The Template (5)

By seeing the creation of man as an ordered composition… that is, as an event that brought physical and spiritual components together in a perfectly functioning creation made in the image of God… a clearer picture is seen of mankind’s need for salvation.  God’s gospel remedy is also seen and understood better as it is realized that an unwanted addition was attached to the composition and became an integral part of it.  That unwanted attachment is sin.

Our understanding of, as well as any teaching concerning, salvation should address the problem of sin’s attachment to mankind’s nature and its removal from the same.  As well, the implications involve should be explained.  From this vantage point even death itself is understood as not just the reaction of an angry God toward his creation, but as an essential part of the salvation process. 

“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” (I Corinthians 15:22)

The sinful “Adam nature” in us has to die so that the sinless nature of Christ can provide for us access to resurrection.  Again the purpose of death is so the “parts” of our being can be separated so that the unwanted “part” (sin) can be removed.  Of course, if death were the end of the matter all things would have returned to their original states… dust to dust and spirit (of life) back to God.  Except there remains a problem.  What happens to the soul that came into existence when body and breath first came together at creation (or birth)?  Salvation then, is a matter of the soul.

There are many teachings concerning salvation’s process.  Many of those teachings are in disagreement with each other, consequently there are many different religions.  Some bare no resemblance to others, while some are very similar to others.  Whether near opposites or nearly the same, so many teachings (doctrines) can make a sinner’s attempt to find saving truth a very daunting task.

To bring clarity to the chaotic jungle of ideologies and doctrines “out there” it is imperative for a simple, concise, and logical “template of truth” to be grasped.  I believe this can be done by applying what has already been presented to any idea or teaching concerning man’s salvation… a litmus test if you would.

Templates are simply patterns meant to bring consistency to any processing effort.  Before computerization took over, stencils were used for lettering.  They ensured that there was a standardization of how the letters in the desired words turned out… these were templates of the alphabet.  In manufacturing, templates are used to make sure each time a specific part is cut from its stock materiel, the desired piece is the same as the ones before it and the ones yet to be cut.  What if we could find a template for salvation in the scripture? 

Wouldn’t some consistency in beliefs be a welcome change from the raging conflict of confusion that separates salvation seekers?  There is one thing that we must overcome if such an idealistic end were to come to fruition.  We must agree that the template is the precise pattern the scriptures lay out… AND we must submit our beliefs to it once the pattern is established.  Can we look for that template?

Actually, to a large degree we have already seen it.  Let us see what it actually looks like so that it can be used in a very practical way in order that we can know assuredly that what we believe is true.  Let’s start.

As seen in our considerations so far, the number three plays an important part in all that has been reflected on.  There are three parts to the human composition, there are three parts to the soul, and there are three steps to the salvation process.  Since it is the subject being addressed, let us consider the salvation process and lay out the template, and if need be, refine it so that it is the best possible gauge of our beliefs.  It’s time to take the guess work out of our faith… and time to expose the presumption that is pretending to be faith!

In order to bring remedy to sin and its consequences three things need to happen.  “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.”  (Ezekiel 18:4)  “Sin when it is finished bringeth forth death.”  (James 1:15)  “The wages of sin is death.”  (Romans 3:23)  There are many more scriptures confirming the association of sin and death.  In fact, Romans 8:3 declares that there is a law of “sin and death”.  Simply there is no getting around it; sin brings death to the sinner. 

At this point, however, it is important for us to remember:  Death is not the angry reaction of a God who has been disobeyed.  It is the necessary first step for the redemption of the same disobedient sinner.  Again, death is the separation of the parts of our human make-up… including sin.  The purpose of death is to separate sin from the creature called “man”.  Romans 6:7 tells us that “He that is dead, is freed from sin.”

The second leg to the three sided “salvation template” is the removal of sin.  The first leg being the separation of sin.  Remember as we consider sin we are not talking so much about the individual acts of disobedience (like eating the forbidden fruit), but the nature of sin that resides in us… that is in our flesh.  Getting rid of flesh is a major theme in scripture and as we see that sin resides in our fleshly natures we will see this side of the template very clearly. 

“Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing.”  (Romans 7:16 &17)

“O wretched man that I am!  Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”  (Romans 7:24)

Paul refers to the body of death… or a dead body.  What is to be done with a dead body?  The answer is obvious, you bury it!  The body of death is representative of the nature within us of sin… the fleshly nature.  The flesh needs to be buried.

We will not further explore this idea now because this segment is only an introduction to the template, however it will be more fully examined later.  Let it be understood that the removal, or the remission, of sin is accomplished by putting the flesh in its proper place after it has died… in the grave.

The third and final leg of the template must serve the purpose of putting the components of the human creation back together after the nature of sin has been dealt with (burial of sinful flesh).  Simply, this is the resurrection process.  This is a three-fold event and will also be fully covered, but for now we will simply define the resurrection as the spirit’s return to an incorruptible body, from which the sinful nature has been eradicated (and buried).

The template of truth then is a three-part pattern that has three legs… each being a vital part of the whole.  The three legs are:

·         Death

·         Burial

·         Resurrection

In writing to the Corinthians Paul declares these three points to be the gospel, or good news!  This is our salvation template… or gospel template.  Let’s try it out!