The Ordo Salutis

THE ORDO SALUTIS
The ordo salutis is merely a Latin term that speaks of the order of salvation. It seeks to determine the logical cause and effect progress that brings about salvation. There is not a single passage of Scripture that lays out every act and process of this order of salvation. However, an examination of several key passages will give us insight into such an order of the application of some of those aspects of salvation.

1. The Beginnings of a Framework.
A basic framework of this cause and effect relationship in the order of salvation is presented by Paul in his epistle to the Romans.

29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; 30 and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. (Romans 8:29-30).

There is a definite progression of the different aspects of salvation that are presented in this passage.

Foreknew|c|Predestined|c|Called|c|Justified|
|$|
||Glorified|

Foreknowledge and predestination speak of God's eternal purposes while the remaining aspects point to His temporal purposes. This order begins with God's eternal purpose—with His foreknowing us. This is not to say that there was a time when God had not decided whether or not to save us. Rather, it means that God's predestination springs out of His foreknowledge. He has determined to know us and to love us and therefore He determined to save us. By contrast to this eternal purpose that looks back to the time before creation, our calling and our justification look to the time of our conversion when we came to Christ in faith and became Christians. Finally, our glorification looks to the climax of God's purpose when we are completely set apart to Himself.

2. The Position of Faith in the Ordo Salutis.
Where does faith fit into this framework? It obviously comes after foreknowledge and predestination. It is also obvious that it comes prior to glorification. We can also determine where it comes in relation to justification.

...knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 2:16 a). This passage demonstrates that faith precedes justification in its logical order. This is not to say that they do not take place simultaneously, but that one takes place as the logical basis of the other. Furthermore, it is obvious from the Scriptures that the reason men believe is because they have first been called. No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. (John 6:44). This means we can further chart these aspects of the ordo salutis out like this:

Calling|c|Faith|c|Justification|

3. Faith and Regeneration.
When we speak of regeneration, we are referring to the new birth that takes place when a person is made spiritually alive and receives a spiritual renewal. Which comes first, faith or regeneration? The Arminian position is that regeneration comes on the basis of faith. He teaches that man uses his own free will to believe and then he is regenerated as a result of that belief. The Reformed view, by contrast, is that God regenerates a man and then out of his new life comes faith.

Arminian View|Reformed View|
Regeneration comes as a result of a person believing the Gospel.|Regeneration takes place as a work of God and, as a result of this new life, the person believes the Gospel.|

What do the Scriptures say regarding this issue? It says that whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God (1 John 5:1 a). At first glance, this passage would seem to support the Arminian view. However, the phrase translated “is born of God” is in the perfect tense in the Greek text. This tense indicates an action that took place in the past and which has continuing results. We would therefore translate it as follows:

Whoever believes in the present that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God in the past with the result that they have this life. This places regeneration prior to faith and repentance. Another evidence for this is the fact that the natural man is not able to receive the things of the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 2:14). A man needs to be spiritually wakened in order to hear and understand the Gospel.

Calling|c|Regeneration|c|Faith| As light cannot restore sight to a blind man, so even the light of the Gospel cannot restore life to one who is unregenerate. It takes the life producing work of the Holy Spirit to bring life where there is no life. That is not to say that the Gospel is unimportant to this process. To the contrary, without the light of the Gospel, there is nothing to see.

God's effectual calling|c|Regeneration (New Birth)|c|Repentance and Faith|c|Imputation of Jesus Christ's righteousness to us|
|||||||
|Reconciled|b|Justification|b|||
|$||||||
|Sanctified

• Positionally

• Progressively • Ultimately||||||