The Application of Salvation

Now that we have established the historical basis of our redemption in the covenants that God has made with humanity and in Christ’s work to purchase the blessings of salvation through His life, death, and resurrection, it is time to consider how we appropriate these benefits. We are talking here about the application of salvation to the individual, the process and order by which our Savior’s redemption takes hold of us.

The application and outworking of the benefits of salvation will be our focus over the next several weeks. We will begin today by considering the emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit in this. As a shorthand way of expressing how the Trinity saves sinners, we often say something to the effect that the Father plans redemption, the Son purchases redemption, and the Spirit applies redemption to the elect. This phrasing recognizes that Scripture calls special attention to each person of the Trinity in different ways, enabling us to see how each person of the Trinity has a unique work. We remember, however, that all three persons are active at every point in the planning, purchasing, and applying of redemption. Since the Trinity is one God, the three persons always act as one. We must keep this in mind as we speak of the Holy Spirit as applying salvation to us lest we divide the works of the Trinity and unwittingly stumble into a tritheistic view of salvation whereby each person does something absolutely different from the others.

In any case, Scripture does highlight the Holy Spirit in applying redemption. We say that Scripture “appropriates” the application of salvation to the Spirit. We see this, for example, in today’s passage, where Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit gives us understanding of the things of God (1 Cor. 2:11–14). Elsewhere, the New Testament reveals the work of the Holy Spirit in each of the elements of salvation. We see Him in election when God chooses to bless His people with “every spiritual blessing” (Eph. 1:3–4). The Holy Spirit regenerates us, bringing us to new spiritual life so that we can believe the gospel (John 3:5). Through faith in Christ, we are justified—declared righteous—“by the Spirit of our God.” In the same place, we read also that we are sanctified—set apart as holy and empowered to grow in holiness by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:11). Finally, the Holy Spirit will glorify us—give us resurrected bodies (Rom. 8:11).