THE COMPLETENESS OF SALVATION

Introduction

Gods salvation* is marvelously complete in every respect. In this web site we would like
to present the greatness of Gods complete salvation of the believers in Christ. So great a
salvation is of two aspects: one judicial, and the other organic. The first is related to
Gods law, and the second to Gods life. By redeeming sinners judicially, and thus
fulfilling the righteous requirement of His law, God is then free to save them by His life
organically according to His hearts eternal desire. Through such a salvation, God is able
to save His believers from more than sin. Indeed, God is determined to save us in His life
unto glorificationHis full expression in man for eternity. Furthermore, His salvation is
for every part of our beingour spirit, our soul, and our body. By daily enjoying and
experiencing Gods complete salvation, the believers in Christ cooperate with God for
the accomplishing of His eternal purpose. No wonder Paul refers to Gods complete
salvation in Hebrews as so great a salvation (2:3).

AN OVERVIEW OF GODS COMPLETE SALVATION

What does Gods complete salvation mean to us? Why do we need to be saved? From
what are we saved, and how does God save us? Why do we describe His salvation as
complete? In this site we have endeavored to answer these and other crucial questions
related to Gods complete salvation.

The Bible reveals to us that in eternity past God had an eternal purpose (Eph. 3:11)
according to His good pleasure (Eph. 1:5, 9) together with an economy, or plan to fulfill
that purpose (1 Tim. 1:4; Eph. 1:10; 3:2). Gods eternal purpose is to have a group of
people, a corporate man, created in His image and likeness (Gen. 1:26). Further, God
desires that this man be filled with Him as life for the purpose of expressing Him and
having His dominion to represent Him (Gen. 1:28). Thus, in order to gain such a
corporate man, God has to first dispense Himself into man as life. But before He could
do so, His enemy Satan came in to deceive man and to inject his own sinful life and
nature into man (Rom. 5:12). Through this satanic intrusion, man fell into a deplorable
condition full of sinful acts and constituted with a sinful nature, ruining him for Gods
great purpose.

God, however, cannot be defeated! Though man fell and Gods plan was frustrated, God
still loved man and would not be deterred from His purpose. Therefore, God took action
to save man and to accomplish His eternal purpose. This divine action is what we will
call His complete salvation.

MANS PROBLEM IS TWOFOLD

In order to understand Gods complete salvationthat is, the steps He takes to save man
and to fulfill His purposewe must first see an overview of mans fallen condition.
Mans fall resulted in two major problems. First, because of Adams disobedience, man
(denoting all of mankind) has come under Gods condemnation (Rom. 5:18); he is under
the wrath of God (John 3:36) and is therefore awaiting Gods judgment (Heb. 9:27).
Second, because man ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, he actually partook
of the sinful life of Satan. When he did this, all three parts of his being (spirit, soul, and
body) were damaged. Mans first problem is before God and it is objective, that is,
external. But mans second problem is subjective, that is, within himself.

The objective problem before God

Man sinned by disobeying Gods commandment and thus came under Gods
condemnation (Rom. 5:18; John 3:18). This is mans objective problem before
God, meaning that this problem, while related to man, remains outside of man.
We can describe this problem as follows:
 Because of mans disobedience, or transgression, we have all come under
Gods condemnation (Rom. 5:18a).
Because we were condemned by God in Adam, we are all under the wrath
of God (John 3:36b).
Because of Adams sin, man will be judged by God and cast into the lake
of fire to suffer Gods judgment for eternity (Heb. 9:27). God prepared
the lake of fire not for man but for Satan and his fallen angels (Matt.
25:41), but because man was deceived by Satan and followed him to
rebel against God, man must now also share Satans judgment in the lake
of fire (Rev. 20:15).

Objectivelyoutwardly and before Godthis is the wretched condition into

which man has fallen due to Adams transgression. Therefore, rather than
enjoying Gods life and expressing Him, man has been condemned to die and to
suffer Satans eternal judgment with him.

