GRACE BIBLE CHURCH
Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries
DOCTRINE OF SALVATION
Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Faith is the only system of perception that is
totally devoid of any human merit. Only the object has merit, and in salvation the object of faith is
Our Lord Jesus Christ. No one has ever been saved by asking Jesus to come into his heart or life.
How much faith does it take to be saved? It takes just a little bit more than no faith at all.
The perfect salvation work of Christ on the cross, which is called expiation, excludes anything else
being added to faith. No works of any kind are allowed.
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that [salvation] not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.i
What is grace in relationship to salvation? Grace is all that God is free to do for unsaved mankind
on the basis of the saving work of Christ on the cross. Grace is extended to unbelievers, who are
living under spiritual death in total depravity and total helplessness regarding salvation. Therefore,
salvation is a matter of grace, and entirely the work of God. Salvation is the work of the Father in
judging our sins, the work of the Son in being judged for our sins, and the work of the Holy Spirit in
common and efficacious grace. This is why the way of salvation is faith in Jesus Christ -- faith
alone with no works or emotions added to it.
Lake of Fire
The Lake of Fire is the final destination for both fallen angels and unbelieving mankind, and it is
both literal and eternal. The Lake of Fire was prepared originally for Satan and his fallen angels.
Matthew 25:41 Then He will also say to those on His left, Depart from Me, accursed ones,
into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;
However, unbelievers will also go there, with no way of escape.
John 3:18 He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged
already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
John 3:36 He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will
not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.
Hebrews 9:27 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,
The first occupants of the Lake of Fire will be the beast and false prophet of the Tribulation,
Revelation 19:20. The devil will also be in the Lake of Fire, Revelation 20:10. After the Great
2
White Throne Judgment, the unbelievers of the human race will also occupy the Lake of Fire,
Revelation 20:14. Unbelievers are pulled out of the fire of Hades, judged, and cast into the Lake of
Fire, Revelation 20:15 and 21:8.
Both torments in Hades and the Lake of Fire are vividly described in Mark 9:48, where their worm
does not die [this represents the conscience], and the fire is not quenched. Everyone should hear the
screams of those who die burning in total agony, so that they will understand the importance of
believing in Jesus Christ. In eternity, the screams never stop; they go on forever and ever and ever,
simply because the souls there refused the so great salvation provided by Jesus Christ.
There is a place of final destiny for every member of the human race who has rejected the Gospel
and the doctrine of salvation. It is described as: a place of torment, Luke 16:28; a place where
desire is never met, Luke 16:24; a bottomless pit, Revelation 9:2; outer darkness, Matthew 8:12; fire
unquenchable, Luke 3:17; the furnace of fire, Matthew 13:42. It is a place of unspeakable misery,
indicated by the phrase eternal fire. Many believe it is a place with a liquid form of lava referred to
as the lake, which burns with fire and brimstone, Revelation 21:8. It is described as black darkness
in Jude v.13; a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth, Matthew 13:50; and it is said about those in
Hell that
the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, in
Revelation 14:11.
If this is all true, then we should all see the value of understanding the doctrine of salvation; and by
understanding it, also being accurate in its presentation. God is perfect and His ways are perfect
and accurate. This is why Ephesians 5:15 says, Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise
men but as wise.
Salvation by Works is Rejected by theWord of God
There are at least eight categories of salvation by works rejected by the Word of God, as stated in
Ephesians 2:9, not as a result of works. They are as follows:
1. SALVATION BY VERBAL WORKS
Repent and believe. Repent means to change your mind about Christ, as occurs under the
Holy Spirits ministry of common grace. The word repent has been misinterpreted as
feeling sorry. No one is saved by feeling sorry for his sins.
Confession of sins. This is only for the believer after salvation.
Begging God to save you. This is ridiculous, coming from one who is spiritually dead.
Inviting Christ into your heart. This is total nonsense and blasphemy. A spiritually dead
person cannot invite Eternal God, The Lord Jesus Christ, anywhere; not into his heart, or his
home, or his life. It is stupidity, asininity, emotion, and works.
Acknowledging Christ publicly. This is not effectual for salvation. It is a distortion of
Romans 10:9-10 which refers to cause and effect. The cause is faith; the result, as the
believer matures, is to witness and to acknowledge Christ.
3
2. SALVATION BY RITUAL WORKS
Circumcision. This was a favorite of the Jews. The book of Galatians was written to
correct this issue. The Galatians were typical Gaelic people, and they were very excited
about Pauls ministry, responded to it, and became believers. However, after Paul left, the
Judaizers counteracted, telling these new believers that they could not be truly saved until
they were also circumcised. The new Gentile believers accepted the idea, so Paul wrote
Galatians, a letter telling them that they had gone astray from the Gospel. Paul likened the
Galatians to the priests who had mutilated themselves to impress God, which of course
didnt work.
