The episode traces the journey of those who do good works. All are initially "sons of disobedience" and are "by nature children of wrath." (Ephesians 2:2-3) Mankind can do no good, and none are "children of God." The Holy Spirit convicts "the world" of failure to trust Christ (the essence of sin) and the means of becoming good through the work of Christ. (John 16:8-10) Faith in God is the condition that justifies believers and makes them good or righteous. Hence Paul declares in Romans 4:5 that "the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness." Once one receives Christ by faith, God regenerates the heart, making the former son of disobedience a child of God. So John 1:12 promises "as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name." Finally, the believer who now has an intrinsically good heart, "created in Christ Jesus for good works," learns to abide in Christ and bear much fruit. (John 15:5)
The Grace of Sanctification
This episode focuses on the second possible interpretation of Galatians 5:4, which contends that believers can lose the grace of salvation. Commonly referred to as the Arminian option, this interpretation largely depends on the meaning of "grace." If grace here means forgiveness of sins, coupled with the imputed righteousness of Christ, then this verse does suggest that believers can lose their salvation. "Grace" however is multifaceted in Scripture, and many places use grace in the sense of the power of God, the unmerited gift of God to live and godly and holy life. Paul uses grace in this sense in the opening salutations when he prays that "grace and peace" be with the Galatians. He is evidently not praying for grace in the sense of forgiveness of sins. Rather, he prays that the Galatian believers be blessed with divine power, together with peace, to live a godly life. The episode also mentions Romans 8:30 in which justification and even glorification is a past act from God's perspective. Paul evidently believed in eternal security, so the grace spoken of in Galatians 5:4 is best understood as the grace of sanctification, not the grace of justification. Troublesome verses like Galatians 5:4 illustrate the broader hermeneutical principle that difficult passages shouldn't be interpreted apart from easier passages, particularly from the same author. Scripture interprets Scripture, and much faulty interpretation is avoided when the principle is applied to difficult texts.
Liberated to Think Spiritual Thoughts
This episode spells out the application of the breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of salvation, using Romans 8:3-4. The first deals with our hopeless position apart from Christ. God judged all of our sins in the flesh of Christ, while he accounts us righteous based on the righteousness of Christ. This breastplate of righteousness makes us POSITIONALLY perfect before God. The helmet of salvation principally addresses our thought life. As we identify with our perfect position in Christ, God works on our CONDITION, replacing bad thinking with the mind set on the Spirit. Sanctification, the process by which the Holy Spirit conforms our CONDITION to our POSITION, utilizes both the breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of salvation. The episode highlights the substitutionary death of Christ and warns against a nonchalant view of Christ's sacrifice or a "Christ-and-penance" view of justification.