We are saved also through our union with the Triune God. After we repent, believe, and are baptized, we are joined to the processed Triune God. Through our union with God the Father we have His divine life and nature, being related to Him in life and joined to Him in nature, thus producing an organic union. Through our union with God the Son we have been put in Him and He in us; thus we have become one with Him, sharing with Him the same life, nature, living, and activities. And through our union with God the Spirit we have received Him into us essentially for our existence, being, life, and living; we also have received Him as the Spirit of power upon us economically for our spiritual work and function. Through such a wonderful union with the Triune God we enjoy all the blessings of His salvation. Hence, we are saved through our union with the Triune God.
Our salvation is through the Spirit’s regeneration (John 3:5). Christ’s redemption solves the outward problems between us and God. However, besides having problems with God outwardly, we also have problems inwardly in life and nature. Hence, when we believe and are baptized, God not only solves our outward problems through Christ’s redemption but also imparts His life and nature into us through the Spirit’s regeneration. Therefore, we are saved through the Spirit’s regeneration.
The way for the believers to be saved is to believe, to call, to confess, and to be baptized. These four matters joined together form one complete step for the believers to receive the Lord’s salvation. When we have these four items, we are fully saved.
We are saved by God’s grace and also through our faith, that is, our believing (Eph. 2:8). Although there is God’s grace, without our believing, we still cannot be saved. By His grace, God has prepared and accomplished salvation for us; by our believing, we receive that which has been prepared and accomplished. By His grace, God gives us salvation; by our believing, we receive that which has been given. If there is only the preparation by God’s grace but not the appropriation by our believing, or if there is only the giving by God’s grace but not the receiving by our believing, we still cannot obtain God’s salvation. In order to obtain God’s salvation, we must apply and receive it by believing. This is the way, the step, for us to obtain God’s salvation.
Once a person believes in the Lord, he will spontaneously call on the Lord (Rom. 10:14). Although he cannot see the Lord, a person can call upon His name. The Lord’s name is the Lord Himself. Hence, to call on the Lord’s name is to call on the Lord Himself. Therefore, whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved by Him.
When a person believes into the Lord, he must confess the Lord (Rom. 10:10). When we believe into the Lord, we believe in our heart in the Lord as our Savior; when we confess, we confess with our mouth the Lord as Lord. To believe into the Lord is primarily before God, whereas to confess with the mouth is mainly before men. Once we believe into the Lord in our heart, we are saved. But we must confess with our mouth before men in order to show forth the fact that we have believed into the Lord and are saved. Merely to believe into the Lord in our heart without confessing with our mouth indicates that there is a problem not only before men but also before God. Hence, in order that we may be thoroughly saved, we must believe in our heart and confess with our mouth.
He who believes and is baptized shall be saved (Mark 16:16). Faith is related to man’s salvation, because man is saved by believing; likewise, baptism is also related to man’s salvation, because man is saved also by being baptized. To believe is to exercise the inward faith to receive the Lord’s salvation, whereas to be baptized is to take an outward action to partake of the Lord’s salvation. To believe and be baptized constitutes one complete step by which man receives the Lord’s salvation. To believe without being baptized is to receive the Lord’s salvation by taking only a half step. The Lord’s salvation consists of many elements, some of which man must apply and receive by believing, while others man must enter into and partake of by being baptized. If a person believes but is not baptized, he can receive only a partial salvation; he cannot receive the Lord’s complete salvation. To receive the Lord’s complete salvation, a person must believe and be baptized.
Once a person is saved by believing in the Lord, he is forgiven of his sins and is delivered from God’s judgment and condemnation (John 3:18; 5:24), from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13), from God’s wrath (Rom. 5:9; John 3:36; 1 Thes. 1:10), and from the fear and slavery of death (Heb. 2:14-15), thus escaping eternal perdition (John 3:16). Moreover, having been born of God and having received God’s eternal life and His Holy Spirit, he is delivered from sins (Matt. 1:21) and the power of sin (John 8:34, 36; Rom. 6:6), and from law (Gal. 4:4-5; Rom. 7:6) and the bondage of law (Gal. 5:1; 4:7). He is also freed from the flesh (Col. 2:11), the old man (Col. 3:9), the oppression of Satan (Luke 4:18; Acts 10:38), the power and charm of the world, the religious world and its ordinances (Gal. 1:4; 6:14-15; Col. 2:20), and the vain manner of life handed down from his fathers (1 Pet. 1:18). Thus, he is fully set free (John 8:36) and is no longer under any bondage or confinement.
The source of our salvation is God’s love, God’s mercy, and God’s grace. The accomplishment of our salvation is by the Triune God: God the Father foreknew, chose, and predestinated us to receive His salvation; God the Son accomplished redemption and released the divine life; and God the Spirit convicted us concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment that we might repent and turn to God, believe into the Lord Jesus, and be regenerated, and He also is making us a new creation with the divine life by washing and renewing us with the divine elements. We are saved through God’s calling, the Spirit’s sanctification, Christ’s redemption, our union with the Triune God, and the Spirit’s regeneration. In order to be fully saved, we must pass through the complete step of believing, calling, confessing, and being baptized. Once we are saved by believing in the Lord, we are delivered from God’s judgment, condemnation, and wrath, from the curse of the law, and from the fear and slavery of death, thus escaping eternal perdition. Moreover, we are released from sins, the power of sin, the law, the bondage of the law, the flesh, the old man, the oppression of Satan, the power and charm of the world, the religious world and its ordinances, and the vain manner of life handed down from our fathers. Thus we are fully set free and are no longer under any bondage or confinement.