Doctrine of Salvation

Discussion Questions (last week)

• Explain in your own words why Jesus Christ is our foundation. Why is this so important?
• Can you recite the “four-sided fence” from memory? How does this safeguard against doctrinal error?
• Why is the deity of Christ important?
• Why is the humanity of Christ important?
• How can God be "hungry"?

Why did Jesus
have to die?

SUBSTITUTIONARY:
"in our place"

"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."
- 2 Corinthians 5:21

REDEMPTION:
"buy back"

"For you were bought with a price..."
- 2 Corinthians 6:20a

PROPITIATION:
"God satisfied"

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith."
- Romans 3:23-25a

RECONCILIIATION:
"peace with God"

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."
- 2 Corinthians 5:17-20

FORGIVENESS:
"released/sent away"

"And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him."
- Colossians 2:13-15

JUSTIFICATION:
"declared righteous"

"But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation."
- Romans 5:8-11

REGENERATION:
"made new"

"But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life."
- Titus 3:4-7

ADOPTION:
"become family"

"But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God."
- Galatians 4:5-6

SANCTIFICATION:
"holy/set apart"

"And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified."
- Hebrews 10:10-14

LIMITED ATONEMENT:
Christ died only
for the elect

"I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep."
- John 10:15

"And he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised."
- 2 Corinthians 5:15

UNLIMITED ATONEMENT:
Christ died for everyone, though not all will be saved

"My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world."
- 1 John 2:1-2

"But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction."
- 2 Peter 2:1

ELECTION & PREDESTINATION:
God sovereignly chooses ALL things, including salvation

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will."
- Ephesians 1:3-5

God's Sovereignty &
Man's Responsibility
(Free Will)

BOTH TRUE!!!

"This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men."
- Acts 2:23

ETERNAL SECURITY:
God saves, not man.
So,
God secures, not man.

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. "
- John 10:27-29

Discussion Questions

• Why didn’t God just snap His fingers and save us? Can you explain the importance of Christ’s death?
• How do you reconcile the tension between God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility?
• What theological term most encourages you about Jesus’ saving work for us?

Sources/Recommended Reading

• Moody Handbook of Theology - Dr Paul Enns
• God, I Don't Understand: Answers to Difficult Questions of the Christian Faith - Kenneth Boa