Faith and Trust as a Rule of Life

Many times we as Christians regard faith as something we use when we need something from God. The car is going on the fritz and what do we do, we pray. The kid is sick, and sometimes seriously, we pray. The church needs a new roof, we pray. We should indeed pray for these things. After all, did not Paul tell the Philippian church that, “And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus?” (Phil. 4:19) If it is a need, we should pray, right?

The problem I have is with the word use. It sounds like how we use a screwdriver when we want to tighten a bolt, or when we want to use the right kitchen implement. Is faith a “tool” we get out of the “prayer shed” when we have a need for it and then put it away when were done with it and until the next time we need to use it?

Faith is not to be regarded as a tool that we need to use when a need arises. It is not to be thought of as something we only get out of the drawer when something goes wrong and then put it away when things cool down. Faith is the rule, practice, moment by moment manner of life, and not the exception, by which we live in the physical and spiritual world. It is not something we use when we are in trouble. A true child of God, a real Christian, lives by faith as a rule of life.

Look at this text of Scripture:

“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.” (Colossians 2:6,7)

Another translation put the clause, “In the same way you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him...”

How did you receive Christ Jesus the Lord? According to Ephesians 2: 8,9 it was “by grace through the instrumentality of faith,” that we were brought to faith and trust in Christ Jesus. The text goes on to tell us that it was the act of God alone and not of ourselves. Even the faith to believe was a gift of God. We could not generate the necessary faith. God had to make us alive from the dead, regenerate us, in order that we might believe unto salvation.

In that way, the way in which we were brought to faith in Christ, is how Colossians 2:6 and 7 tells us we are to walk in Him. By grace through the instrumentality of faith we are to walk in Christ. That is how we received Christ Jesus as Lord and that is how we are to walk in Him!

I want to make a connection between what I just said and the Word of God.

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17)

In the tenth chapter of Romans, Paul speaks to the Gospel and shows us another instrumentality by which we were brought to faith and trust in Christ: by the hearing of the Word of God. Beginning with the 14^th verse of chapter ten, he makes the point that it is through the preaching of the Word of God that the Gospel message is heard. Linked to the Colossians 2:6,7 text, “In the same way you received Christ Jesus as Lord, so walk in Him,” we could also say that it is through the hearing of the Word that we are to walk in Him. Just as faith to believe savingly comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, so does faith to walk in Him come by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Do you see that?

In other words, faith exercised in prayer is not a Sears and Roebuck mail order catalog to order what we think we need from a deity. Faith is the instrumentality, means, by which we not only come to faith in Christ but how we are to live in this world. It is by faith in God and His Word that we live as a rule of life if we are truly born again.

I want to share a very practical application to what I have just written. If we are to live (walk) by faith in God and the promises of His Word, how exactly does that work? What does this look like in the life of the believer?

Take for example Paul's explanation in Galatians:

“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” (Galatians 5:6,7)

Does not this pretty well sum up the point in the Christian's life? Walk in the Spirit and you will not do the evil within your sinful flesh that you do not wish to do? (See Romans 7) But how do you do this thing of “Walking in the Spirit?”

Now, in 1 John:

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” 1 John 5:14,15

And, Philippians:

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” (Phil. 2;12,13)

Now, think with me through this:

1. Does God want us (Is it His will?) to Walk in His Spirit that we not fulfill the lusts of our flesh? According to the Galatians 5 text the answer is, yes.

2. Does God promise that whatever we ask according to His will that He not only hears us, but we can know that we have that which we have asked of Him in 1 John? Yes.

3. Does God tell us in Philippians that we can “work out our salvation (Walk in the Spirit) with fear and trembling because it is He, and He alone, who works in us the desire and the doing of His good pleasure (His will)?” Yes.

Then as a child of God go to Him praying in believing faith:

“My Lord and God, I thank you for the promise in Your Word (1 John 5:14,15) which tells me that whatsoever I ask according to Your will that You hear me. And, if I know that You hear me in whatsoever I asked I can know that I have that which I have asked of You. Therefore, grant me the Grace I need to obey your Word where you command me to Walk in Your Spirit (Gal. 5:16,17) that I not fulfill the desires of my flesh. Thank-you that it is, again according to You Word, You Who is working in me this desire and it is You and You alone that will work in me the doing (Phil. 2:12,13) of walking in the Spirit. I ask these things in Jesus' name Who said that whatsoever I ask in His name You would give me (John 15:6-8). Amen.”