Baptism. The idea of salvation by baptism is prominent today. It was started by the
Catholics, and copied by the Lutherans during the Reformation. It is a heresy that has
always existed in the Church Age. In reality, baptism was a testimony to, and identification
with, retroactive positional truth and current positional truth, prior to the completion of the
Canon.
Partaking of the Eucharist. This is a favorite of Roman Catholicism, which teaches that
The Lord Jesus Christ goes back into their body, after having left it, through the taking in of
the Eucharist.
3. SALVATION BY PSYCHOLOGICAL WORKS
Come forward in an invitation extended at the end of a service.
Raise your hand during prayer.
Walk down an aisle.
Give public testimony to your faith in Christ.
These make an issue of yourself and call attention to yourself. But salvation is designed to
call attention to Jesus Christ and no one else.
4. SALVATION BY CORPORATE WORKS
Join the church. If you dont join, you are not saved.
Tithe. This was commanded in the Mosaic Law as a 10% income tax for the client nation
Israel. Tithing has no spiritual connotation, either for salvation or blessing. Giving is a
matter of the privacy of your own priesthood, and the amount you give is based on your own
self-determination and has nothing to do with any blessing.
Church-related works. Just work faithfully around the church and God will save you.
5. SALVATION BY RELIGIOUS WORKS
Satan counterfeits Christianity through religion. Religion is one of the greatest systems of
both moral and immoral degeneration.
Keep the Mosaic Law. This is a result of the Reformation. It started out with justification
by faith, but it gradually moved to the works of keeping the Law and eventually developed
4
into the Galatian compromise, which stated, first you have to believe in Christ, then you
have to keep the Law.
Do penance. A favorite of Catholicism. The noun penance has basically three meanings:
(1) remorse for your past conduct; (2) a Catholic sacrament: repentance and confession,
then satisfaction and absolution; and (3) self-mortification, self-abasement, i.e. voluntary
self-punishment in order to atone for some wrongdoing. All of these are in direct
contradiction to the finished work on the cross.
Practice the Lordship of Christ. This refers to the false doctrine taught which says, if
Christ is not Lord of all, Hes not Lord AT ALL. This is a failure to understand one of the
forty-plus things done for us at the moment of salvation. By the Baptism of the Holy Spirit,
which enters us into union with Christ, He is Our Lord at the very moment of salvation.
Whether we recognize this or not is a matter of cognition of pertinent doctrine. Regardless,
we do not have to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord to receive salvation. It is simply
believe in Christ.
Practice asceticism. What we give up at any time is inconsequential! People want to take
what they have sacrificed or given up in their lives and compare it with the work of Jesus
Christ on the cross.
Self-denial and maintaining a healthy body. To associate salvation or spirituality with
health foods and vitamins is ludicrous.
6. SALVATION BY BEHAVIORAL WORKS
Salvation by morality. Morality has to do with establishment; it is not the Christian way of
life. The pre-designed plan of God is higher than morality. Moral degeneracy is very
prominent in Christianity today, whereby Christians in their arrogant self-righteousness are
trying to straighten everyone and everything out, by superimposing Christian laws and
standards on both believer and unbeliever.
Salvation by personality change. Although a change in ones personality may be
desirable, it is not the means of salvation.
Salvation by keeping taboos. Many think you cannot really be saved unless you stop
drinking, smoking, dancing, wearing makeup, swimming in mixed company, etc.
7. SALVATION BY EMOTIONAL WORKS
Faith is a non-meritorious act of perception and has nothing to do with emotion!
Salvation by ecstatics, or speaking in tongues. No one has legitimately spoken in tongues
since August of 70 A.D. The gift of tongues was a temporary spiritual gift at the beginning
of the Church Age to evangelize Jews in Gentile languages, as prophesied in Isaiah 28.
Where people allege that speaking in tongues, or the so-called second blessing, is necessary
for salvation, they are either very emotional or demon possessed.
5
Salvation through feeling saved, or weeping tears at the altar. Again, faith has
nothing to do with emotion.
8. SALVATION BY INVITATION
We do not invite Christ anywhere. He does not come to us; we come to Him by believing in
Him. Remember Our Lords invitation in Matthew 11:28: Come to Me, all who are weary
and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
John 6:35 Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not
hunger, and he who believes in me will never thirst.
John 6:37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me
I will certainly not cast out.
