God's Training Grace

Salvation has past, present and future dimensions to it. It also includes various blessings. When God saves people, He works both in them and for them. Internally He changes them by granting them new life. He causes them to be born-again, which is called “regeneration.’ He sends His Spirit to take up residence within them and works to change their minds, desires and wills, making them increasingly holy over their lifetimes—which is called, “sanctification.”

He also works for them, outside of them—justifying them so that their status before His law is changed. No longer are they condemned but, because Jesus perfectly kept the law in their place, they are regarded as righteous before as they trust Christ as their substitute. Salvation also includes forgiveness—God wipes their record clean because Jesus has paid for every last one of their sins.

When a person is saved, he or she is also adopted into God’s family so that now, through faith in Jesus, God is our Father and accepts us as His children.

Regeneration, sanctification, justification and adoption are merely three of the many facets of salvation that is provided for us in Jesus Christ. Though they are distinguishable, they are found together wherever genuine salvation is experienced.

Understanding this will help you to recognize and appreciate how God’s saving grace works. It will also enable you to distinguish between accurate teaching on salvation and erroneous teaching of what it means to be saved.

In today's study Paul explains how God’s grace in salvation trains us to live out the Christian life. When God saves a person, He provides all of the facets of salvation to that person.