Soteriology is the study of salvation. The term comes from two Greek words: soter (savior or "deliverer") and logos (study).
The Need for Salvation (The Problem)
1. The Fall and Original Sin: Adam and Eve's disobedience left humanity with a sinful nature, spiritually dead and alienated from God.
2. The Consequences: Sin barriers humanity from a holy God, causing spiritual and physical death, and eternal separation.
The Provision of Salvation (The Work of Christ)
1. Christus Victor: Christ's death and resurrection defeated sin, death, and the devil, liberating humanity.
2. Substitutionary Atonement: Jesus took the punishment for human sin on the cross to satisfy God's justice.
3. Moral Influence Theory: Christ's life and death demonstrate God's love, inspiring humanity to repent and love Him.
4. Ransom Theory: Christ's death was a ransom paid to release humanity from the bondage of sin and Satan.
The Application of Salvation (The Human Experience)
1. Grace: God's unmerited favor, which initiates salvation apart from human effort.
2. Faith and Repentance: Turning away from sin (repentance) and trusting Jesus for forgiveness (faith).
3. Justification: Being legally declared righteous by God through faith in Christ.
4. Regeneration: The spiritual rebirth ("being born again") of the soul by the Holy Spirit.
5. Sanctification: The lifelong process of spiritual growth and becoming more like Christ.
6. Glorification: The final stage after death or Christ's return, receiving perfect resurrected bodies free from sin.
Two Dimensions of Salvation
1. Objective Salvation: What God did outside of us in history to make salvation possible (Christ's incarnation, death, and resurrection). It is a finished, historical reality.
2. Subjective Salvation: What God does inside of us This is the personal, experiential application of Christ's work (conversion, transformation, and daily faith).
Three Tenses of Salvation
1. Past Tense - Justification (I have been saved): God legally pardons and declares the sinner righteous, delivering them from the penalty of sin.
2. Present Tense -Sanctification (I am being saved): The lifelong process of spiritual growth and becoming more like Christ, delivering the believer from the power of sin.
3. Future Tense - Glorification (I will be saved): The ultimate, future physical resurrection and complete renewal, delivering the believer from the presence of sin.
Two Views of Salvation
1. Protestant View: Salvation is a free gift received by faith alone (sola fide). Good works do not save us; they are just the natural evidence of a saved life. # We follow Protestant view.
2. Catholic View: Salvation is a lifelong process. God's grace initiates it, but believers must cooperate through faith and good works to be fully justified.
Memory Verse: Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not the result of works, so that no one may boast.
BD Freshers Orientation 08
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