Cees en Anneke Noordzij — Soteriology
b3 — Noah’s Ark
Salvation (Completeness and Scope)
The article articulates a threefold salvation based on numerical symbolism:
“The number 300 speaks of complete salvation, 3 of the whole person: spirit, soul, and body.”
Source: Noordzij, De ark van Noach [Noah’s Ark], §300 (number 300 – introduction).
Interpretation: For Noordzij, salvation is not a partial or exclusively juridical reality, but encompasses the totality of the human being. This corresponds to sanctification as an ongoing process.
The broader scope extends to all creation:
“glorious culmination of the plan…restoration of all things…new heaven and new earth”
“Christ Jesus in us is the hope of glory, a hope that reaches within the veil” (Col. 1:27; Heb. 6:19)
Source: Noordzij, De ark van Noach, §closing section.
The Ark as Type of Christ (‘In Christ’)
Central soteriological motif: the ark is a type of Christ; to be in the ark is to be in Christ.
“The ‘ark’ now is ‘Christ’, with Jesus as our ‘Noah’”
“Come to Me, I will give you rest” (Matthew 11) [as the invitation of the ark-Christ]
Source: Noordzij, De ark van Noach, §The ark as Christological type.
Interpretation: Salvation is here understood as incorporation (‘in Christ’). Jesus as ‘Noah’ protects the believer during judgment.
Election and Remnant Theology
Noordzij presents a consistent pattern of divine selection of a small group:
“God calls people…to Himself by name, to walk with Him, as Enoch, Noah, and Abraham did”
“Each of them He brings ever closer to the goal: the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13)
Source: Noordzij, De ark van Noach, §Election/Calling.
The remnant theme is historically documented:
- Gideon: 32,000 → 300 (Judg. 7:7-8)
- Jesus’ disciples: many followed, most departed (John 6:66)
- Today: “only a few” follow the Lamb (Rev. 14:4)
Source: Noordzij, De ark van Noach, §300 – Gideon; §closing section.
Interpretation: Election here functions not primarily as an eternal decree (TULIP framework) but as a divine calling answered through obedience and commitment. The emphasis lies on the remnant that endures.
Particular Grace
“Complete grace, for those who…humble themselves”
Source: Noordzij, De ark van Noach, §50 – Ahaziah’s commanders of fifty (2 Kings 1).
Interpretation: Grace is particular in the sense that it is tied to humility. The first two companies of fifty are destroyed; the third company that humbles itself receives “complete grace.”
Sanctification as Threefold Progression
The sanctification process is developed through the three veils of the tabernacle:
- First veil (gate to outer court): access to the altar of sacrifice and the laver — complete dedication and purification.
- Second veil (holy place): only for consecrated, washed, and anointed priests in white linen; illuminated by the sevenfold lampstand (Holy Spirit).
- Third veil (Holy of Holies): for the high priest alone; no sunlight or moonlight; God’s glory is the light; those entering become sons through whom restoration occurs.
“if the ‘flesh’ does not die and tear, the perfect cannot come”
“Jesus entered first…our forerunner”
Source: Noordzij, De ark van Noach, §Tabernacle typology: three veils.
Interpretation: Sanctification requires progressive self-denial (“the flesh dies”). The structure is three-phased and corresponds to the threefold salvation (number 300 = 3 × 100).
Glorification and Sonship
The final state of salvation is described as sonship:
“He who overcomes (=300) will inherit all things, and I will be his God and he will be My son (=30)” (Rev. 21:7)
Source: Noordzij, De ark van Noach, §Number 30 – spiritual maturity.
The number 30 (spiritual maturity) is preparation for sonship:
“Full-grown! Mature! Sonship!”
Enoch (300 years walking with God) serves as a type of bodily transformation without death:
“his whole being obeyed the Spirit” — as a type of “complete salvation” including the body.
Source: Noordzij, De ark van Noach, §300 – Enoch (Gen. 5:22, 24).
The 144,000 as a formula for glorification:
“2×8×3×300 sons of God” — 2 = new life, 8 = resurrection, 3 = spirit/soul/body, 300 = complete deliverance → “more than conquerors” (Rom. 8:19, 37; Rev. 14:2-5)
Source: Noordzij, De ark van Noach, §144,000 formula.
Calling and Commitment as Soteriological Condition
Only Elisha (of all the prophets) received the “double portion” of the Spirit, because he alone was fully committed:
“not only willing to die to the flesh, but who in every act does not count his own life”
Source: Noordzij, De ark van Noach, §50 – Elijah and Elisha (2 Kings 2:1-19).
Interpretation: [TENSION with b1] In b1 (‘Moses and the Path to Sonship’), self-emptying/crucifixion is likewise the mechanism of sanctification. In b3 this is confirmed via the Elisha type: full dedication and willingness to die are prerequisites for the fullness of the Spirit.
Judgment and Salvation (Eschatological Framework)
“When these things begin to take place, look up…because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28)
“just as in the days of Noah…God is now also building an ‘ark’”
“When darkness covers the earth…then My glory will be seen over you” (Isa. 60:2)
Source: Noordzij, De ark van Noach, §Eschatological framework.
Interpretation: Salvation has an eschatological dimension: just as the ark preserved Noah during the judgment of the flood, Christ preserves the believer in the end-time crisis.