Salvation
THE CENTRAL PURPOSE OF GOD’S REVELATION in Christ
is to call his creation back into fellowship with Himself. Originally created
to have fellowship with God, we humans defied God, choosing to go our independent way, and thus our race
was alienated from God and suffered the corruption of our nature, rendering
us unable to please God. This “fall” took place at the dawn of human history, and all individuals since have suffered these
consequences and are thus in need of the saving grace of God.
The salvation of mankind is, then, wholly a work of God’s free grace, not the result, in whole or in part, of human works or goodness. This work of God must be personally appropriated by repentance and faith. When God has begun a saving work in the heart of any person, He gives assurance in his Word that He will continue performing it until the day of its full consummation.
