Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | Psalm 68:19 ¶ Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, The God who is our salvation. Selah. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Psalm 68:19 ¶ Blessed be the Lord, who bears our burden day by day, The God who is our salvation! Selah. |
Subject: Salvation: Instantaneous, progressive? |
Bible Note: Nolan: Of course, you are using the term "salvation" as a synonym for "justification," which I hold to be a validly biblical way of looking at it. We are justified only once. The interesting thing, however, is the faith that results in justification is a continuous faith, not a fleeting one. Christ speaks of such a fleeting faith in the parable of the soils: "The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away." --Matthew 13:20-21 Apostasy is a real-life thing, so it is also fair to say that while justification is an instantaneous event, it is lifelong in its effect. It is interesting to note that Martin Luther, who gave back to the church justification by faith alone, began his 95 Theses with this statement: "Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said Poenitentiam agite, willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance." Repentance unto life is a constant thing that characterizes the whole life of believers, not just one brief moment of a "sinner's prayer." That is the danger of linking salvation to a "decision moment" in time, even though we are justified at the moment we truly place saving faith in the work of Christ alone. --Joe! |