The Golden Chain of Salvation
Our experience of grace represents a certain natural progression in the Christian life. Initially divine grace surrounds us without our conscious knowledge. We are simply immersed in God’s unconditional, ever-present love. God works to protect us from spiritual danger and “woos” us in the unconscious infancy of our faith, calling us to be aware of grace.
Once we have become fully conscious of a faith decision and choose to receive God’s forgiving love in Jesus Christ, we experience the grace of justification. At this point the experience of grace helps us know that we belong not to ourselves but to our faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.
We understand that righteousness before God is not something we earn; it can be received only as a gift. As the Spirit builds on the foundation of justification, we gradually grow in holiness of life, or sanctification. This experience of grace leads us to bear the fruits of the Spirit and to exercise the gifts of the Spirit.
—Rueben P. Job,
Companions in Christ
Without getting too sidetracked in the theology of it all, God’s goodness is revealed to us and unfolds in our lives as a progression some scholars have referred to as ‘the golden chain of salvation.’ The first link is God’s move (sometimes referred to as election), simply meaning, as today’s devotional reading depicts, His “wooing” us to His love. The next is Justification, as we come to believe in Jesus, our sins are forgiven and we are saved, or “justified through grace by faith in Jesus Christ.” Then comes the process of growing in relationship to God, His work in us continuing through the process of Sanctification, as the promise in Phil. 1:6 says, “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.“ Now, that is where today’s reading ends, however were Reuben Job had gone on, the final link in the chain is known as Glorification, a future event where believers like you and me receive complete and perfect spiritual and physical transformation, becoming like Christ in glory. It’s the completion of salvation, where the work of sanctification is finished and believers are fully glorified in God’s presence. Let us rejoice in this redeeming work our God is unfolding in our lives, eager to participate in HIs work in our lives and hearts! God loves us! Oh, how He loves us! —DH
—David Hoskins, Founder & Care Guide, Sanctuary Clinics