John 6:47 explains what it means to come to Christ: Truly, truly, I say to you, he who
believes [in Me] has eternal life. Always in the salvation invitation we go to Jesus
Christ; He does not come to us. Therefore, note that there are three blasphemous invitations:
We do not invite Christ to come to us. Revelation 3:20 is addressed to believers: Behold,
I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in
to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. This is a verse dealing with recovery from
carnality, and has nothing to do with salvation.
We do not invite Christ into our heart. Jeremiah 17.9 teaches about our heart, The heart
is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it? Inviting
Christ into our heart is an emotional form of legalism.
We do not invite Christ into our life. Romans 5:12 teaches about our life, Therefore, just
as through one man, sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread
to all men, because all sinned.
The unbeliever is under spiritual death, which means total depravity and being completely
cut off from God. We do not invite Jesus Christ into a state of total depravity, and we do
not invite Jesus Christ into spiritual death. We make no invitations to Jesus Christ! If that
is all youve ever done, you had better believe in Jesus Christ or you will spend eternity in
the Lake of Fire. Salvation is through faith alone in Christ alone; He invites us to come to
Him we do not invite Him to come to us.
Faith Plus Nothing as the Condition for Eternal Salvation
Salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone; nothing is added. There are three reasons for faith plus
nothing as the condition for eternal salvation:
1. Efficacious grace (God doing the work and God getting the credit), documented by
Ephesians 2:8-9.
2. Our Lords utterance on the cross, Tetelestia! [It is finished, with the result that it stands
finished.]
6
3. The direct statement of Scripture.
COMMON AND EFFICACIOUS GRACE
Efficacious grace fits into the pattern of faith alone. When the spiritually dead person responds to
the divine call or invitation to eternal salvation, he simply responds by believing in Jesus Christ.
This is classified as faith alone, or faith plus nothing. When the spiritually dead person simply
believes in Christ, God the Holy Spirit causes the faith to be effective for eternal life. This is
classified as efficacious grace, or the Doctrine of Effectual Faith. The faith of the spiritually dead
person indicates positive volition and a non-meritorious function that is compatible with grace.
However, because the spiritually dead person who believes in Christ is helpless, his faith is
ineffective without the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirits efficacious grace causes the
unbelievers faith to be effective. However, no works can be added to faith. The Holy Spirit can
only make faith and faith alone effective for salvation. Any works added to faith in Christ are dead
works, and the Holy Spirit does not make dead works effective for salvation. Principle: If a person
adds any works at the moment of believing in Jesus Christ, he or she is NOT saved at that point. If
anything at all is added to faith, God the Holy Spirit will not touch it, and so there is no efficacious
grace. The omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit will make effectual only non-meritorious faith
alone in Jesus Christ.
The very nature of real spiritual death at birth eliminates any system of salvation by works. The
spiritually dead person is incapable of doing anything to obtain salvation. Spiritual death at birth
includes: (1) total depravity, which means moral or immoral degeneration; (2) total separation from
God; (3) total helplessness to attain a relationship with God; and (4) dichotomy, which is having
only a body and soul, without a human spirit. Because of all this, we are unable to understand the
simplest concepts of the Gospel. The spiritually dead person can only produce dead works, which
have no validity with God.
In the function of evangelism, there are two acts of human volition: (1) hearing the Gospel, which
is non-meritorious; and (2) believing in Jesus Christ, which is non-meritorious. However, the
spiritually dead person is unable to understand what he hears, and powerless to make his faith in
Christ effective for salvation.
The sequence of the pre-salvation grace ministry of God is as follows:
1. In common grace, the Holy Spirit makes the gospel message perspicuous [clear and
understandable], to a spiritually dead individual.
1Corinthians 2:14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for
they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually
appraised.
2. God the Father invites the spiritually dead person to believe in Christ, which is referred to as
the divine call.
3. The spiritually dead person believes in Christ, and the Holy Spirit causes faith to be
effective for salvation, which is called efficacious grace.
7
The spiritually dead person can choose to listen to the Gospel and believe in Christ; but these two
decisions come from spiritual death and are powerless to provide salvation or make faith effective.
Therefore, pre-salvation clarification of the Gospel is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit. The
omnipotence of God provides the ability for the unbeliever to understand the Gospel, believe in
Jesus Christ, and to accept the invitation. At the moment of simply believing, the Holy Spirit makes
our faith effective for salvation.
When any works are added to faith in Christ, the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit will not cause that
faith to be effective. The reason is because divine omnipotence and human works, or human power,
are mutually exclusive and mutually restrictive. Consequently, human works added to faith in
Christ cancels faith because human works is human power, which is rejected by grace.
