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“Salvation will God Appoint for Walls and Bulwarks”

Isaiah 26:1

What walls and bulwarks are to a fortress, an enclosure of safety, salvation is to the church and people of God. God’s saints, those who are born into his church and kingdom, are kept eternally secure in his salvation. The believer’s safety and security is not his will, his works, his worth, or even his faith, but God’s salvation.

We believe in the infallible security, the perseverance and preservation of every believer, because we know that salvation is God’s work alone. And we “know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him” (Ecclesiastes 3:14). Salvation is the work of the triune God. That is our security.

God the Father

Salvation is the work of God the Father (Ephesians 1:3-6). He planned it, purposed it, devised a means to accomplish it, and predestinated us unto it. The cause of our salvation is the love of God, which is unchangeable. The foundation is the purpose and will of God, which is unalterable. The source of salvation is the election of grace, which is free and unconditional. The ground upon which it stands is the covenant of grace, ordered in all things and sure. And the condition of its security is the power of the omnipotent God.

God the Son

Salvation is the work of God the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:7-12). His blood has satisfied the justice of God and put away our sins. His righteousness has been imputed to us to give us free justification with God.

We believe in limited atonement. That is to say Christ died for his elect alone. And that is to say that his death upon the cursed tree effectually accomplished the redemption of all for whom he died.

His mediation for us in heaven, as our Advocate and High Priest, secures our perpetual forgiveness and acceptance. His power defends and protects us from all enemies. His promise, which cannot be broken, is, “They shall never perish.”

God the Spirit

Salvation is the work of God the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14). “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing” (John 6:63). The new birth is the work of God the Holy Spirit. Conviction is the work of the Spirit. Faith in Christ is the gift of the Spirit. And his gifts are without repentance. The Spirit of God effectually applies all the blessings of grace to God’s elect, making all redeemed sinners “partakers of the divine nature.” He forms Christ in us, imparting to us his righteousness, creating in us that “holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord,” and seals us in grace, in Christ, until the day of our resurrection in everlasting glory.

Until God’s purpose, Christ’s blood, and the Spirit’s work can be nullified, God’s elect are safe and secure. These are the walls and bulwarks of salvation!

Don Fortner

Pastor Fortner’s