The Ascribed Causes of Salvation
“Tell of his salvation from day to day”
(1 Chron. 16:23; see also Ps. 96:1-13)
If the name of the Savior is precious to you, If his care has been constant and tender and true, If the light of his presence has brightened your way, O will you not tell of your gladness today? O will you not tell it today? Will you not tell it today? If the light of his presence has brightened your way, O will you not tell it today? (Jesse Brown Pounds, Will You Not Tell It Today?)
Evangelical churches and individuals are fond of focusing on one particular tenet of the Christian system, to the exclusion and detriment of the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27; Ps. 119:160; see example in James 1:24). Notice, however, that the Bible clearly portrays salvation as being ascribed to multiple logical causes; and, not to any singular emphasis of man’s selection.
1. Grace, the moving cause (Eph. 2:5)
2. The life of Christ, the efficient cause (Rom. 5:9,10)
3. The gospel, the procuring cause (1 Cor. 15:1-2)
4. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, the disposing cause (1 Cor. 15:13-4)
5. Faith, the formal cause (Acts 16:31)
6. Baptism, the immediate cause (1 Pet. 3:21; Tit. 3:5)
7. Endurance, the concurring cause (Rev. 2:10; 13:10; 14:12)
The New Testament plan of salvation is much too important to relegate to human speculation. Tell it today!
-Robert M. Housby