While I do not mean that you should pray this pray literally, what I am meaning is to show you the connection between prayer, faith, and the Word of God. What is expressed in that prayer example is a life ruled by faith in God and the promises of His Word. That is what should characterize the life of the believer. That is the principle by which we should be living if we really are men and women of God.

Do you have a need in your life? Whether it is a physical or spiritual need, find in God's Word a text of Scripture that matches that need then claim it according to the promises of His Word. Have as your heart's desire the glory of God in His answering that prayer:

“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” (John 15:7-8)

Salvation Is Of God and Not Man

It was a decision made before the world was. Before the existence of any human or animal, before the creation of the heavens and the planets, before time itself, the Triune God made a Divine decision. As God in His Word so perfectly phrases it, “before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4) He chose us. To what did the Divine choose us and why did He do it? The Ephesians 1 text elaborates:

"just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved." (Ephesians 1:4-6)

Please note three things from this text:

One: We were chosen before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.

Two: We were chosen before the foundation of the world through “predestination unto adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself.”

Three: We were chosen before the foundation of the world according to the good pleasure of His will to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the beloved.

1) If you are believer, a true Christian with a sincere and visible profession of faith in the Lord and Savior, then it is not because you at some point in your life “decided as an act of your will to invite Jesus into your heart.” If you today believe in Christ as your Lord and Savior, it is because God made a decision. He made a choice before time even was that you should be “holy and blameless before Him in love.”

"Those whom God hath predestinated unto life, he is pleased in his appointed, and accepted time, effectually to call, by his Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ; enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God; taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them a heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and by his almighty power determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ; yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by his grace." (THE BAPTIST CONFESSION OF FAITH 1689)

2) Predestination is that act of God whereby certain individuals, based absolutely on no merit of their own but entirely and infallibly due to “the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace” (See Ephesians 1:4-6), were chosen, ordained, elected to be brought to faith in Christ Jesus.

"What did God determine ahead of time? According to Romans 8:29-30, God predetermined that certain individuals would be conformed to the likeness of His Son, be called, justified, and glorified. Essentially, God predetermines that certain individuals will be saved. Numerous scriptures refer to believers in Christ being chosen. Predestination is the biblical doctrine that God in His sovereignty chooses certain individuals to be saved." (http://www.gotquestions.org/predestination.html)

"As God hath appointed the elect unto glory, so he hath, by the eternal and most free purpose of his will, foreordained all the means thereunto; wherefore they who are elected, being fallen in Adam, are redeemed by Christ, are effectually called unto faith in Christ, by his Spirit working in due season, are justified, adopted, sanctified, and kept by his power through faith unto salvation; neither are any other redeemed by Christ, or effectually called, justified, adopted, sanctified, and saved, but the elect only." (THE BAPTIST CONFESSION OF FAITH 1689)

3) God does nothing arbitrarily or capriciously. He acts according to the “good pleasure of His will” and is perfectly righteous in choosing some unto salvation while leaving others to the evil passion and desires of their fallen souls who freely, according to their sinful natures, choose to reject The Son of God. The Bible says plainly that salvation is not man who makes a “decision based on an act of His free will”—man has no free will—but according to God who has mercy on Whom He wills. (Romans 9:1-13)

Jonathan Edwards said,

“The sovereignty of God is his absolute, independent right of disposing of all creatures according to his own pleasure.” Then he went on to say, “God can either bestow salvation on any of the children of men, or refuse it, without any prejudice to the glory of any of his attributes”

"God is the king of the universe and he has all the power, the right to rule and carry out his will according to his own pleasure. When we say his own pleasure that means, God is not obligated to anyone, he has the full liberty, full freedom and he is fully independent. No human being how rich they are do not have this kind of pleasure, as all humans have an obligation to somebody and they are not fully independent, but God is fully independent and can do any thing according to his pleasure without any damage to his attributes." (http://www.sounddoctrine.net/Nick/uncondional_election2.htm)

