Sergey Hudiev

Assurance of salvation

The Impossibility of an Intermediate Condition

Thus, the notion of man's progressive "assimilation" of salvation states that man can be found in the process of a transition from an "unredeemed" to a "redeemed" condition, that is he can abide in Christ only partially, according to the his assimilation of the fruits of redemption. Meanwhile, the Scriptures do not present the possibility for such an intermediate condition. Either a person is in Christ and as such he already possesses all present and future blessings of redemption, or he is outside of Christ and as such he is entirely and fully devoid of these blessings: He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.(Jn 3:36) —He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (Jn 3:18) —Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. (Jn 5:24) It is impossible to "have eternal life" to some extent and to also to some extent abide in the wrath of God. The one who "shall not come into judgment" cannot at the same time be the one who is "already condemned." See also Eph. 2:1-10. And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

It is impossible to be just a little bit of a "son of disobedience" and a "child of wrath" (Eph. 2:2-3) and at the same time to be a little saved and seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:5-6). It is impossible to be just a little cursed (Deut. 11:28; Gal. 3:10) and a little blessed (Gal. 3:13-14; Eph. 1:3). At present moment one can be found either in one or the other position, but in no way can one be found in the middle. No kind of intermediate or transitionary condition exists between blessing and cursing, justification and condemnation, the kingdom of darkness and the Kingdom of the Beloved Son (Col. 1:13). Either you now belong to his sheep (John 10:27-28) and possess all present and future blessings which the Lord promises to His own, or you are not one of His sheep (John 10:26) and are fully devoid of these blessings. Thus, the transition from one condition to another can in no way be a lengthy time process with unforetold results. This is a single event with clear-cut after effects. This event in the Scriptures is associated with Baptism and is described as being born from above, regenerated or born from God (in accordance with 1 Pet. 1:23; John 1:12-13; James 1:18), justification (Rom. 5:1, 9), and adoption by God (ex: Gal. 3:26). Everywhere [in Scripture] the question at hand deals with an event and not a process Christians are described as those who have been regenerated and not as that who are being regenerated. Likewise they are described as those who have been adopted and not as those who are found in the process of being adopted. The Holy Scriptures may speak of the process of [the believer's] spiritual growth and progressive growth in Christlikeness (see the chapter in this book entitled "Salvation as a Process"), but this process itself begins only after the transition from a "child of wrath" to a "child of God" has occurred. In order to grow one must first be born. In order to grow in the new life, one must first (with absolute certainty) be alive and not dead, having already "crossed over from death to life." In the next chapter we will examine how this transition occurs.