squarely on the Word of God. Any teaching that gives a distorted version of salvation is dangerous and must be avoided (Gal. 1:8-9).

There is a subtle problem when it comes to salvation; namely the problem of an incomplete Gospel which leads to incomplete salvation. It is possible to have responded to the Gospel invitation and to have accepted Christ as your Lord and Saviour and yet still be missing something very critical. Jesus said to the religious rich young ruler, One thing you lack. I got saved in the late 60s and I lived for God a life that was righteous and holy for about five years. Then I found myself struggling; I was rising and falling. Yet inside of me I truly loved God just like Paul who says in Rom. 7:22, For in my inner being I delight in God’s law. Yet there was another law, the law that made me a slave to sin. Paul bemoans his situation as I did, and he says, in Rom. 7:23, But I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. In utter despair of this life that lacked consistency, I cried like Paul and said, What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? (Rom. 7:24). But there is deliverance on the cross of Christ. I could now safely state, There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. The key phrase is "who do not walk after the flesh, but after the Spirit." This speaks of deliverance from the tyrannical control of the flesh. It is one of the things this book is emphasising about salvation. It is a mystery which Christ accomplished for every person on His cross.

It is my prayer and my sincere desire that God will encounter you as you read this book. I counsel you to pray before you read it and as you read it; may God speak to you beyond the feeble words of this book. God can reveal Himself to you if you request Him to do so. May you realise all the dimensions of salvation and, even more importantly, may you embrace them for yourself.

I was preaching and teaching the Word of God even though there was a paralysing deficiency in me. It was frustrating indeed, and I did not know how to permanently overcome it. When you do not know how to solve a problem, you will find answers to it that will assuage your bothered conscience. I concluded that it was not possible to live a perfect life here on earth. I convinced myself that we shall realise perfection after this life, just before we enter Heaven. I had to strangely assume that imperfection would enter Heaven. But if we can’t be what God expects us to be in this life, then the salvation that Christ procured for us on the cross is woefully inadequate. Yet, Christ cried out, It is finished! (John 19:30). May He finish any query or question in your heart! Read the scriptures cited in the book and do not read them through the theological or doctrinal lenses of your church or theological persuasion. Just kindly take God’s Word at face value and allow it, in its simplicity, to say what it means. What you will need is to unquestioningly believe the Word of God and appropriate it for your life. May God richly bless you as you go through the pages of this book! May the mystery of salvation, in its totality, become real to you! If God manages to help you through the pages of this book, then pass it on, with prayer and supplication, to someone else.

Introduction

The topic that this book is investigating is a critical one; it is that of the mystery of salvation. The word mystery is an important one. In mystery religion, mystery referred to esoteric knowledge, religious awareness and experiences which were offered to an exclusive class of initiates, and not offered to the rest of the people. This knowledge and experiences were offered at the time of initiation and at later stages. The emphasis in mystery religions was on the secrecy of what the privileged few knew and were not allowed to divulge to the uninitiated.

Millard J. Erickson explains that persons who were initiated into mystery religions, were given various truths which were to be kept secret.

In the Bible the idea of mystery is totally different. W.L. Liefeld, in The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopaedia of the Bible explains that the word means, The counsel of God, unknown to man except by revelation, especially concerning His saving works and ultimate purposes in history. Mystery refers to God’s unfathomable wisdom on which the plan of salvation is based. Who would have thought that life would, for example, come out of death? Yet salvation is based on the death of Christ, which the enemies of God regarded as triumph over Christ and a defeat for the Kingdom of God. Mystery has to do with the hidden wisdom of God which eluded even the powers of darkness. That is why 1 Cor. 2:7-9 says, Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. Verse nine says that if the princes of the kingdom of darkness had known, they would not have crucified our Lord Jesus Christ because it led to their demise.

In the book we talk about many mysteries that are necessary for salvation to take place. For example, salvation would never have been possible if the mystery of incarnation had not taken place. God had to become man and live among us and have a human body for Him to be able to die on the cross. Another mystery that was necessary for salvation to be possible is the mystery of the virgin birth. Christ had to be born by a virgin and thus born sinless, if He were to die for the sins of the world. Even the prophets who prophesied about this mystery, did not fully understand what they were talking or prophesying about. Every aspect of salvation is a mystery.