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that [salvation] not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Both charis [grace] and pistis [faith] are in the feminine gender. Then follows the peritactic kai,
translated and, which is used to coordinate expressions that have no syntactical relationship in the
Greek. This is followed by the neuter gender of the immediate demonstrative pronoun houtos
which cannot refer to either grace or faith. And so the phrase and that refers to salvation in general;
that [salvation is] not of yourselves, because it is the gift of God under the grace ministry of the
Holy Spirit. We are spiritually dead, meaning we are under total depravity, total separation from
God, and totally helpless to do anything about it. Being spiritually dead, we cannot even understand
the Gospel because we have spiritual brain death. So, first the Holy Spirit makes the Gospel clear
and understandable through common grace. Then when we believe, by expressing positive volition
toward the salvation work of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit takes our faith [positive volition] and
makes it effectual for salvation. Therefore, salvation is not from ourselves, because it is a matter of
common grace, the divine call, and efficacious grace; and that is why it is referred to as a gift from
God.
The Roman Catholic Church
Salvation by grace is very important to understand, especially in the light of the fact that we live in
a part of the nation where Roman Catholicism is very popular. Roman Catholic salvation adds
works to faith in Christ, and salvation by Roman Catholic faith is not true salvation. Many Roman
Catholics, when questioned, claim that they believe that Christ died on the cross for their sins;
hence, they allege to believe in Christ. But at the same time, the Roman Catholic Church has a
system of penance and works that they follow for salvation; and those Catholics who follow that
system of penance, indulgences and works for salvation are not saved! They have cancelled any
benefit of their faith by adding the works imposed upon them by the Roman Catholic religion.
For instance, the Roman Catholic Church believes in Purgatory, which they call an intermediate
state after death designed for expiatory purification, especially from venial sins, which they claim,
are sins capable of being forgiven. Many of them light candles or say masses for the dead. None of
this is legitimate, and all of it is works.
There are, however, Roman Catholics that do not depend on penance or a system of works for
salvation, and these individuals are truly saved. Therefore, it is impossible to judge whether any
Roman Catholic is saved or not, since only the individual himself knows. If he is depending alone
8
on the work of Christ on the cross, he is saved. But if he adds and follows the system of penance
and works professed by the Roman Catholic Church, he is not saved. The Roman Catholic view of
Purgatory, mortal sins, and penance, forms a system of ecclesiastical works that nullifies faith in
Christ. One of the 40+ things we receive at salvation is eternal life. Therefore, we do not have to
practice a system of works to ensure or regain salvation, as is alleged by the Roman Catholic
Church and many other protestant churches.
Some Roman Catholics are saved because at some moment in time they believed in Christ alone for
salvation, totally apart from the ritual and penance imposed by the church. The Roman Catholic
belief that believing Christ died for their sins on the cross, followed by adherence to penance and
indulgences to get into Heaven, is not salvation. Salvation is by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.
The practice of any form of works is contradictory; therefore faith is nullified by these works.
The Correct Order of Evangelism
When someone communicates the Gospel to an unbeliever, the Holy Spirit, under the ministry of
common grace, makes only what is accurate understandable and lucid. Then follows the divine
invitation of God the Father to believe in Jesus Christ for eternal salvation. The invitation from
God the Father is taught in John 6:44: No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me
draws him
. God the Father draws by the ministry of the Holy Spirit in making the Gospel
clear. The invitation from God the Son is found in John 10:27-28: My sheep hear My voice, and I
know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no
one will snatch them out of My hand. Finally, in efficacious grace, the omnipotence of the Holy
Spirit makes faith in Christ effective for salvation. Therefore, in principle, the spiritually dead
come to Christ for salvation, not the reverse. The spiritually dead person does not invite Christ to
come to him.
TETELESTAI! OUR LORDS UTTERANCE ON THE CROSS
Another reason for the fact that salvation is by faith plus nothing is the statement of Our Lord on the
cross immediately after he was judged for the sins of the world. After bearing and being judged for
our sins, Jesus Christ was still very much alive, as noted by the fact that He said, Tetelestai,
which is translated finished in the past with the result that it stands finished forever. It is the
spiritual death of Jesus Christ on the cross and his saving work that is in view in the phrase,It is
finished! in John 19:30.
Like animal sacrifices in which literal blood was used, in the physical death of Christ we also have
literal blood involved; however, the blood was inside His Body, not spilled all over the cross.
John 19:28-37 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to
fulfill the Scripture, said, I am thirsty. A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a
sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. Therefore
when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, It is finished! And He bowed His head and gave
up His spirit. Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not
remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs
might be broken, and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the
first man and of the other who was crucified with Him; but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He
was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a
9
spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testified, and his
testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe. For these
things came to pass to fulfill the Scripture, Not a bone of Him shall be broken. And again
another Scripture says, They shall look on Him Whom they pierced.
