By Gary Ray Branscome
Soteriology is the area of theology focusing on what
Christ’s death means for us, and specifically how the benefits of His
sacrificial death on the cross are applied to us. Although this application of benefits
is expressed differently in different languages, in English it is usually known
as, “The Way of Salvation”, or “The Order of Salvation”. This section gives a
summary of some key topics.
When unbelievers read the words, “The
LORD has laid on Him [Christ] the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6), they
often assume that we believe that God just transferred our guilt to Christ and
let Him take the blame for what we did. However, that would not be just, and
that is not what the Bible says.
The words, “The LORD has laid on
Him [Christ] the iniquity of us all,” tell us that God “laid” our sins on
Christ (Isaiah 56:6). And, because He bore the punishment for our sins they
have already been punished. However, the mere act of laying them on Christ is
not what removes our guilt. On the contrary, while Christ hung on the cross our
sins were in two places; they condemned us, and they condemned Christ as well.
The words, “He was wounded for our
transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities,” tell us that He was under
condemnation the entire time that He was on the cross (Isaiah 53:5). The words,
“Christ also
suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that
He might bring us to God,” tell us that Christ, who was
“righteous,” suffered for us “the unrighteous” (1Peter 3:18). However, when
Christ died, because He had no sin of His own, God forgave the sins that had
been placed on Him. For that reason, those sins no longer condemn Christ. They
have been forgiven! And, because they were our sins, and have been forgiven,
that forgiveness extends to us when we place our faith in Christ. As it is
written, “Scripture has concluded all
under sin, that the promise might be given to those who believe, through faith
in Jesus Christ” (Galatians
“Being found
in fashion as a man, He [Christ] humbled himself, and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore
God also has highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name” (Philippians 2:8-9). “For God made Him who knew no
sin, to be sin for us;
so that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him”
(2Corinthians
The Means of Grace
Although Reformation theology usually
describes the means of grace as “Word and Sacraments,” that phrase is easily
misunderstood because it appears to separate the “Word” from the “Sacrament,”
as if Sacraments were something entirely different from the Word. For that
reason, I will be stressing the fact that the Word of God is the means of
grace, the means by which God brings us to faith. As it is written, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the
word of God” (Romans
“There
is but one means by which the knowledge of grace and salvation, and grace and
salvation itself, are imparted to us; it is the Gospel, the glad tidings of the
grace of God in Christ Jesus.” (“A Summary of Christian Doctrine,” by Edward W.
A. Koehler, pages 189-190.) “Sacraments are nothing else than the Word of God attached to a symbol.”
(“Law And Gospel,” by C. F. W. Walther, page 347.)
Through
the Gospel, God not only offers us forgiveness in Christ, but brings us to
faith by making us aware of what Christ has done for us, assuring us of
forgiveness through His death in our stead, and enabling us to believe in spite
of all the world, the flesh, and the devil do to create doubt and undermine our
faith. The words, “The natural man does not accept the things
of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him: and he cannot understand them, because they are
spiritually discerned,” tell us that without God’s help
none of us would ever believe the gospel (1Corinthians
The
words, “We also have access by faith into this grace in
which we stand,” tell us that God’s grace comes to us through faith in Christ (Romans
5:2). The words, “In whom we have
redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches
of His grace,” tell us that the grace that we receive consists of the
forgiveness Christ won for us through His death on the cross (Ephesians 1:7). The
words, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be
saved,” tell us that the grace that comes to us through faith in Christ is
what saves us (Acts
Because
“The natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God,” men have in the past, “Changed
the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creation more than
the Creator,” (1Corinthians 2:14, Romans 1:25). And, they do the same thing
today. There is one cult that worships a god that they describe as an exalted
man. However, it is more common in this country to find worship of the goddess
“mother nature” disguised as science. Here are a few quotes that I found on the
internet. “When it comes to efficient design, scientists are still learning
from nature's smart evolutionary strategies.” // “Nature gives us everything
free – let's put it at the heart of everyday economic life.” // “Nature has
already solved many of the problems we are grappling with.” Notice that those
quotes ascribe intelligence and planning to nature, making it clear that men
have not changed. Without peace with God they still try to escape guilt by
inventing false gods, thereby changing “the truth of God into a lie” (Romans
What it Means to be Justified
To
justify someone is to absolve them of guilt, vindicate them of any wrongdoing,
and pronounce them innocent or righteous in the sight of the law. For that
reason, we describe our justification before God as “forensic justification”
[i.e. legal or courtroom justification].