For a mystery to be known, it must be revealed. We cannot know mystery through scholarly research or human intelligence. God must reveal mysteries to His people. Paul himself states that he came to know the mystery of salvation by revelation. The Bible tells us that Paul was highly educated under a celebrated scholar called Gamaliel (Acts 22:3). Despite his vast education, he could not know the mystery of God. In Eph. 3:3-5 he says that, The mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. If there is something which I know and which nobody else knows, those who will know it, will do so if I reveal it to them. The same thing applies to God. The only way we can know His mysteries is when He reveals them to us. Deut. 29:29 says, The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law. Revelation is ‘making known that which is unknown; the unveiling of that which is veiled.’ We are arguing in the book that if you are to fully grasp the mystery of salvation, God must reveal it to you. You cannot fully comprehend it by using your mere intellect. God has revealed it to His people the prophets and apostles and they, by God’s grace, wrote it down. So, we know the mystery of salvation through the Word of God. Yet, for us to understand the Scriptures, God must reveal them to us. This is important to understand. As you read this book, I request you to pray for revelation.

If we will understand God’s revelation, God must enlighten our minds. We refer to this to this process of enlightenment as illumination. Millard J. Erickson explains that illumination refers to, The work of the Holy Spirit giving understanding when the Scripture is heard or read. Mystery is known by revelation and revelation is understood by illumination. If we are to understand the mystery of salvation, God must reveal it to us and the Holy Spirit must enable us to understand what the Scriptures are saying about salvation. For you to understand and to receive salvation, the Holy Spirit must be at work.

In this book we explain that there are four processes that are necessary for one to fully understand and receive salvation. First, you must know the truth. Second, you must believe the truth you know. Third, you must appropriate (receive for yourself) the truth which you have known and believed. Fourth, what you have believed God for will manifest in your life. While intellectual perception is not totally excluded, nobody is genuinely saved who has just understood the truth of salvation by his or her mind. At best what will happen is what we call mental assent or concurrence to the truth of God’s Word. This often produces spurious salvation. If you are to be properly saved, the Holy Spirit must reveal the truth of God’s Word concerning salvation and it must convict and convert you. The knowledge we are talking about here is not intellectual but revelational. It is critical for you to recognise this truth. Even when revelation has come to you, it will not help you unless you have appropriated it for yourself. Otherwise it remains general truth that does not mean much to you.

We will be discussing, in this book, various dimensions of salvation which one must know, believe-in and then appropriate them for himself or herself. We will talk about salvation from sin, the world system and from captivity to Satan. We also need to receive Christ into our lives as Lord and Saviour; He must become our life (Col. 3:3-4). Pray that revelation will break forth to you and that the Spirit of God will illumine your hearts and minds to fully understand the truths explained in this book. As we have already said, the purpose is not to inform you but to transform you. May God succeed in radically transforming your life through the knowledge of the truth about salvation! If He succeeds, you will never regret it.

Chapter One

Salvation is on the Heart of God

It is essential for us to know that salvation is on the Heart of God. In many scriptures God is called Saviour. For example, Deut. 32:15 says, Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; filled with food, he became heavy and sleek. He abandoned the God who made him and rejected the Rock his Saviour. (See also 1 Sam. 22:47; 1 Chron. 16:35; Ps. 18:46; Isa. 43:3; 45:21; Luke 1:47; 1 Tim. 1:1; 2:3). We are His heritage and He would not be happy to see us perish. God the Father is personally interested in our salvation from sin and eternal damnation. The Bible says in 1 Tim. 4:10 that He is the Saviour of all men.

Our Lord Jesus Christ is the One who came to execute God’s plan of salvation. He is the Saviour of the world. Acts 13:23 says, From this man’s descendants God has brought to Israel the Saviour Jesus, as he promised. (See Phil. 3:20; 2 Tim. 1:10; Titus 1:4; 2:13; 2 Pet. 1:1, 11; 2:20; 3:18). He Himself asserted that He had come to, Seek and to save what was lost (Luke 19:10). Even before He was born, it was predicted that He would save people from their sins (Matt. 1:21). His mission to the earth is, primarily, to save people. The Bible says that Christ was sent to the world not to condemn it or judge it, but to save it (John 3:17). Paul testified that Christ came to save sinners and he was the chief of them. In 1 Tim. 1:15 he testifies, Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. The Samaritans also acknowledged Christ as, The Saviour of the world (John 4:42). This truth that Christ is the Saviour of the world is alluded to in the Old Testament and is clearly enunciated and elucidated in the New Testament. Paul, in particular, was skilled in spelling out the salvation that is found in Christ.