We need to remember that Old Testament rituals, that so graphically depicted the saving work of
Christ, pictured His spiritual death. His spiritual death is the source of our salvation. Therefore, the
physical death of the sacrificial animal actually represented the spiritual death of The Lord Jesus
Christ. This analogy will not be confused if we understand the nature of the Lords physical death,
and see that although it has great significance, it was not the means of salvation. The means of
salvation was not the physical death of Christ, but His spiritual death, so we must understand that
the sacrificed animals physical death was not a picture of Christs physical death. If it were, the
animal would have been nailed to a cross, or Christ would have been slaughtered on an altar!
John 19:34 But one of the soldiers
[This is a Roman soldier stationed at the cross.]
John 19:34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear,
The Greek word for side is
pleura, which refers to the part of the chest where there are no bones, or the chest cavity.
and immediately blood and water came out. Notice that word immediately; this was
literal blood. In fact, it was blood clots and serum.
The Lord Jesus Christ had blood inside of His body when He died; He did not bleed to death. He
was fully in control and in command of Himself on the cross. As John 10:17-18 says, For this
reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has
taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I
have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father. The red liquid
that ran through the veins and arteries of Jesus body is not related to our salvation, and there is no
Biblical basis for attributing any unusual or magical formula to His blood. Our Lord was minus an
old sin nature, but that was because of the virgin birth and the Doctrine of Impeccability. From
His own volition, He chose not to sin, or as Isaiah 53:10 says,
He would render Himself [His soul]
as a guilt offering [for sin]. The term Blood of Christ is far more significant than any magical or
mystical power falsely ascribed to His physical blood. In John 19:30, we are told that The Lords
literal blood was not a factor in either his spiritual or His physical death.
John 19:30 Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, It is finished! And He
bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
After The Lord Jesus Christ paid the penalty for sins, He announced that salvation was finished.
Then He bowed His head and gave up His life.
John 19:31 Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not
remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs
might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
The religious Jews were always up to something; they would strain at a gnat and swallow a camel.
This is a typical evil of religion. They were very particular about the superficialities of life, while
ignoring, avoiding or rejecting the things of eternal importance. They had just demanded and
10
secured the execution of the only perfect man who ever lived, their own Messiah! And now, in
their hypocrisy, they are concerned about a man hanging on a cross during the Sabbath.
What is meant by the day of preparation? Preparation is the Greek word paraskeue and it refers
to the day when the Jews prepared either for a weekly Saturday Sabbath or for a special feast
Sabbath. The Jews, who were so fussy in observing all of these detached ceremonies and rituals
that spoke of Christ, had just witnessed the Passover right before their eyes. But, did they believe?
They did not! Religion had blinded them, and blinded by their religion and superstitions, the Jews
failed to understand the real significance of the holy days. Principle: Ritual without reality is
meaningless.
Notice the last phrase in John 19:31:
[they] asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and
that they might be taken away. It was Roman custom to leave a body nailed to the cross until the
flesh rotted away. However, Jewish law demanded that the body of any criminal be put out of sight
during a Sabbath or feast day in order not to pollute the land, Deuteronomy 21:22-23. Therefore,
the Romans would break the legs by using a heavy mallet in order to crush their bones and cause the
body to hang. And these filthy pious religious Jews certainly did not want their victim, whom they
had railroaded through the courts, to be hanging on a cross during one of their high Sabbaths.
John 19:32 So the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who was
crucified with Him;
The Roman soldiers went up to the two thieves, one on each side of The Lord Jesus Christ; and, in
order to be able to take them down before the Sabbath, the soldiers pounded their legs until their
bones were crushed. Once the bones were crushed, the body would hang and suffocate. Then, in
deeper shock and unable to force themselves up to relieve the pressure on their muscles, the thieves
could not exhale in their lungs, and so they died of suffocation.
The Jews were waiting for the same thing to take place at the cross of Jesus Christ; however, notice
verse 33, but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.
The Lord Jesus Christ was already physically dead. Plus, the fact that the soldiers did not break His
legs is a fulfillment of specific promises contained in the Old Testament scriptures.
Exodus 12:46 It is to be eaten in a single house; you are not to bring forth any of the flesh
outside of the house, nor are you to break any bone of it.
Numbers 9:12 They shall leave none of it until morning, nor break a bone of it; according to
all the statute of the Passover they shall observe it.
Psalms 34:20 He keeps all his bones, not one of them is broken.
John 19:36-37 For these things came to pass to fulfill the Scripture, Not a bone of Him
shall be broken. And again another Scripture says, They shall look on Him Whom they pierced.