The subjective problem within man

Mans second problem resulting from the fall is subjective, that is, within
himself. By partaking of the tree of knowledge, man did not merely commit an
error which could be resolved by Gods forgiveness. Man actually took in the
sinful life of Satan. When this satanic life entered into man, his entire being was
deadened, ruined and corrupted:

Mans spirit was deadened (Eph. 2:1), forfeiting its function to contact
God and to receive Him as life.
Mans soul was ruined. His mind, which was created for the purpose of
knowing God, became darkened and blinded, unable to know Him (Eph.
4:17-18a). Mans emotion, with which man was intended to love God,
was usurped and drawn away from loving Him. Finally, mans will, which
God gave him in order that he would choose God and obey Him, became
rebellious against God (Eph. 2:2b) to the extent that man himself has
become the enemy of God (Col. 1:21).
Mans body was corrupted, changed into the sinful flesh. The sinful life of
Satan now indwells mans body (Rom. 7:17-18a). It is this life, full of
lusts and every evil element, that has made mans body a body of sin
(Rom. 6:6b), so strong to sin, and a body of death (Rom. 7:24), so weak
to serve the Lord or to please Him.

We have now seen an overview of mans fallen condition. He has sinned by

disobeying Gods commandment and has therefore come under Gods
condemnation. He also now has within him the sinful life of Satan. In this
condition, man is helpless, unable to save himself or others from Gods coming
judgment. Man is also unable to keep himself from sinning and further offending
God. Fallen mans final destination is the lake of fire, which has been prepared
by God for Satan and all those who follow him (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 20:15).
Hence, in every way, man is both hopeless and helpless.

An illustration can help us to understand the nature of these two problems. Imagine that a
child told by his mother not to drink from a bottle of poison disobeys her and drinks from
it anyway. He has not only disobeyed his mother and gotten into trouble with her, but
much more seriously, he has ingested poison and will die unless a remedy can be found
and applied.

By eating of the tree of knowledge, man not only disobeyed God and came under His
condemnation; he also partook of the poisonous nature of Satan. Therefore, in His
salvation God has to resolve both the problem of mans disobedience as well as the
problem of the poisonous, sinful life of Satan which man has taken in.
Mans two big problems after the fall
How it relates to Gods purpose, why it is called complete, and its two aspects
he two aspects of Gods complete salvation

For if we, being enemies, were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much
more we will be saved in His life, having being reconciled Romans 5:10

Gods salvation is twofold

In His salvation, God must resolve both the problem of mans disobedience and
the problem of the poisonous, sinful life of Satan which man has taken in.
Therefore, Gods complete, twofold salvation deals first with our problem before
God (the judicial aspect); second, and more importantly, it takes care of the
subjective problem within us (the organic aspect). The first aspect resolves
mans objective problem before God. The second aspect fulfills Gods eternal
purpose to gain a corporate group of people filled with Him as life to be His
expression for eternity.

The following quote by F. Godet further identifies these two aspects:

The work of Jesus in the world is two-fold. It is a work accomplished for

us, destined to effect reconciliation between God and man; it is a work
accomplished in us, with the object of effecting our sanctification. By the one, a
right relation is established between God and us; by the other is the fruit of the
re-established order. By the former the condemned sinner is received into the
state of grace: by the latter the pardoned sinner is associated with the life of
God.How many express themselves as if when forgiveness, with the peace
which it procures has been once obtained, all is finished, and the work of
salvation complete. They seem to have no suspicion that salvation consists in
the health of the soul, and that the health of the soul consists in holiness.
Forgiveness is not the re-establishment of health; it is but the crisis of
convalescence. If God thinks fit to declare the sinner righteous, it is in order that
He may by that means restore him to holiness. (qtd. in Gordon 8)

In speaking of reconciliation and sanctification, Godet is referring, respectively,

to the judicial and the organic aspects of Gods complete salvation. Judicially, we
are received into the state of grace. Organically, we are associated with the
life of God. According to Godet, the goal of Gods complete salvation is not
forgiveness but holiness, that is, that we would become partakers of the divine
nature (2 Pet. 1:4) and thus have our whole being permeated with God Himself.