In other words, because Christ “Suffered
once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous,” the forgiveness that He
won for us through His death on the cross vindicates us of all guilt before the
judgment seat of God (1Peter
When
the Bible says, “God commends His love toward us, in that, while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved
from wrath through Him. For if we were reconciled to God by the death of
His Son, when we were enemies, much more, having been reconciled, we
will be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God
through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement,” those words tell us that the same forgiveness that removes our guilt
before God, saves us from His wrath (Romans 5:8-11).
The words, “God, who has called you into fellowship with His
Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is true to His promise” // “He will keep you strong to the end, that you may be blameless on the day of our
Lord Jesus Christ,” assure us that the same grace
that saves us will keep us strong in the face of persecution (1Corinthians 1:9
& 8). And, because we are kept by the power of God, “I
am convinced, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor
height, nor depth, nor any other creature, will be able to separate us from the
love of God, that is in Christ Jesus our Lord”
(Romans
The Effects of Justification
Being
cleansed of all sin by the forgiveness that is ours through faith in Christ,
sin no longer separates us from God, and the Holy Spirit takes up residence in
our heart. The words, “Abraham believed
God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness,” tell us that Abraham
was justified by faith, and the forgiveness that he received (through faith) is
what made him righteous in the sight of God (Galatians 3:6, see Rom. 4:3). The
words, “The Scripture, having foreseen
that God would justify the heathen through faith, proclaimed the gospel to
Abraham in advance,” tell us that Abraham believed the same gospel we
believe (Galatians 3:8). The words, “By
faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac… Believing that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead,” tell us that Abraham was willing to sacrifice
his son because he believed that his seed [descendant] would die as a sacrifice
for sin and rise again (Hebrews 11:17-19). And, the words, “Did
you receive the Holy Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of
faith?” and “That Christ may dwell in
your hearts by faith,” tell us that all who have been cleansed of sin through faith in Christ
receive the Holy Spirit (Galatians 3:2, Ephesians 3:17). As it is written, “Don’t
you know that you are the
The words, “The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and they are opposed to each other:
so that you cannot do the things that you would,” tell us that another
fruit or effect of our justification is ability to resist and overcome fleshly
passion (Galatians
Justification Joins Us to God’s People
The
words, “By one Spirit we were all
baptized into one body, whether we
are Jews or Gentiles, whether we are slaves or free; and we have all been made
to drink into one Spirit… God has
arranged every one of the parts of the body, just as He wanted them to be… That there should be no division in the
body; but that the members should have equal concern for each another… You are the body of Christ, and each one of
you is a part of it,” tell us that all who trust in Christ have, through
faith, been joined to Him and to everyone else who is joined to Him
(1Corinthians 12:13-27). The words, “We are members of His body,
of His flesh, and of His bones,” tell us that this union with Christ is physical as well as spiritual
(Ephesians
Election
The
words, “As I live, says the Lord GOD,
I have no pleasure in the death of the
wicked; but want the wicked man to
turn from his way and live: turn, turn from your evil ways; why do you want to
die, O house of Israel?” tell us that God does not want anyone to be lost
(Ezekiel 33:11). The words, “O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets, and stone those who are sent
to you; how often would I have gathered your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings,
but you would not have it!” tell us that men are lost because they resist
His efforts to bring them to repentance (Luke 13:34). The words, “It pleased God to save those who believe
through the foolishness of preaching,” // “Who
has saved us, and called us to a holy calling, not because of anything we have done, but according to His
own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the world
began,” tell us that God works through the preaching of
the gospel to bring us to faith, not because of anything good in us, but solely
according to His grace (1Corinthians 1:21, 2Timothy 1:9). And, the words, “Compel them to come in, so that my house
may be full,” tell us that He brings us to faith, in spite of our
resistance, so that Christ’s death will not be in vain (Luke 14:23).