When it comes to the Bible’s teaching on salvation, there are a whole host of terms which we find used by the various writers. Each of these terms brings out a particular nuance or aspect of the work that God does when he graciously saves a lost sinner. In order to understand the relationship of these different terms and any idea of the order of salvation, we need to begin with a few definitions.
The first term is regeneration, which is the act of God whereby He imparts instantaneous life to the spiritually dead. When Jesus tells Nicodemus in John 3:3, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God,” he is speaking about regeneration.
The second term is justification, a judicial act of God by which he declares the sinner righteous and treats him as such. Paul preached about this to the Jews and God-fearers in Psidian Antioch in Acts 13 and said, “Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by him anyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.” In other words, their adherence to the OT Scriptures and all the commands of Moses could not earn them the judicial decree of “righteous” in God’s courtroom, but “anyone who believes” on Jesus is indeed declared righteous.
Third we have the term reconciliation. In this divine action, the one who believes is identified with Christ and an inseparable bond is forged between the believer and the Triune God. In Colossians 1:20-22 the apostle Paul says that it pleased God “to reconcile all things to himself, by him [that is, Jesus], whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of his cross.” He goes on to explain what this reconciliation means: “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in his sight.” Instead of enmity with God, believers experience peace with him through Christ’s blood and his bodily death.
The fourth term is adoption. This is the judicial act of God through which He places the believer into his family with all the rights and privileges that belong to sons and daughters. The clearest statement of this is in Romans 8, beginning in v.14 where Paul says, “as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.” And we become sons of God when we receive the Spirit of adoption, who leads us to cry out, “Abba, Father” (v.15). Being children, Paul says, means that we have become heirs of God and co-heirs with Jesus.
Fifth, we may speak of propitiation, the deliberate act of God turning away His wrath from the sinner as a result of the atoning substitutionary death of Christ. According to Paul in Romans 3:25, “God set forth [Christ Jesus] as a propitiation by His blood” in order to justify himself, since he had passed over sins of believers throughout the OT era prior to the death of Jesus for their sins.
Finally, we want to consider the term redemption, which is the purchase of a sinner from bondage to sin by Jesus Christ, who gave His own life to be a ransom. This was Jesus’ mission in his own words: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mk. 10:45).
With those brief definitions in place, we can begin to examine whether the Bible establishes a definite order of salvation.
In Romans 3:22-28 the apostle Paul explains how God is revealed to be righteous in his dealings with believers both before and after Christ’s atoning death. The righteousness in view is that which belongs naturally to God himself, and this divine righteousness is given and demonstrated to all who believe, whether OT or NT saints. Paul says there is no difference between them, when it comes to the righteousness of God toward them and upon them, and the only basis is “faith in Jesus Christ.” Again, we see the priority of faith in salvation.
How can God treat believers before Christ’s death the same as those after? That seems to be the question at hand, and he answers plainly that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” This is true no matter what era of salvation history a person comes from, and it is also true that we are “justified freely by His grace.” Remember that justification is when God declares us to be righteous, and this judgment is based solely on grace. In other words, none of us is actually righteous in God’s sight, but we may be declared so freely, since he is gracious.
Jesus paid the penalty that was due in order to deliver us from bondage and allow God to declare us righteous, even though we are not.
And what is the basis for this declaration? It is the “redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” That is, Jesus paid the penalty that was due in order to deliver us from bondage and allow God to declare us righteous, even though we are not. It was Jesus “whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness.” When Jesus died he redeemed us from sin and satisfied God’s wrath against us as sinners, paving the way for the Father to declare us righteous.
The acts of redemption and propitiation took place in the past at a certain point in time, the cross, yet these actions of Jesus allow God to justly declare sinners righteous both before and after. In either case, it is “through faith” that we receive the righteousness of God and “through faith” that Jesus propitiates God’s wrath against us. In the case of the OT saint, his sins were passed over when they had not yet been atoned for, because God had promised to send Christ to make atonement for them. The OT saint then had to believe in this promise, and he would be declared righteous. For us today, the redemption has already occurred in the past, yet we, too, must receive righteousness and propitiation through faith in Jesus.
Paul asks in v.27, “Where is boasting then?” There is no boasting, he says, because this grace is received through faith. And he concludes “that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.” Notice once again that faith is contrasted with works, so it is improper to consider faith to be a work. We do not merit salvation because of our faith, but we cannot obtain salvation apart from faith.
In this passage, we learn that redemption and propitiation are applied, and we are justified, when we believe. There is no mention of regeneration or its relationship to faith, but there are numerous other passages for us still to consider.