(For further study read: Isaiah 46:10; Ephesians 1:11; Hebrews 6:17; Romans 9:15, 18; James 1:13; 1 John 1:5; Acts 4:27, 28; John 19:11; Numbers 23:19; Ephesians 1:3-5; 1 Timothy 5:21; Matthew 25:34; Ephesians 1:5, 6; Romans 9:22, 23; Jude 4; Romans 9; Ephesians 1 & 2;Romans 5:6; Romans 8:7; Ephesians 2:1, 5; Titus 3:3-5; John 6:44 ... See also THE BAPTIST CONFESSION OF FAITH--With Scripture Proofs Adopted by the Ministers and Messengers of the general assembly which met in London in 1689) 


Recommended Reading

Hope In The Day of Evil

In His Word, God never tells us that the life of Christians is going to be a cinch. He never intimates that life will be one big roller coaster ride with us eating cotton candy and watching clowns that make us giggle our way through our earthly existence. Our walk through our path of life will have days of enjoyment and days when it feels like all the air has been sucked out of our lungs. Life is not a bed of roses and God never promises that in His Word.

There are times when passenger cars on the roller coaster fly off the tracks, the cotton candy makes us sick, and the clowns that made us laugh with glee now are striking terror in our hearts. And, we begin to wonder through what seems now to be days upon days of dark clouds and storms, whether there ever was a bed of roses that we used to admire for its beauty.

We come to ask, “Where is God in all of this suffering and pain?” Worse yet, we ask, “Surely this should not be happening to me; I am a Christian!”

Don't think that dear Christian much less say it!

Perhaps it seemed easily exciting when you were first brought to faith in Christ by the Sovereign working of God. Persecution was nonexistent; hardships seemed remote; exciting truths from the Bible were learned and you increased in knowledge; Christian fellowship was sweet and never ending. Then, the storm clouds rolled in, imperceptibly at first, until darkness seemed to cover everything in your life.

The most heroic of God's children have had to endure the most painful of trials and tribulations:

"...Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us." (Hebrews 11:35-40)

In Hebrews chapter 11, we are given the not only the definition of what faith is for the Christian but are also shown examples of how our brothers and sisters of the early church endured harrowing trials and temptations and did so by faith. Their horrid circumstances are in this chapter as a lesson to us that no Christian escapes trials. Tribulations are given, writes James, to give us opportunities to show a watching world (and other believers) that no matter in what package life arrives at the doorstep of our lives, we can have joy. Plus, endurance or patience is built into our character. But, warns James, we must let patience or endurance have its “perfect” work in us so that we will become perfect and complete and lacking in nothing. (See James 1:3-8)

No matter how unpleasant the thought, the Biblical fact is that in order to become full-grown children of God (and I am speaking to the issue of sanctification) in our experience or condition upon this earth, we have to have our faith tested through trials and tribulations.

We need to, no, it is essential that our faith be strengthened through trouble, problems, tragedies, unclimbable mountains, unsolvable puzzles, that will force us to deny our sinful dependence upon our flesh and trust in the Triune God. This is how it is and there is no avoiding it. Our God gives grace to the humble (Proverbs 3:4; James 4:6).

God is our hope, strength, and sustenance in the day of evil (See Jeremiah 17:17).

Can Christians Practice Sin as a Way of Life?

She lies constantly. Each time she is asked her age, she tries convincing the inquirer that she is fifteen to twenty years younger than she actually is. If pressed, she verbalizes an elaborately planned out scheme, presented in a most convincing manner, to cover her fraudulence. Not only is she a chronic liar she also is a pathological gossip. Her gossip is so laced with lies and half-truths that she can't even keep track of what is reality and what isn't. She has undermined at least one couple's marriage with her meddling and has been working on a second one.

This woman claims to be a Christian.

