Salvation

Salvation: Christian Perspective

In discussing the process of salvation, the work of Christ is supreme in achieving man’s salvation. Primarily, it involves the death of Christ as a substitutionary atonement for sin in securing man’s release from the penalty and bondage of sin and meeting the righteous demand of a holy God. Many passages of Scripture affirm that man’s only responsibility in salvation is believing the gospel (John 1:12; 3:16, 18, 36; 5:24; 11:25–26; 12:44; 20:31; Acts 16:31; 1 John 5:13, and so forth). But what is faith? What does it mean to believe the gospel? Faith may be succinctly defined as “confiding trust.”20 John’s use of the word faith is similar to Paul’s use in describing faith as believing “into Christ.” For John, faith “is an activity which takes men right out of themselves and makes them one with Christ.”[1] The Son has redeemed the believer (Eph. 1:7), removed the wrath of God from the believer (Rom. 3:25), justified the believer (Rom. 5:1), provided forgiveness (Col. 2:13), and sanctified the believer (1 Cor. 1:2). Moreover, Christ prays for believers to be with Him (John 17:24); He continues to be their Advocate at God’s bar of justice (1 John 2:1); and He continues to make intercession as the believer’s High Priest (Heb. 7:25). If a believer could be lost it would imply Christ is ineffective in His work as the believer’s Mediator. The NT clearly teaches how gentiles are grated in through faith in Christ. Through belief in Christ we become the seed of Abraham by adoption. he death of Christ was substitutionary—He died in the stead of sinners and in their place. This is also described as vicarious from the Latin word vicarius meaning “one in place of another.” The death of Christ “is vicarious in the sense that Christ is the Substitute who bears the punishment rightly due sinners, their guilt being imputed to Him in such a way that He representatively bore their punishment.”2 There are many passages that emphasize Christ’s substitutionary atonement in the place of mankind. Christ was a substitute in being made sin for others (2 Cor. 5:21); He bore the sins of others in His body on the cross (1 Pet. 2:24); He suffered once to bear the sins of others (Heb. 9:28); He experienced horrible suffering, scourging, and death in place of sinners (Isa. 53:4–6).
There are two Greek prepositions that emphasize the substitutionary nature of Jesus’ death. The preposition anti, translated “for,” means Christ died “instead of” sinners (Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45). The preposition huper, also translated “for,” means Christ died “in behalf of” or “in place of” sinners (Gal. 3:13; 1 Tim. 2:6; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Pet. 3:18). Philemon 13 shows that huper must mean “in place of.”
The doctrine of substitution is important in that through Christ’s death the righteous demands of God have been met; it was a legal transaction in which Christ dealt with the sin problem for the human race. He became the substitute for humanity’s sin.
Salvation is through faith in Christ. Faith is stressed in Acts 10:43 do not need to first become Jews; they receive forgiveness and salvation simply through believing (cf. Acts 11:21; 14:23; 16:31).
Believing involves repentance. On numerous occasions the gospel heralds exhorted the people to believe in Christ; on other occasions they urged the people to repent (cf. Acts 2:38; 3:19; 5:31; 8:22; 11:18; 17:30; 20:21; 26:20). This indicates the terms should be understood synonymously.5 Paul’s statement, “repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21), suggests repentance is bound up in faith. To have faith is to repent; without repentance faith is not possible.
Salvation is through the grace of God. When Paul came to Achaia he helped those who had believed “through grace” (Acts 18:27). In this way God in time manifested His grace to Lydia (Acts 16:14) and to others (Acts 13:48) what had been resolved before time began.
Salvation is apart from any works. The Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 resolved that Gentiles did not need to be circumcised nor observe the law of Moses to be saved. They were saved by faith alone.
s has been noted in the preceding discussion, Peter emphasizes Christ in His work of salvation: He was a perfect sacrifice, like a spotless, unblemished lamb (1 Pet. 1:19); He committed no acts of sin (1 Pet. 2:22); He died as a substitute once for all, the innocent for the guilty (1 Pet. 3:18). Peter emphasizes the act—He was killed for us.
The pronouns emphasize that Christ died in the place of sinners (1 Pet. 2:24). He ransomed4 them from slavery to sin (1 Pet. 1:18).
Christ’s salvation was planned in eternity past (1 Pet. 1:20) but revealed in history. He completed salvation through His resurrection, giving believers a living hope (1 Pet. 1:3).



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20 20. William G. T. Shedd, Commentary on Romans (Reprint. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1980), p. 76.
[1]Enns, Paul P.: The Moody Handbook of Theology. Chicago, Ill. : Moody Press, 1997, c1989, S. 332
2 2. Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1941), p. 392.
5 5. Charles C. Ryrie, Biblical Theology of the New Testament (Chicago: Moody, 1959), pp. 116–17.
4 4. The word “ransomed” is elutrothete from lutroo, meaning “to release, to procure a release by a ransom, to deliver by the payment of a price, to redeem.” For the Jews, the picture of redemption would be God’s deliverance from Egypt. For the Gentiles it would be the picture of a slave whose freedom was purchased with a price.” Fritz Rienecker, Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament, edited by Cleon Rogers (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1982), p. 748.
[2]Enns, Paul P.: The Moody Handbook of Theology. Chicago, Ill. : Moody Press, 1997, c1989, S. 127
[3]Enns, Paul P.: The Moody Handbook of Theology. Chicago, Ill. : Moody Press, 1997, c1989, S. 96