THE COMPLETE SALVATION OF GOD HAS TWO

ASPECTS THE JUDICIAL AND THE ORGANIC. THE
FOLLOWING PARALLEL TABLE CONTRASTS THESE
TWO.

THE JUDICIAL ASPECT: ORGANIC ASPECT:

THE JUDICIAL ASPECT: ORGANIC ASPECT:
Solves mans problem
Fulfills Gods purpose
According to the
Through the life of God
righteousness of God
(Rom. 1:17b; 5:10b)
(Rom. 1:17a; 3:21-26)
The purpose of Gods
The procedure of Gods
salvation
salvation
For the believers to be
To meet the righteous
transformed and to grow
requirement of Gods law
and mature in life
Accomplished through the
Carried out by the life of
death of Christ (Rom.
Christ (Rom. 5:10b)
5:10a)
Being carried out by
Accomplished by Christ in
Christ in His heavenly
His earthly ministry (John
ministry (Heb. 7:25; 8:2)
19:30)
The five items of the judicial redemption
the five items of Gods judicial redemption were accomplished objectively
outside of us, by the death of Christ. These five items are the base of Gods
complete salvation. They qualify and position the believers to enjoy Gods
organic salvation and to enter into Gods grace for the accomplishment of Gods
eternal economy and for the attainment of Gods ultimate purpose. These five
items are:

Forgiveness of sins
Washing away of sins
Justification by God
Reconciliation to God
Positional sanctification

What Christs death accomplished for the believer.

The eight items of the organic salvation

The eight items of Gods organic salvation are accomplished within us by the life
of Christ. These include:

Regeneration
Shepherding
Dispositional sanctification
Renewing
Transformation
Building up
Conformation
Glorification

These eight items comprise the purpose of Gods complete salvation. The key to
experiencing each of these sections of Gods organic salvation is the divine Spirit
mingled with our human spirit. The term the Spirit in this context refers to the
Spirit of God who has passed through all the processes of incarnation, human
living, crucifixion, and resurrection. Thisconsummated Spirit now dwells within
the spirit of the believers in Christ (Rom. 8:9; 2 Tim. 4:22). The working
together of these two spirits affords us the way to experience all spiritual things,
in particular all the aspects of Gods organic salvation.

What Christs life does in the believer.

The interrelation between the judicial and the organic aspects of Gods complete
salvation

There are five ways in which Gods judicial redemption and Gods organic
salvation are interrelated (The Organic Aspect 74-76):

Gods judicial redemption as the procedure qualifies and positions the

believers to enjoy Gods organic salvation.
Judicially, the church of God was produced through Gods objective
judicial redemption (Acts 20:28). Organically, the church of God is
constituted with the people regenerated by God in the divine life (Eph.
1:22-23).
Gods organic salvation needs to be maintained constantly through Gods
judicial redemption. Thus, when the believers fellowship with God is
interrupted due to their sins, it must be restored through the redeeming
blood of Christ (1 John 1:6-9).
The believers ultimate transfiguration in their physical body to enter into
Gods glory is the redemption of their body (Eph. 4:30; Rom. 8:23). Our
rapture and transfiguration to enter into glory is an organic matter,
whereas the redemption of our body is a judicial matter.
Gods judicial redemption as the procedure is purposeless without Gods
organic salvation, the goal. Gods eternal purpose is to have a Body for
 Christ. This Body ultimately consummates in the New Jerusalem as the
enlargement and expression of God for eternity.

A DIAGRAM OF GODS COMPLETE SALVATION

Man was created with three partsspirit, soul, and body (1 Thes. 5:23). The fall
damaged all three parts of man: mans spirit became deadened (Eph. 2:1), his
soul, corrupted (Gen. 6:5), and his body, the flesh of sin and death (Gen.
6:3; Rom. 6:6; 7:24). In such a pitiful and ruined condition, man is utterly
helpless to save himself and devoid of any hope of expressing God.