“For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. ” (1 Corinthians 6:20)

In redemption, the shedding of the blood of the Messiah for our atonement, we were purchased. God bought us, body and soul, by a terrible price. The death, resurrection, ascension paid a price we could not possibly pay and made us God's. We are His if indeed Christ is us and we in Him (Gal. 2:20).

Because in body and spirit we are not our own but God's, there can be no neutrality in our hearts and minds. In word, thought, and deed we are either His or we are not. If we belong to Christ then we take everything, even our thoughts, captive to Jesus Christ.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.” (2 Corinthians 10:3-6)

No neutrality; there is only obedience to the One Who bought us if we profess the name of Christ in our hearts and lives.

If this is so, then Christian, who do you trust? On whom do you rely? Who is it that comes up in the conversation with your neighbors? To what do you yield your tongue when asked your age or anything else? The revealing of one's age isn't the point. One could always say something like, “I'd rather not discuss my age.” But to lie and to do it chronically is to practice sin. One has a false profession of faith if there is the practice of lying or any sin in one's life.

Let me make this point even clearer. If you profess to be a Christian, you cannot practice sin as a way of life. Christ became Lord or King over you when and if you are really saved. How then are you serving your Lord and King? What is it you are taking (have taken) captive to the obedience to Jesus Christ? Or, I should say, what is it you are hanging onto sinfully and not yielding to your Lord and King?

If you think that you can call yourself a Christian and serve sin, like my lying friend I mentioned, run, don't walk, away from this thing in your life to the cross of Jesus Christ. Run to Him and yield your obedience to His Scriptures and do what He says. To be a liar means you cannot be a Christian. Obey Christ and not the sinful inclinations of your flesh. Demonstrate your love for Christ in willing obedience to His word.

The true and only proof that you are really saved is that you obey His commandments.

“Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” (1 John 2:3-6)

If you abide in Christ as 1 John 2: 6 says, then you have to walk as Jesus Christ walked. You have no other choice or option. Jesus was not a liar or deceiver of men. His walk matched His profession to being the Son of God. Your walk, your actions in word, thought, or deed have to match your profession of faith in Christ or you are not a Christian!

I close with a most sobering verse regarding lying:

“But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8)

An impenitent liar will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

The Source Of Our Life

By virtue of our union in Christ, Christians have one source of life: Christ. The same person and power that called forth raising Lazarus from the dead is the very same person and power that calls His elect forth from being dead in trespasses and sin (Ephesians 2:1-10). Just as Jesus' friend Lazarus could do nothing to get up and walk out of his place of death and obey Christ's command to “come forth,” neither could we “come forth” to Christ's call when we were also dead and unresponsive to God's message of salvation.

Think of it for a moment: How could a dead man in his grave clothes and tomb have heard the call to “come forth” from the grave much less get up and walk to the opening of the tomb as Jesus bid him? Dead men do not hear anything nor obey a command to get up and come forth! He had to be first and foremost raised from the dead. He had to be made alive from his dead state. Then and only then could Lazarus rise from the tomb and obey the words of Jesus. That same person and power raised us from being dead in our sins so that we could (and risk nothing other than) obey the command to come to Christ in saving faith.

And, in coming to Christ in faith we are joined in union with Him in the likeness of His death and resurrection.

Because of this union, Christ is now the source of our life on this earth. It is in and through His life that we find reason for existing. He is the Person to whom we take all thoughts and actions captive (2 Corinthians 10:5). In doing so, we proclaim that nothing in this sin-filled world of God haters, of those who reject all that God is, can offer us nothing to satisfy our spiritual thirst and hunger.

Why because of our union with, in, and by Christ would we point to any other source to comfort us in times of sorrow and trials, for consolation, for eternal sustenance, or for all things in heaven and on earth? Why would we turn to the things of the world emanating from the vain efforts of men for meaning and help when it is Christ Who is our life?

Charles H. Spurgeon said this:

“Where there is the same life within, there will be, there must be, to a great extent, the same developments without; and if we live in near fellowship with the Lord Jesus we shall grow like Him. We shall set him before us as our Divine copy, and we shall seek to tread in His footsteps, until He shall become the crown of our life in glory.”

