Introducing Evangelical Theology by Treier Daniel J.;

Author:Treier, Daniel J.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Theology;Evangelicalism;Reformed Church—Doctrines;REL067000
ISBN: 9781493416776
Publisher: Baker Academic
Published: 2019-06-06T00:00:00+00:00

Salvation

As with sin, Christian teaching about salvation—*soteriology—involves both broad consensus and much variety. *Salvation denotes deliverance from danger or bondage, healing from a deadly illness or wound. As an action of the Triune God, salvation depends upon the Father’s loving initiative, the Son’s ministry of reconciliation, and the Spirit’s application of the Son’s atoning work. An *ordo salutis, or “order of salvation,” describes in sequence how the Spirit unites people to Christ. “To know Christ is to know his benefits,” said Luther’s sidekick Philipp Melanchthon (1497–1560).19

The corollary truth is vitally important: to know Christ’s benefits is to know Christ, or, even more forcefully, knowing Christ is the crucial benefit that defines salvation (e.g., John 17:3; Phil. 3:10–11). *Union with Christ is the central, overarching category in Paul’s theology, naming the covenant relationship in which we receive the benefits of salvation. Numerous prepositions in the New Testament Epistles relate us to Christ: we participate “together with” him in the saving events of his life, so we receive God’s grace “through” him, we have our identity “in” him, and we live “for” him. This union is therefore preeminently a covenant relationship, while this relationship has intimate and mystical aspects. Marriage is the most prominent human analogy, but adoption is another: in union with Christ we become God’s children, joint heirs of a glorious inheritance that his indwelling Spirit guarantees.20

The Bible may not use enough consistent vocabulary and technical concepts to convey one clear, systematic ordo salutis. Nevertheless, the application of salvation involves a basic series of divine actions and human responses. God’s actions involve election to redeem humans, which is accomplished by calling them into union with Jesus Christ, so that they may receive justification, which addresses their status (removing sin’s penalty); regeneration, which addresses their habitus (removing sin’s power over them); and glorification, which applies salvation fully (removing sin’s presence entirely). Along the way, regeneration involves baptism with the Holy Spirit and sanctification; humans respond with conversion, consecration, assurance, and perseverance. Those aspects of the Spirit’s application of salvation will be treated later, in chapter 12. The current chapter focuses on how the Spirit unites people to Jesus Christ and what that means for their past, their present, and their future.

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