But when the kindness and the love to man of our Savior God appeared, not out of
works in righteousness which we did but according to His mercy He saved us,
through the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He
poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, in order that having
been justified by His grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal
life. (Titus 3:4-7)

Through the processes of regeneration, transformation, and glorification, and by

His life, God is able to save every part of our beingspirit, soul, and body. In
each step of the process, God saves us by dispensing His rich life into us. What a
wonderful Savior God is, and what a complete salvation He has for us!

Regeneration of the spirit

Our spirit is regenerated in the initial stage of Gods organic salvation. In this
stage we receive Gods life and become His children (John 1:12-13), never to
perish. In this stage, Christ, as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45), came into us
to regenerate our spirit (John 3:6). He is our hope of glory (Col. 1:27), planted
in us as a seed that will eventually grow to express God through us. If we allow
Him to grow in us, that is, if we allow Him the freedom to make His home in our
hearts (Eph. 3:17), He will grow to full maturity within us.

As the Spirit of life in our human spirit, Christ works within us in a very quiet,
normal, and ordinary way. Our only need is to cooperate, to go along with Him.
Thus, we must learn to recognize and to take care of the deep, inner sense of
life that spontaneously follows regeneration. We must learn to be obedient and
submissive to Christs inner working. If we cooperate with Him in this way, He
will grow in us.
 Transformation of the soul

Gods salvation does not stop with regeneration. Rather, after we have been
regenerated with the life of God in our spirit, God begins a lifelong process of
gradually spreading Himself as life from our spirit into our soul (Eph. 3:17). This
process, called transformation (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18), is related to mans
soul, and thus especially requires human cooperation (Phil. 2:12). The believer
cooperates by allowing the Lord to spread into his entire soul until all his desires,
thoughts, and decisions are in oneness with those of Christ.

If we do not allow Him to spread, our spirit becomes a prison to Him. The Spirit
wants to spread into our soul, thus adding the new divine element to replace the
self. When this new element replacing the old is added to our soul, there will be a
change in our mind, emotion, and will. (Completing Ministry of Paul 62)

According to 2 Corinthians 3:18, we are being transformed by beholding the

Lord with an unveiled facesignifying that our heart is turned to Him. This
means that in order to be transformed, we need to remain open to the Lord and
let Him shine into us. Then He will infuse us with all the elements of what He is
and what He has done in order to replace the elements of our fallen soul with His
divine element.

Glorification of the body

In the culminating stage of Gods organic salvation, the believers body will be
glorified. In this final stage, God will thoroughly saturate our physical body with
His life; as a result, we will fully express God in every part of our being. This
process is called glorification (Rom. 8:17; Phil. 3:21). Through this process, our
body will be completely and permanently freed from the slavery of the
corruption of the old creation into the freedom of the glory of Gods new
creation. When we are glorified, we reach the climax of Gods complete salvation
and enter into its full enjoyment for eternity.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATIONS OF GODS
COMPLETE SALVATION
The Feast of the Passover

The judicial side The clearest Old Testament illustration of both judicial
redemption and organic salvation is the keeping of the Feast of the Passover by
the children of Israel. This annual feast commemorated their deliverance from
Egyptian tyranny and slavery. In order to escape Gods judgment on Egypt,
according to Exodus 12, every Israelite household was instructed to kill a lamb
and to sprinkle its blood on their doorway. The function of the blood of the lamb
was to deliver them from Gods judicial condemnation and from the penalty of
death.

The organic side God charged the children of Israel not only to sprinkle the
blood of the lamb at the entrance to their house, but also to roast the flesh of
the lamb and eat it inside the blood-sprinkled house. On the judicial side, the
blood was sprinkled on the door to save the Israelites from Gods judgment; on
the organic side, the flesh was eaten and assimilated into them to energize them
to flee from Egypt. Without eating the flesh of the lamb, they would have been
overtaken and defeated by the Egyptians. Therefore, every household was
required to eat the flesh of the lamb in order to prepare them for the journey
ahead.

In this illustration, the blood of the Passover lamb signifies the redemptive
aspect of salvation, satisfying Gods judicial requirements. The flesh of the
Passover lamb signifies its organic aspect, saving Gods people by His life.