For the Christian, our sole source and example for life is in and through Christ. “For me to live is Christ.”

“Christ who is our life.” Colossians 3:4

The Great Apostle Paul or The Misogynist ?

Do the pages of Holy Scripture ever refer to a situation as being a cultural circumstance and not applicable to the 21^st century? Are there cultural issues in the Bible that perhaps might be changeable for our “day?” I think in answering this question one has got to exercise a great deal of exegetical wisdom and apply a remarkably reliable hermeneutic to come up with the answer. And, how exactly can we know the difference? How can we be sure what we are looking at in Scripture so we do not become guilty of bringing into question the infallibility of the “God breathed” (inspired) Word of the Living God?

A text that some take as being cultural is found in 1 Cor. 7 regarding marriages. Paul's exhortation to remain single seems to be tied to the persecution of the times. Another text, and in my view a stronger one, is the issue of eating meat sacrificed to idols. Regarding head coverings in 1 Cor 11, Paul even says, “judge among yourselves” whether it is proper for a woman to wear a head covering (verse 13). The thing to realize is Paul appeals to custom or tradition if it is not in conflict with the imperative principles of Holy Scripture.

Matthew Henry says: “The Christian religion sanctions national customs wherever these are not against the great principles of truth and holiness; affected singularities receive no countenance from any thing in the Bible.” ¹

A text that is NOT speaking to a cultural issue, but is often thought of being just a “cultural thing,” is found in 1 Timothy 2:11-15:

“Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.”

How do we know this is not some misogynistic ploy by the Apostle Paul to bring those rebellious women under control? Why isn't this a trick to make all Christian women into some inferior beings subservient to all those nasty men in the church?

“In other words, if the biblical passages merely reflect the chauvinism of a first century rabbinic Jew, they are unworthy of our acceptance. If, however, Paul wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and if the New Testament is the Word of God, then the charge of chauvinism must be leveled not only at Paul but at the Holy Spirit Himself - a charge that cannot be leveled with impunity.” ²

I can give you the answer in three words how we know we are not dealing with the culture of the first century: Creation Ordinance Hermeneutic.

Hermeneutics is defined as: “the study of the methodological principles of interpretation (as of the Bible) ” ³

The 1 Timothy 2:11-15 text is an excellent example of Paul presenting a truth of Scripture and appealing, not to culture, but to Creation itself as the basis for his Divinely inspired, infallible, and Apostolic teaching.

Rejection of this passage as anything other than what it is, absolute Truth, stems out of liberal theology. “Of course Paul would say this. He is a man.” It is relegated to the boondocks of the cultural boogeyman by those who don't think it is “fair.” When has “fairness” ever been a valid hermeneutic for exegeses of Holy Scripture? (I'm just saying.)

Paul's hermeneutic is to use Genesis chapter one through three as the basis for what he has just said. Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and in exercising his Apostolic authority, says women are to keep silent in the church and uses the Creation Ordinance in Genesis as his Divinely inspired reason. He gives no cultural “judge for yourselves” in this text.

R.C. Sproul said:

“One of the chief considerations in determining the question of principle or custom is whether the matter involves a Creation ordinance.”

And, my dear readers, 1 Timothy 2:11-15, as distasteful as liberal theology regards it, is tied directly to a Creation Ordinance.

1  Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible Public Domain

2   R.C. Sproul

3  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hermeneutic

Particular, Definite, or Limited?

In the theological acrostic, TULIP, the “L” seems to give a lot of people the most trouble. What this acrostic stand for is, Total depravity, Unconditional election, Limited atonement, and the Perseverance of the saints. Tulip is a simple way of recalling what is known as “The Doctrines of Grace.” And, it is this, a “Limited” atonement, which gives many fits. The word, “limited” is an unfortunate choice of words. But then how would one spell the word, “TULIP” if the “L” was eliminated and something else used instead?

What the “L” in this acrostic was originally meant to convey was a Particular Redemption or Atonement. Another way of putting it is a Definite Redemption or Atonement.

