Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25)
God can save completely or to the uttermost (Heb 7:25). This phrase, eis to panteles, means salvation is to the farthest extent, to the greatest degree, to the most distant point. The New American Standard Bible translated this phrase forever. Does it express duration or completeness? While it could have a temporal sense, the New International Version translated it completely. It might be translated utterly, perfectly, altogether, or entirely.
Gareth Cockerill pointed out that the author of Hebrews uses the phrase eis to aiona seven times to express the concept of forever. The author also utilizes the phrase eis to dienekes four times, which literally means all the time. Therefore, the phrase eis to panteles was chosen intentionally to convey completeness. Cockerill concluded that the writer would be thoroughly puzzled by those of his interpreters who try to reduce this term to forever or who attempt to separate forever from completely. “Christ is able to save so ‘completely’ that his people are able to persevere until the end and thus be saved ‘forever.’”((Cockerill, New International Commentary on the New Testament, 334–335.)) Within verse 25 Christ is described as always living so that complete salvation is possible.
The phrase eis to panteles is found in only one other reference, Luke 13:11. It is used to describe a woman who was bent over and unable to straighten completely up. Just as the healing touch of Jesus helped her reach her full height physically, so God enables us spiritually to reach our full potential, which is to love God with all our heart.((Robertson, Word Pictures, 5:386; Wiley, Hebrews, 254–255; Brown, Meaning of Sanctification, 192–194.))
Complete salvation must redeem us from all the consequences of sin. Full salvation is not only freedom from the guilt, the bondage, and the power of sin but cleansing from the pollution and nature of sin and, ultimately, deliverance from the very presence of sin. Wesley’s words were, “From all the guilt, power, root, and consequence of sin.”((Wesley, Notes, 578.))
But how much of this complete salvation may be experienced in this life? “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work with us” (Eph 3:20). William Sangster argued that “no man has a right to put a limit on what the grace of God can do.”((Sangster, “The Church’s One Privation,” 493–507.)) It is this optimism of grace that distinguishes Wesleyan doctrine.
The basis for full salvation is the atonement of Christ, which is the basis for his present work of intercession. We are not delivered from sin through our own works. Salvation comes from the atonement, not the incarnation. The Methodist Conference in 1871 declared, “We still ‘preach Christ,’ as against science and philosophy: we preach ‘Christ crucified,’ as against those who misplace and exaggerate the Incarnation.”((Benjamin Gregory, “Annual Address of the Conference to the Methodist Societies,” 835. See also W. Andrew Tooley, “Reinventing Redemption: The Methodist Doctrine of Atonement in Britain and America in the Long Nineteenth Century,” 131–132.))
This sanctifying work of the Spirit occurs in all true believers, whether or not they embrace Wesleyan theology. While it is not necessary to adhere to a particular theological system to experience perfecting grace, it is the duty of the church to counsel, teach, and provide spiritual guidance for believers. The Wesleyan synthesis is the most adequate framework in which to diagnose spiritual needs, discern spiritual unbalance, and direct spiritual formation.
Sermon Suggestions
- What sins are you struggling with?
- Do you believe that Christ can give you victory?
- Will you take those sins to him as your savior and your intercessor?