Salvation: Paul’s Lock and Key
Having grown up in the church, I’ve heard many, many scriptural arguments for the New Testament’s pattern of salvation over the years. Given that our main goal as a church is to reach the world with the Gospel of Christ (Matthew 28:18-20), it’s certainly a good sign that we have become familiar with many of the key passages in the New Testament that delineate God’s path of salvation. At the same time, I have also repeatedly heard the accusation lobbied against members of the church that our understanding of salvation according to the New Testament pattern is based on our holding to a few scattered “proof texts” that have been used to promote what many believe to be a misunderstanding of biblical salvation. It is true that our (or at least my) gut instinct is often to jump to the same few verses when the topic of salvation comes up – Acts 2:38, Romans 6:3-5 and 10:10, 2 Corinthians 7:10, Hebrews 11:6, 1 Peter 3:21.
All of these verses are certainly invaluable to the pursuit of understanding salvation according to the New Testament. However, when we rush to the same few places every time this topic comes up in order to make sure all five “steps of salvation” are included in the discussion, we lend credence to the “proof texts” counterargument (and may even be guilty of what we often accuse our denominational friends of doing: elevating certain passages at the cost of others). Given this concern, I’d like to share an argument for New Testament salvation that is new to me and which I find very convincing and which I believe may be helpful when approaching others whose understanding of salvation may be misinformed. I’m sure someone else has figured out this pairing of passages before, but as I have come to understand it, I refer to it as Paul’s “lock and key” of salvation.
The “lock” in this case is Ephesians 2:8-10, a passage to which almost anyone who claims to be saved has at least been introduced:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
This passage presents one of the most popular outlines for the source of salvation: salvation comes “by grace through a faith that works.” In other words, there is no possibility of salvation without the grace of God extended through Christ’s sacrifice (by grace), and that grace is accessed by believing in Christ as Lord (through a faith) and responding accordingly (that works). My active faith does not earn me my salvation – only by God’s grace am I counted worthy to be a Christian – but it does allow God’s grace to become effectual in my life and for my identity as a saved member of His people to begin. All three parts of this model are reinforced throughout the New Testament, and it is abundantly clear through reading the whole of its canon that all three are required for one’s relationship with God to begin and to be considered alive and well.
Unfortunately, many people take this passage in isolation and use it as the basis of their faith, never realizing that this passage is “locked.” This does not mean that salvation is only for a certain group; the Bible makes it clear that the Gospel is indeed for all (1 John 2:1-2). This passage is “locked” because of the pronouns it uses: “you” and “we.” In this case, “you” refers to the church at Ephesus, and “we” refers to the church at Ephesus plus Paul and his companions. Did you catch that? Ephesians 2:8-10 and the benefits of being saved “by grace through a faith that works” are for those who are members of Christ’s church! So, too, are the rest of the benefits of being a Christian – the rest of Ephesians 2 concerns true unity with the believers, chapter 3 concerns the power of God working through His people, and so on. This is not simply
a proof text argument – this is a passage upon which the whole thrust of the book of Ephesians is dependent, and from which the benefits of Christianity spring into life.
In order to obtain the benefits of salvation, sanctification, and unity with God’s people, one must become a member of Christ’s church. Therefore, the question must arise: How do I “unlock” the benefits described in this passage by becoming a member of Christ’s church? This is where the “key” of 1 Corinthians 12:13 comes in:
“For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.”
Once again the pronoun “we” is used, and once again “we” refers to the church at Corinth plus Paul and his companions. Paul is even talking about the church collective in the broader context: 1 Corinthians 12-14 is a lengthy discussion of the manifold works accomplished within the church and the necessity of love as the universal gift shared by all of its members. The metaphor of Christ’s body is discussed in this passage to illustrate the variety of gifts within the church and the need for each member to work for the good of the whole, an idea akin to what is discussed in Ephesians 2:10 and following. This verse makes it clear that all of the members of Christ’s body have joined it in the same way: through baptism and “drinking of one Spirit.” (Sounds a lot like Acts 2:38 to me!) This is not a proof text argument, either. All of what is said about the unity of the body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12-14 is dependent upon defining who makes up the body of Christ. This is about as clear a definition as we’re going to get, and other verses and passages on the subject that may be more familiar to us are helpful in making it even clearer.
Let’s pair everything that we’ve just learned from Paul with the traditional “steps” of salvation with which many of us are familiar. Salvation comes by grace (Hearing the Gospel) through a faith (Believing the Gospel) that works (Repentance and Confession). I cannot earn it (Hearing), but my faith must be true (Believing) and must respond actively to it (Repentance and Confession) in order for it to take effect in my life. That salvation is offered to those who become members of Christ’s church, and one becomes a member of Christ’s church through being baptized and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit (Baptism). This “lock and key” method includes a reference to all five of the traditional “steps” and leaves plenty of room to use our other familiar passages to reinforce the pattern of salvation it outlines.
I hope this explanation has made sense and has inspired deeper study of the passages in question. I also sincerely hope that this explanation may help us reach someone with the Gospel who is used to hearing the same few passages from us and is waiting for a more wide- sweeping approach. God’s method of salvation is incredible, and the reward that is ours as those saved by Christ is even better. May we continue to study the Scriptures both for our benefit and for the sake of those who need the salvation of Christ!
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” ~ John 14:6
AUTHOR: Luke Tatum