Salvation: The Same Plan Throughout All Time
Thought under consideration addresses how God’s plan for the salvation of the soul has been the same throughout all of time. This means that lost humanity in the days of Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Paul, and in our day have all been born of the Holy Spirit the same way. This is a very important point. If lost humanity has been born again the same way throughout time then several religious teachings are false. For example, people don’t become a member of the Church when they become a child of God; people can’t become a child of God by performing good deeds; and Church ordinances can’t make a person a child of God. So then, to understand that soul salvation has been received the same way down through time justifies our serious consideration.
There are several scriptures teaching that lost humanity has always been born again the same way. Let us focus on one point of doctrine that reveals this to be true. The scriptures teach that the Holy Spirit has always taken residence within a person who has been born again. Notice some scriptures that present this.
(1 Pet 1:10-11) Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: {11} Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when It testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
These verses refer to the prophets who spoke before Jesus Christ was born into the world. These prophets spoke during different periods of time: before the flood; before the giving of the law at Mount Sinai; and during the dwelling in the promise land. This verse states that the Spirit of Christ was in those prophets. Verses from the New Testament, addressed to those who have been born again since Christ’s ministry on the Earth, teach the same thing in regards to the Holy Spirit being in the children of God.
1. (Rom 8:15) For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 2. (Gal 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. 3. (1 John 3:24) … And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us.
These are three different quotes referring to the same thing. These verses point out that the Holy Spirit is received by the children of God. They point out that Christ abides within the children of God. They also point out how we know that He is within us and that is by the Holy Spirit which He has given to us. So then, the Holy Spirit dwells within a child of God since Christ’s ministry on the Earth.
With this in mind, what was the condition of the prophets who lived before Christ’s ministry on the Earth? The verses given from 1st Peter pointed out that the Spirit of Christ was in them. If the Spirit of Christ was within those men of God the same as the Spirit of Christ abides within a child of God in this day, doesn’t it seem certain that people who are the children of God today have the same condition of those who were children of God back then? According to the scriptures, this must be the case.
Notice some points that this makes. The salvation of the soul couldn’t have been dependent on the Church being present because salvation is the same before and after its establishment. When the Church is considered then, something that is in addition to salvation must be under consideration.
Let’s be careful to rightly divide the Word of Truth.