God keeps His Word to you and me today, just as He did throughout all the generations leading up
to the cross. Passover after Passover, over the time period of nearly 1500 years, the Jews had
carefully prepared their Passover lamb in such a way as never to break even one of its bones. Every
time they went through this ritual, they were saying in effect, Gods Word is true and God will
11
fulfill His promise. Now here, after the crucifixion, Gods character was on the line. In spite of the
insidiously evil demands of the religious Jews
in spite of Pontius Pilates orders
in spite of the
entire Roman army
not one bone could ever be broken! Why? Because God keeps His Word,
no matter what is involved! God always honors and respects His Word, and therefore, Bible
Doctrine resident in your soul is your source of confidence and security (doctrinal vindication).
John 19:34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and
water came out.
The soldiers had laid down their mallets when one of them picked up his spear and hurled it into
Jesus side. In doing so, He fulfilled Zechariah 12:10,
so that they will look on Me, Whom they
have pierced.
The Lord Jesus Christ anticipated that Satan would attack the cross by perverting the meaning of the
blood in an attempt to obscure the importance of spiritual death. So, while still on the cross, Our
Lord provided proof that He did not bleed to death; and unlike that of the sacrificial animal, His
literal blood has no spiritual significance. Therefore, Our Lord purposely thrust His body forward
to demonstrate for all to see and for John to record that He did not die from loss of blood.
The Greek word pleura, translated side, refers to the chest cavity. When the soldiers javelin
penetrated upward through Christs rib cage without breaking any bones, immediately blood and
water gushed forth. This is possible only under certain conditions. The word for water is hudor,
and this word is used in the medical sense for the grayish-yellow fluid that separates from the blood.
Instead of blood and water, a more accurate translation would be blood and serum. Blood is
made up of two basic components: red corpuscles and white platelets. When the blood in the body
of Jesus Christ stopped circulating and started to settle, it also began to separate. The white
platelets, being lighter than the red corpuscles, floated to the top. So, when the spear was thrust into
the chest cavity, out came blood (red corpuscles) and serum (white platelets). The blood was not
clotting in His body, just separating. For the blood inside the body to separate into red corpuscles
and white platelets, or serum, death must not have been caused by bleeding. This is why the word
immediately is used to demonstrate the accumulation of the blood in the body. And so, despite
prolonged physical torture during His trials and sufferings on the cross, Jesus physical death came
suddenly.
And how did His death come? Well, with complete self-control and clarity of mind, Christ sent
away His spirit. He did bleed
his back was beaten, his hands and feet were nailed, thorns were
forced into His scalp! But all these lacerations and puncture wounds did not kill Our Lord, and
external bleeding was not the cause of death. Internal hemorrhaging would have resulted in very
little blood remaining in the heart. The very sight of blood and serum is medical proof not only that
Jesus was physically dead, but that He did not bleed to death.
The Biblical evidence is conclusive; yet, the crucifixion accounts fit perfectly with medical
knowledge. With Christs body thrust forward, it remained in the perfect position for the maximum
amount of blood to settle in the dependent portion of the heart. The evidence to all who witnessed
the crucifixion, along with those studying this verse, as to the exact manner of His physical death, is
recorded forever in the Word of God. If this evidence is missed, the blood of Christ will be
misunderstood, and His finished work will be misunderstood as well.
12
In John 19:30, The Lord Jesus Christ said, Tetelesti! [It is finished!] This is the perfect passive
indicative of teleo. The intensive perfect refers to a completed action with emphasis on existing
results of that past action. Hence, it refers to a present state resulting from a past action. The
present state is that salvation is available. The past action is that Jesus Christ was judged for our
sins. The intensive perfect states in a strong way the fact that a thing is. In the perfect tense, teleo
means, it has been finished in the past with the result that it stands finished forever. The
passive voice represents the subject, Jesus Christ, as being acted upon by someone else; i.e., God
the Father, Who imputed our sins to Jesus Christ and judged every one of them. The omnipotence
of the Father imputed all of our sins to Christ on the cross. The justice of the Father judged every
sin in the history of the human race. Jesus Christ received the action of the verb, being judged as
our substitute for the sins of the human race. However, remember that Jesus Christ completed that
action on the cross while He was still alive. The indicative mood is declarative for a dogmatic
statement of doctrine. John 19:30 therefore indicates that the work of salvation was completed on
the cross. And when something is completed, nothing can be added to it!
The one thing for which we can take absolutely zero credit is faith; none of us earn or deserve
salvation. The only condition for eternal life is non-meritorious personal faith in Jesus Christ,
whose substitutionary spiritual death on the cross provided the efficacious work for salvation. That
is why Our Lord said after He had been judged for our sins, It is finished! Salvation was
completed on the cross. There is nothing we can add to it now or ever. Eternal salvation is a free
gift that is compatible with Gods policy of grace. Therefore, it is attained by faith alone in Jesus
Christ. By adding any human effort or merit to faith for salvation, man is in competition with God,
and that alone is blasphemous.