The Holy Spirit is deeply involved in the salvation of humans from sin and hell. It is not possible for anyone to be born again without the Holy Spirit. It was Christ Himself who taught that the new birth is the work of the Holy Spirit (John 3:8). In John 16:11 He taught that the Holy Spirit would convict people of sin, righteousness and the judgement to come. Paul also taught about the new birth as something that is effected by the Holy Spirit. He states in Titus 3:5, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of regeneration.

The fact that the Triune God is intensely involved in our salvation shows how the matter of salvation of human beings ranks very high in heaven. That is why the Bible says that there is joy in heaven over one person who repents. Luke 15:7 says, I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. Verse ten tells us that angels also rejoice when one sinner repents. 2 Pet. 3:9 tells us that God is patient and that He does not want to bring this world to its close because He does not want any person to perish, but all to come to repentance. Heaven is passionate about the issue of salvation of humans. 1 Tim. 2:4 says that God wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

There are three important things we need to note about God and salvation. The first is found in the verse we have quoted above, namely 1 Tim. 2:3-4 which says, This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. Please note the phrase all men to be saved. God wants every single person on earth, regardless of race, creed or religion, to be saved. We are told that there are seven and half billion people on earth and God wants each one of them to be saved. Until every person on earth has been saved, God is not satisfied. Christ died so that each person on earth could be saved and there is enough provision for the salvation of every person who has ever lived and those not yet born. We should not forget this fact that God wants all men from all races and ethnic groupings to be saved. Titus 2:11 says, For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. This means that there is sufficient provision for the salvation of all people who have been or will be born to this earth. 1 Tim. 4:10 tells us that Christ is the Saviour of all men. We too should carry the same burden for all people to be saved. It is important for us to know this truth.

Second, the Bible tells us that God does not want any person to perish. 2 Pet. 3:9 says, The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. The key phrase is anyone to perish. God does not want a single person to perish. Rather He wants all of them to come to repentance. This is the other side of the coin of all men to be saved. He does not want anyone to perish but rather all men to be saved. We should also have the same compassion for people and should not wish a single person to go to the lake of fire which God prepared for Satan and his fallen angels (Matt. 25:41).

The third thing we want to note is that God wants the world to be saved; and not just individuals. John 3:16 tells us that God wants the world to have eternal life. Verse 17 goes on to say that God sent His Son to save the world and not to judge it. In this verse and in many other verses we learn that God is interested in saving the whole world. This does not contradict what we have said about God wanting to save all people and not wishing that any should perish. The "all people" that He wants to save are the people of the world. He does not want any person in the world to be lost. Another phrase that is used which means the world is ends of the earth. Ps. 2:8 says that God wants to make the ends of the earth to be Christ’s possession. Ps. 22:27a says that, All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD. We believe that God is going to send us a revival which will accomplish what this verse is saying. Ps. 67:7 says that all the ends of the earth will fear Him. Isa. 45:22 says, Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. The Bible also speaks of the nations who will return to God. We all know that the world is made up of nations. Ps. 46:10 says that God will be exalted among the nations. Ps. 22:27b says that, All the families of the nations will bow down before him. The Psalmist is praying in Ps. 67:2 that God’s salvation might be known among all nations. I say Amen to this prayer! Ps. 72:11 says, All kings will bow down to Him and all nations will serve Him. Verse 17 says that all nations will be blessed through Him, and they will call Him blessed. Isa. 2:2-3 says, In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths. The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem." Rev. 7:9-10 speaks of nations, kindreds, peoples and tongues praising God. It says, After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands. And cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb’.

We are also urged to make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:19). In Acts 1:8 it says that after the Holy Spirit has come upon us, we shall be witnesses in Jerusalem, all Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Our mandate is to reach out to individuals, communities, nations and the entire world. That is why world evangelisation is so critical. Mark 16:15 says that we must preach the Gospel to every creature. Luke 24:47 says, "And that repentance and