I'd like to talk about the Ordo Salutis.

As well as being a brilliant name for a character in Star Wars,

Ordo Salutis is also a Latin phrase which means order of salvation.

The Ordo Salutis answers the question,

what steps take place in the salvation of a Christian? Well, if we were being very

minimal, we might say that the necessary steps in salvation are simply repent and believe in

Jesus. But is there anything that happens before a person can repent, and is there anything

that must happen after a

person believes? The Ordo Salutus shows that salvation is a beautifully sprawling process

that spans not only the whole of a person's life, but extends outward, even beyond history

and beyond time itself. We get a compressed glimpse of the

Ordo Salutus in Romans chapter 8 verses 28 to 30. It's almost like watching a time-lapse video of a

Christian's entire spiritual life from beginning to end. And we know, says the Apostle Paul,

that for those who love God all things work together for good,

for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined

to be conformed to the image of his son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many

brothers. And those whom he predestined, he also called. And those

whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified.

Do you hear the Ordo Salutes there? God forenows, then predestines, then calls, then justifies, and then ultimately

glorifies the believer. There's a logical process at work. Now the pacing of the Ordo Salutis

isn't uniform. There's no neat three-year gap between each thing happening. Some of these

things occur to all intents and purposes simultaneously. For example, is it really possible for

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