Salvation is more than Justification

Another advantage of the Ordo Salutis: it emphasizes that salvation is more than justification.

Justification is the central benefit of the gospel. The doctrine of justification by faith alone (JBFA) is the core doctrine on which the church stands or falls. Nevertheless, there is more to the gospel than justification. In other words, we need Christ's righteousness imputed to us, and we need to be forgiven. But we need more than this.

Consider just the next step in the Ordo Salutis: adoption. After forgiving sinners, God does not simply kick us out on the street, saying, "Have a nice life." No, as justification gets us out of God's courtroom, so adoption gets us into God's family room. And we need this. We need, not only to be saved FROM sin and its consequences, but UNTO a new life in which we can fulfill the original purpose for which we were created.

J. I. Packer writes the following: "Adoption is the highest privilege that the gospel offers: higher even than justification. That justification - by which we mean God's forgiveness of the past together with his acceptance for the future - is the primary and fundamental blessing of the gospel is not in question. But justification does not of itself imply any intimate or deep relationship with God the judge...Contrast this, now, with adoption. Adoption is a family idea, conceived in terms of love, and viewing God as father. In adoption, God takes us into his family and fellowship - he establishes us as his children and heirs. To be right with God the Judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God the Father is a greater." (from Knowing God, pp. 206-207)

The good news is that Christ saves us out of God's courtroom and into God's family room. Justification and Adoption. FROM/UNTO theology. The Ordo Salutis visualizes this fact: there is more to salvation than justification.