The Prodigal son

The judicial side A very graphic New Testament illustration of the two
aspects of Gods complete salvation is given in Luke 15. This chapter tells of a
son who left home, wandered abroad, and squandered his fathers inheritance.
One day this prodigal son returned home, famished and clothed in rags. Before
he entered into his fathers house, he was clothed with the best robe, signifying
Christ as Gods judicial righteousness to cover and justify the penitent sinner.

The organic side However, it is not sufficient for the son merely to be
clothed with the best robe. At that time, although the son was happy to be
received by his father, he was still hungry. Knowing this, the father ordered his
servants to slaughter the fattened calf that they might eat it and be merry. This
unique fattened calf signifies Christ as our life for our inner satisfaction and
enjoyment.

In this illustration, the robe refers to the judicial aspect of Gods salvation, and
the calf to the organic aspect of Gods salvation.
KEY VERSES ON GODS COMPLETE SALVATION

The judicial and the organic aspects of Gods complete salvation are clearly
revealed in the New Testament. The following is a compilation of crucial verses
and commentary related to both aspects of Gods salvation.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
every one who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal
life.

Judicially:
Sinful, fallen people need Christ to die for them, to be judged
by God as their Substitute; otherwise, they will perish. Although
men are utterly fallen, God still loves them with His divine love
because they are vessels created by Him according to His own
image to contain Himself (Gen. 1:26; Rom. 9:21a, 23).
Organically:
God gave His only begotten Son so that, by believing into Him,
fallen men might obtain His eternal life to become His many sons
in order to be His corporate expression. To believe into the Lord
is to receive Him and be united with Him as one (John 1:12-13).
Romans 1:16-17

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto
salvation to every one who believes, both to Jew first and to Greek. For
the righteousness of God is revealed in it out of faith to faith, as it is
written, But the righteous shall have life and live by faith.

Judicially:
The righteousness of God, ascribed to us by virtue of our faith
in Christ, justifies us.
Organically:
After being justified, we are qualified to have lifeto
receive Gods life into usso that we may live by His life.
Romans 5:10

For if we, being enemies, were reconciled to God through the death of His
Son, much more we will be saved in His life, having been reconciled,

Judicially:
We have been saved by Christs death from Gods righteous
judgment unto eternal punishment. Our reconciliation to God is
based on Christs redemption accomplished once for all for us.
Organically:
Having been reconciled, we continue to be saved daily from
innumerable negative items by Christs life in His resurrection.
Christ dwells in us, and we are organically one with Him. By the
growth of His life within us, we will enjoy His full salvation to
the uttermost.
 Romans 5:18

So then as it was through one offense unto condemnation to all men, so

also it was through one righteous act unto justification of life to all men.

Judicially:
Through justification, we have been brought up to the standard of
Gods objective righteousness and fully satisfy it, so that He
can now impart His life to us. However, justification changes
only our outward position.
Organically:
Life is the goal of Gods salvation; thus, justification is of
life. Objective justification is not an end in itself; it is
for life. Only Gods life is able to change our inward
disposition.
Romans 5:19

For just as through the disobedience of one man the many were
constituted sinners, so also through the obedience of the One the many
will be constituted righteous.

Judicially:
Christs death on the cross was the highest expression of His
obedience and was regarded by God a righteous act.
Organically:
Further, Christ constitutes us righteous. When He, the living and
righteous God, comes into our being, we are constituted
righteous. He thus becomes the constituting essence and element
in us that can transform us from sinners into sons of God.
Revelation 22:14

Blessed are those who wash their robes that they may have right to the
tree of life and may enter by the gates into the city.

Judicially:
The believers wash their robes (their conduct) in the redeeming
blood of Christ (1 John 1:7). Because of the fall, the way to the
tree of life was closed to man (Gen. 3:22-24). Through the
redemption of Christ, however, the way to the tree of life has
again been opened to us.
Organically:
The believers who wash their robes have the right to eat the tree
of life, that is, to enjoy Christ as their life supply today and
for eternity.