Seven Terms You Need to Know
It was my first time visiting Australia. As I sat around the dinner table with an Aussie family, the father and his sons began discussing a cricket game from the day previous. I listened intently, but it was as though they were speaking a foreign language. I was quite sure that it was still English, but the words were unfamiliar — and the thick Aussie accent didn’t help! However, I’m quite sure that if these Aussie blokes were to head to Canada and sit around a dinner table with some fellows talking hockey, they would experience the same.
Last summer, my brother-in-law came to visit us from Canada and went vacationing with us around Tasmania. We spent our evenings watching 20-20 cricket on television. We were determined to learn this game. With the help of some context (and occasional help from Google) by the end of our vacation we had it mostly figured out.
The Christian faith presents us with similar challenges. Like cricket or hockey, Christianity has its own unique vocabulary that needs to be learned. As newcomers or covenant children are discipled in the faith, there are certain terms that they need to grasp in order both to be established as a disciple and to grow as a disciple. Today let me briefly introduce to you seven essential Christian terms. Every disciple of Jesus needs to know these:
ELECTION — Before the creation of the universe, God the Father chose (elected) a certain number of definite individuals to salvation in Jesus Christ, purely on the basis of his grace and good pleasure. A key Bible passage is Ephesians 1:1-14.
EFFECTUAL CALLING — This is a work of God the Holy Spirit. It’s a process where the Holy Spirit convinces sinners of their plight and brings them to spiritual life so that they can and do believe in Jesus Christ for salvation. A key Bible passage is John 6:44-45.
REGENERATION — Also known as the new birth — without it there is no salvation. This is the moment when the Holy Spirit miraculously changes a heart of stone into a heart of flesh. Regeneration is the transfer from death to life. A key Bible passage is John 3:1-9.
JUSTIFICATION — God’s declaration as a judge that a sinner is right with him (righteous) only on the basis of what Jesus Christ has done for that sinner in his life, death, and resurrection. This can only be received through resting and trusting in Jesus Christ. A key Bible passage is Romans 3:21-31.
ADOPTION — All those who are justified are received into God’s family as one of his adopted children. He is our Father and we are his beloved children with the privilege of a promised inheritance in the future. That inheritance is life forever in the new heavens and new earth. A key Bible passage is Romans 8:12-17.
SANCTIFICATION — This is the process by which Christians grow in looking like Jesus Christ. It is a life-long process of growing in hating, fighting, and overcoming the evil and rebellion in our lives. A key Bible passage is Romans 12:1-2.
GLORIFICATION — The Christian’s hope for glory which comes either with death or the return of Jesus Christ (whichever happens first). We shall some day be perfect and sinless, sharing in the glory of our Saviour. A key Bible passage is 1 John 3:1-3.
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Taken together all of the above make up what is known as the Order of Salvation. In Reformed theology, you’ll often see these things referred to with the Latin expression Ordo Salutis. These are the logical steps which make up the rescue of a Christian from sin and deserved condemnation. With each of these, there is far more that could and should be said, but the above provides just a basic orientation.