The phrase blood of Christ actually speaks of three basic doctrines with regard to His saving work
on the cross: the Doctrine of Propitiation, Romans 3:25; the Doctrine of Redemption [solving
the sin problems], Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 1:14; and the Doctrine of Reconciliation, Colossians
1:20. Remember that, although His literal blood was minus the old sin nature, when His blood is
mentioned in Scripture it refers to the saving work of Our Lord Jesus Christ. In Leviticus 17:11, the
phrase, for the life of the flesh is in the blood refers to animals, not to humans. We are a higher
order of creature than animals; we have a human soul, and human life was imputed to that soul, not
to our human blood. When the soul leaves the body, it is the sign of physical death. When a person
dies, his blood remains in his body; only the soul and human spirit are
absent from the body and
at home with the Lord, 2Corinthians 5:8.
The blood of Christ had no magical formula or special mystifying substance. His blood was minus
the old sin nature, but it was His soul that gave His blood value, not His blood that gave his soul
value. The thought of that is blasphemous. As God He was not able to sin, but as man He was able
not to sin. It is the person of Jesus Christ that gave His blood value; and His sinless unstained blood
was not the issue in salvation, it was His spiritual death and His Soul. It was not the blood that
prevented His soul from sinning; it was His soul that kept His blood from being affected by a sin
nature.
Animal blood was the basis for setting up a representative analogy, or a teaching aide. The animal
blood was used to teach the fulfillment that takes place on the cross. Therefore, when the blood of
Christ is mentioned in the New Testament, it is a reference to His saving work on the cross.
Ephesians 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our
13
trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
Hebrews 9:14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit
offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God?
1Peter 1:19 but [redeemed] with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the
blood of Christ.
Revelation 1:5 To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood --
Romans 5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the
wrath of God through Him.
Hebrews 13:12 Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own
blood, suffered outside the gate.
1John 1:7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one
another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
DIRECT STATEMENT OF SCRIPTURE
The third reason why salvation is based on faith plus nothing is the direct statement of Scripture.
John 16:8-9 And He [Holy Spirit], when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and
righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me
Our personal sins are not an issue in salvation. They were an issue at the cross, and Jesus Christ
was already judged for every one of them. Therefore, the Holy Spirit, who convicts us with regard
to salvation, never convicts us with regard to our personal sins. However, the one sin He convicts
us of is the only sin for which Christ could not die: the sin of rejecting Him, or the sin of unbelief.
John 3:15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him shall not perish [eternal security], but have eternal life.
John 3:18 He who believes in Him [Christ] is not judged; he who does not believe has been
judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Notice that the word believe is repeated three times in this verse, and that no works are added to it.
John 3:36 He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not believe in the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on Him.
The issue in salvation is that you either believe in Christ once, or you do not believe.
John 6:47 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.
14
John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her [Martha], I am the resurrection and the life; he who
believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.
You have to believe while you are alive; there is no second chance after you die.
John 20:31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son
of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
Acts 16:31 They said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your
household [meaning, if anyone in your household believes in Christ, they too are saved].
Notice that the command is to believe; there is nothing added to it.
Galatians 3:26 For you are all sons of God [Royal Family] through faith in Christ Jesus.
Notice that nothing is added to faith.
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to
everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek [Gentile].
Everyone is saved the same way, both Jew and Gentile. They are saved, not be keeping the Law,
but only by believing in Christ.
Romans 3:20-22 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for
through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God
has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets [Old Testament], even the
righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no
distinction;
Romans 3:28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the
Law.
Notice it is by faith apart from works. This means that when a person adds any type of works
whatsoever to faith, he is not justified and therefore not saved.
Romans 4:4-5 Now to the one who works [for salvation], his wage is not credited as a favor,
but as what is due. But to the one who does not work [for salvation], but believes in Him who
justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness
Romans 4:14 For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise
is nullified;
In other words, God has lied and turned back on His promises.
Galatians 2:16 nevertheless knowing that a man [spiritually dead person] is not justified by
the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so
that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the
15
Law no flesh will be justified.
How are we justified in the eyes of God?
Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through Our Lord
Jesus Christ.
The only way of salvation is one act of personal faith in Jesus Christ with nothing added to it. To
add to faith in Christ for salvation is no salvation at all. If, when you believe in Christ, you are
depending upon something else besides faith in Christ, you are not saved.