To avoid boring you with theological jargon, let me cut to the chase: Does the Bible teach that Christ in His death died for the sins of all people without exception or did the atonement Christ made on the cross, with His substitutionary death, die for those whom God the Father elected from before the foundations of the world (Ephesians 1: 3-13)?

In other words, did Christ's substitutionary death effect a potential atonement or did it effect a definite, particular, or limited atonement?

Those who reject a definite or particular atonement are in essence saying that what Christ purchased with His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension is an eternal potentiality. Christ indeed endured the cross but rather than purchasing with his shed blood an atonement for God's elect, He rather made an atonement deposit in God's bank of salvation waiting for clients to come along and decide to go in and make a withdrawal of eternal life. This makes man in his absolute depraved nature the deciding factor in salvation when the Bible is all too clear that to have atonement for your sin, it is “not of yourself” but totally and absolutely of God (See Ephesians 2:1-10).

I mean really, think about, if salvation according to Ephesians chapter 2 is true in its assertion that salvation is by unmerited favor and not “of ourselves”, it is the “gift of God and not of works lest anyone boasts,” then how can the Atonement be a potential atonement just waiting for some depraved sinner to come along and make a withdrawal of eternal life?

To throw you another curve ball, let me ask this: What is atonement and when exactly were our sins atoned for?

Atonement is “the reconciliation of alien parties the restoration of a broken relationship (J.I. Packer).”

When Jehovah brought the Jews out of their Egyptian captivity, He set up a way in which to atone for their sins through animal sacrifice. Some say this was at the core of their relationship with God. They made an atonement for their souls through the shedding of blood of animals (Lev. 17:11). These sacrifices were, however, a “type” of what was to come.

“Typology is a special kind of symbolism. (A symbol is something which represents something else.) We can define a type as a “prophetic symbol” because all types are representations of something yet future. More specifically, a type in scripture is a person or thing in the Old Testament which foreshadows a person or thing in the New Testament. For example, the flood of Noah’s day (Genesis 6-7) is used as a type of baptism in 1 Peter 3:20-21. The word for type that Peter uses is figure.” (http://www.gotquestions.org/typology-Biblical.html).

The sacrifices in the Old Testament pointed forward to something permanent and more worthwhile, to something that was to come. But, note this: sins were atoned for when the sacrifice was made or offered. Of course, the blood of animals could not atone for sins in any permanent sense. It was the blood of Him who would fulfill the type, The Messiah, who would once for all blot out sin (see Hebrews 10).

Let me repeat from the above paragraph: “Sins were atoned for when the sacrifice was made or offered.”

Christ did not make a potential atonement for someone who would decide negatively or positively towards the Gospel message in the future. Redemption was not waiting for the decision of man whether to take advantage of the bank account of eternal life to make a withdrawal or pass it by. The Atonement was made two thousand years ago for those whom God chose before the foundation of the world.

“...just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will...” (Ephesians 1: 4,5)

Christ, our Great and Eternal High Priest, atoned for our sins when He offered Himself on the cross more than two thousand years ago. Just as in the case of the typological Old Testament sacrifices, atonement was made when the sacrifice was offered or made, so was Christ's atonement for His people made when He offered Himself as The Sacrifice for sin two thousand years ago.

It was not a potential redemption but a definite and particular one.

If you are a believer today, it was not you in your corrupted, depraved nature that chose yourself unto salvation. It was God who chose you before the foundation of the world, in eternity past, that in due time you would, by His grace, be made alive together with Christ being saved by His Grace (Ephesians 2:1-10).

“Those whom God hath predestinated unto life, he is pleased in his appointed, and accepted time, effectually to call, by his Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ; enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God; taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them a heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and by his almighty power determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ; yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by his grace. (Romans 8:30; Romans 11:7; Ephesians 1:10, 11; 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 14; Ephesians 2:1-6; Acts 26:18; Ephesians 1:17, 18; Ezekiel 36:26; Deuteronomy 30:6; Ezekiel 36:27; Ephesians 1:19; Psalm 110:3; Song of Solomon 1:4)” (THE BAPTIST CONFESSION OF FAITH)  (http://www.vor.org/truth/1689/1689bc00.html))

“What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.” (Romans 9:14-16)