When God Saves…
When God does something we don’t imagine it to be halfway. We believe God does all things perfectly and completely. So when we discuss the most important and impressive act of God recorded in Scripture, namely redemption, we want to affirm that he did it perfectly and totally. Did God make salvation possible or did he actually make salvation a reality? This is a dangerous road to travel, I know, but it is a deeply important one for securing answers in this related discussion.
The Scriptures present a Christ who victoriously secured salvation for His people. Let’s look at a few passages for support. First Romans 5:10 states, “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” Note that what this passage says is that “we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.” The actual, realized, result from Christ’s death was our reconciliation to God. This is not a possibility, it is not a probability, it is not a mere coincidence, it is the realized aim of Christ’s death. He accomplished it when He was crucified for our sins. Galatians 3:13a adds to this case by saying, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.” Christ actually redeemed us from the curse, not just made redemption a possibility. 1 John 2:2 says it like this, “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” That word “propitiation” means “the turning away of wrath.” This brings up another very important point. If Jesus died for our sins, securing our freedom from judgment for those sins, if Christ paid the penalty in full, and if God was satisfied with that payment, then how can man still be condemned to hell for his sins? The question at hand is whether or not sin can be judged twice.
If Jesus paid the penalty for a sin, and God is satisfied with that penalty then no further payment is necessary for that sin. But if Christ died for sinners without securing their salvation then did he die in vain? The answer must be yes, for they are still condemned. Romans 8:1 says there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, meaning that there is no eternal punishment left for the sins of those who have repented and believed in Jesus. Likewise Hebrews says, “He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12). Jesus actually secured eternal redemption. So the answer to this question must be that Jesus did not make salvation a hypothetical, but a reality for His elect. For, as Paul says, “And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” (Romans 8:30). This election leads to glorification. When God saves He does it all the way (from beginning to end) and secures the actual salvation of His people.
This has significant ramifications for understanding the debate that then arises over the issue of “eternal security,” for at the heart of the debate will be struggle to affirm that Christ does not fail at his efforts to save. The one side will contend that Jesus does not fail but that man may fail to receive this gift of God and thereby miss out on salvation. The other side will contend that Jesus does not fail by actually saving all those for whom He died, namely the elect. The first position brings up another important point, however, that must be addressed as we continue our trek to wrestle to understand this important doctrine: what role does faith play in our salvation?
Sparrow & Heart Soul Care 
You make some good points, but how about going a step further–that if Jesus’ paid for the sins of all, i.e., EVERYONE, then is not everyone saved?
If not, then you either have to buy into the Limited Atonement concept, or really do a lot of mental gymnastics to make passages like John 3:16 mean something other than what it says.
I’ve actually written an entire book on this topic–“Hell? No! Why You Can Be Certain There’s No Such Place As Hell,” (for anyone interested, you can get a free ecopy of my book at my website: http://www.thereisnohell.com), but if I may, let me share one of the many points I make in it to explain why.
If one is willing to look, there’s substantial evidence contained in the gospels to show that Jesus opposed the idea of Hell. For example, in Luke 9:51-56, is a story about his great disappointment with his disciples when they actually suggested imploring God to rain FIRE on a village just because they had rejected him. His response: “You don’t know what spirit is inspiring this kind of talk!” Presumably, it was NOT the Holy Spirit. He went on, trying to explain how he had come to save, heal and relieve suffering, not be the CAUSE of it.
So it only stands to reason that this same Jesus, who was appalled at the very idea of burning a few people, for a few horrific minutes until they were dead, could never, ever burn BILLIONS of people for an ETERNITY!
True, there are a few statements that made their way into the gospels which place Hell on Jesus’ lips, but these adulterations came along many decades after his death, most likely due to the Church filling up with Greeks who imported their belief in Hades with them when they converted.
Bear in mind that the historical Protestant doctrine of the inspiration of the Scriptures applies only to the original autographs, not the copies. But sadly, the interpolations that made their way into those copies have provided a convenient excuse for a lot of people to get around following Jesus’ real, core message.
I find your response interesting, friend. Let me respond with just two questions:
(1) How do you know which words were latter insertions and which were divine inspiration?
(2) The Greeks did have a concept of Hades, that is true, but so did the Jews…isn’t it just as likely that the statements on Jesus’ lips regarding hell is rooted there and not in Greek thought?