The Trinity in Salvation

          (Highlights from an article on "eternal security of the believer,"
     by James R. White, Effectual Grace Blog - June 2012).


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          The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all have parts to play in the sal-
     vation of a person.

          The Salvation of the believer is based on the Tri-une nature of God.


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          THE FATHER AND THE SON


          "(Jesus said), 'All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever
     comes to me I will never cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to
     do my own will but the will of Him who sent Me, that I should lose nothing
     of all that he has given Me, but raise it up on the last day."

          "For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and
     believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."

          " ... No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.  And
     I will raise him up on the last day.  It is written in the Prophets, 'And they will
     all be taught by God.'  Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father
     comes to Me -- not that anyone has seen the Father except He who is from God;
     He has see the Father.  Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal
     life."   John 6:37-40; 44-47


          All the Father gives to Jesus will come to Him - everyone!  (v 37)
          The Father gives people to the Son as a gift of love.

          As a result of grace working in his life, each person the Father gives to Jesus,
     will come to Him.

          Those given to Jesus by the Father are secure -- He will never cast them out.
     Impossible!
          Jesus will never cast them out because He came to do the will of the Father
     (v 38).  The will of the Father is that Jesus lose none given to Him, but raise them
     up on the last day (v 39).


          The believer's salvation is secure because:

                               1) The will of the Father is that none are lost.

                                    and

                               2) Those not lost are those given to the Son by the Father.

          There is security in the Father and the Son!

          The believer can be secure because salvation is the complete work of God.
     Man is the object of salvation through grace given by the Sovereign God, who
     grants grace to those whom He desires.

                               "What shall we say then?  Is there injustice on God's part? 
                                 By no means!  For He says to Moses, ' I will have mercy
                                 on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on
                                 whom I have compassion."

                               "So then it (salvation) depends not on human will or exertion,
                                 but on God, who has mercy.  For the Scripture says to Pharaoh,
                                 'For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show
                                 my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in
                                 all the earth."

                              "So then He has mercy on whomever He wills, and He hardens
                                whomever He wills."            Romans 9:15-18


          The believer comes to Jesus for salvation because of God's grace and love,
     and not because of anything in himself!

 
          However, that's not all the good news.


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          SEALED BY THE SPIRIT


          The believer is sealed by the Holy Spirit, who is the down payment guaran-
     teeing his inheritance (salvation and eternal life in heaven).


                              "In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of
                               your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised
                               Holy Spirit, who is the gurarantee of our inheritance until we acquire
                               possession of it, to the praise of His glory."   Ephesians 1:13-14


          The Holy Spirit comes and dwells in the believer, securing and preserving his
     eternal salvation.

          To be sealed by the Holy Spirit means He marks the believer as His own pos-
     session.

          So, the believer receives the promised Holy Spirit and an inheritance.
     The Holy Spirit guarantees that the Father will complete the work He began in the
     salvation of the believer.

          The ultimate purpose of redemption is God's glory.


          The Holy Spirit empowers and sanctifies the believer.


                         "May the God of hope fill you joy and peace in believing, so
                          that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope."
                          Romans 15:13


                         " ... a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly
                           service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gen-
                           tiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit."
                           Romans 15:16


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          All three members of the Trinity have a vital role to play in the salvation
     of His people.

          The Father sovereignly chooses them for salvation.  He gives them to the
     Son who obediently saves them, and raises them to eternal life.

          The Holy Spirit empowers them and seals them as God's own possession.

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          God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit bring about the sal-
     vation of the believer, and because salvation is of God, the believer can be
     certain of His eternal security.