Philippians 3:9 and may [I] be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived
from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on
the basis of faith.
2Timothy 3:15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able
to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
Even if you later renounce your faith in Christ, you are still saved.
2Timothy 2:11-13 (ASV) Faithful is the saying [Word]: For if we died with Him [Christ; and
we have, through retroactive positional truth], we will also live with Him [Christ]; if we endure
[suffering for blessing], we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He also will deny us [escrow
savings account blessings for time and eternity]; if we are faithless [do not believe, after we are
saved], He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.
God the Father cannot deny the indwelling of the Trinity.
Romans 3:24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ
Jesus;
Salvation is said to be by grace, and grace is God doing the work and God getting the credit, and
excludes human works.
Romans 4:16(a) For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with
grace,
Romans 5:1-2 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this
grace in which we stand;
Romans 5:15 But the free gift [of salvation] is not like the transgression. For if by the
transgression of the one [Adam] the many [human race] died [spiritual death], much more did the
grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.
Romans 5:17 For if by the transgression of the one [Adam], [spiritual] death reigned
through the one [Adam], much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of
righteousness will reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ.
16
2Timothy 1:9 who [God the Father] has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not
according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in
Christ Jesus from all eternity past,
CHRISTs DEATH AS A SUBSTITUTION
Christ died has a substitute for us once; we believe in Him once.
Hebrews 9:27-28 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes
judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once
Romans 5:8 demonstrates the proposition of substitution: huper plus the genitive of ego in the
plural. But God demonstrates His own love toward us [this is impersonal unconditional love for all
mankind in the status of real spiritual death], in that while we were yet sinners [objects of divine
impersonal love], Christ died [as a substitute] for us. This is substitutionary spiritual death on the
cross.
1Peter 3:18 (ASV) For Christ also died once for our sins, the righteous one [impeccable
humanity of Christ] as a substitute for the unrighteous ones.
Notice how this word once keeps occurring. It is the Greek word H-A-P-A-X-Z. In this verse we
have huper plus the genitive of advantage of adikos, which means, on behalf of the unrighteous
ones or better still, as a substitute for the unrighteous ones.
In both Romans 5:8 and 1Peter 3:18, Christ died as a substitute for us. Notice that both verses say
Christ died once. So our response to the one act of sacrifice is one act of faith, and faith alone. By
one act of faith, we have eternal life.
Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for
[instead of, in place of, on behalf of, as a substitute for] us for it stands written (Deuteronomy
21:23), Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree [cross]
The Law puts a curse on sin. Jesus Christ, as our substitute, was judged for our sins. In Galatians
3:13, the Doctrine of Redemption is used because it is talking about the Mosaic Law. The Mosaic
Law is designed to put us into the slave market of sin. The only way we can be redeemed from the
slave market of sin, as members of the human race, is for someone to pay for our freedom. Jesus
Christ paid for our freedom on the cross. That is the meaning of redemption. Yet, the Mosaic Law
is used by many as a means of salvation. Such people add the works of the Law to faith in Jesus
Christ. That is why Romans 3:20 says, because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in
His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. The purpose of the Law is to make us
aware of the fact that we are sinners with an old sin nature.
Romans 3:28 adds, For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.
This means faith alone, and only one time is necessary for us to believe in Christ. And the first time
we do believe, we possess eternal life.
17
Galatians 2:16 nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but
through faith in Christ Jesus,
One act of faith in Christ is all it takes to possess eternal life.
1John 4:9-10 By this the love of God [impersonal love for all mankind] was manifested in us, that
God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him [or we might
be saved]. In this is love [by this is divine impersonal love for all mankind manifested], not that we
loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Propitiation means that once God the Father imputed and judged all our sins in Christ on the cross,
at that very moment He was satisfied completely with the work of Our Lord. There is only one
work of salvation that satisfies God the Father, and that is the saving work of Jesus Christ on the
cross.
Grace in salvation is the work of God. God the Father imputed our sins to Jesus Christ on the cross.
God the Son received the imputation and judgment for our sins on the cross through His
substitutionary spiritual death. God the Holy Spirit reveals the plan of salvation to the spiritually
dead person under the Doctrine of Common Grace. So an invitation from God is extended. When
that invitation is accepted, it is simply by believing in Jesus Christ that God the Holy Spirit makes
our faith effective.
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that [salvation] not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Therefore, the whole principle of eternal salvation is faith and faith alone.
.
i All verses are taken from the New American Standard Bible, unless otherwise noted. Corrected translations by Pastor
Robert R. McLaughlin from the original Greek or Hebrew text appear in brackets.
SALVATION
Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Faith is the only system of perception that is
Pastor Robert R. McLaughlin
