Soteriology

There never seems to be enough hot air spent on this issue.  Pretty much all Christians agree that salvation is a critical issue, but we can't seem to agree on the particulars of salvation.  Since this is a fundamental issue, why is it so difficult to come to agreement over it?  Well, I don't know if I can answer that question, but I will do my best to exegete the issue of salvation from the Bible.

Before I go into the details and particular views of salvation, I feel compelled to point out one fundamental principle: It all boils down to the relationship between man and God.  I'm not talking about having a relationship with God, as the popular catchphrase goes, I'm talking about the kind of relationship.  People have a relationship with their dog, so saying that a person must have a relationship with God is meaningless.  Even the sinner damned to hell has a relationship with God, but not a good one.  The relationship that saints have with God, and the one mentioned in the Bible (John 3:29), is marriage.  All of salvation really comes down to that: Do you have the right relationship with God?  All of salvation is really about that: Jesus bought us with His blood so that His Church would be united with Him in marriage.  The marriage of Jesus and His saints is the beginning and end of salvation; that's what its all about.

Now getting into the details of salvation, I want to start off with faith.  Faith is essential.  Without faith it would be pointless to even talk about salvation or the aspects of God.  Before any two people can talk about the Father, the Son or the Holy Spirit they have to believe that they actually do exist.  Christians do not disagree on this point - that faith is an essential element of salvation.  What Christians disagree on is what comes after faith, or what must come after faith.  Some Christians, Protestants in particular, say that a person is saved by faith alone.  Its often unclear as to what they really mean, because some will also say things like: "Saved by faith alone, but faith is never alone."  What they mean by this is that true faith will always be accompanied by works, but that faith is the only necessity of salvation, or put another way, that faith merits the salvation.  Some people may understand the intent of this wording, but especially among those that hold to a "faith alone" dogma, there are many who do not.  I say this is dogma, because there is no where in the Bible that actually says a person is saved by faith alone, or uses synonymous terms.  You can go to Paul's letters and find that he says a person is saved by grace, through faith, but he never actually says "faith alone".  Therefore I would contend that faith by itself is not enough, and that a person who has faith, but does not do the will of God, is in danger of hell.  As James writes in 2:19, even demons have faith in one God, but clearly they're not going to heaven.

Jesus says in Matthew 7:21 that only the person who does the will of God can enter heaven.  So what does it mean to do the will of God?  Following the commands/teachings of Jesus and the apostles is the obvious answer.  To avoid being ambiguous, let me give a list of actions relating to salvation.

Repent
In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents  -Jesus in Luke 15:10

Now that is a powerful verse.  Jesus shows us just how important repentance is.  Its no wonder John the Baptist preached a message of repentance to prepare the way for Jesus.

Call on the Lord 
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  -Jesus in Matthew 7:7

Another way to put this: pray.  I'm sure you've heard about the "sinners prayer" or "pray Jesus into your heart".  It is true that these are ways to call on the Lord, but simple short statements like these tend to trivialize the whole process.  Calling on the Lord is not something you do once and done, but something you do over and over.  Just because you've said the sinners prayer does not make you a Christian

Publicly proclaim Jesus as Christ and Lord
Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.  But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.  -Jesus in Matthew 10:32-33

Be careful what you say
For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.  -Jesus in Matthew 12:37

Help the needy
The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'  -Jesus in Matthew 25:40

Receive the kingdom (the word of God) like a little child
I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it  -Jesus in Mark 10:15

Love the Lord your God with everything, and love your neighbor as yourself
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'  The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'  There is no commandment greater than these.  -Jesus in Mark 12:30-31

Be baptized
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.  -Jesus in Mark 16:16

I don't think Jesus is excluding the unbaptized from heaven (He does exclude the unbeliever), but certainly He highlights the importance of baptism with this verse.

Make disciples of all nations
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit  -Jesus in Matthew 28:19

Now that's certainly not everything.  I could have mentioned the sermon on the mount, John 15:12, Mark 8:35, Mark 7:21-22, Matthew 19:6, Revelation 22:15, Luke 17:4, Luke 16:13, Luke 14:26, Mark 10:44, Matthew 12:35, Luke 12:10, Mark 9:45-47, or many things written in the epistles.  The will of God is not simply one thing, but there is one thing clear about it: You must read the Bible to find out what the will of God is.

That leaves me with the last thing to cover in this note, but I will cover more in a sequel note.  I want to talk about the importance of reading the Bible.  Jesus said in Matthew 4:4, "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."  The key to having eternal life is reading and knowing the word of God - the Bible.  Think of it as a park map you receive at the welcome center.  Before doing anything in the park, if its a big park unfamiliar to you, you need to get a map so you know what's out there and don't get lost.  Without it you would be blindly walking around without a clue what you're doing or where you're going.  To try to be a Christian without knowing the Bible is just like that: a blind stumbling around in the dark.  So I take it to be a necessary thing in salvation, except for those who do not have the Bible available (Paul states that those who do not receive the law will be judged apart from the law - Romans 2:12-15).  If a person has the ability to read, and has no trouble obtaining a Bible (true for everyone in the western world), but does not read the Bible to receive the word of God, then he is rejecting what God had written.  That is, in essence, the same as rejecting God.  So yes, I do say that it is necessary for a person to read the Bible to be a Christian (unless they have a really good excuse).

To be continued....