Soteriology is considered one of the most important studies in the Christian doctrine. The center of the study is the human’s salvation through God, and the two main questions are: what is the end goal of salvation and how to achieve it. Soteriology is a philosophical idea which implies that humanity is, in fact, in need of salvation. The ascension to God and His kingdom is a consecutive way from admitting the sin through the Holy Spirit to acknowledging Jesus as the Son of God and following him in word and action willingly. Every religion is, in its essence, a path to salvation of a man, and soteriology uses the studies of pneumatology and Christology to define and justify the substance of religious life through mental reflections on it. The three fundamental roles of divine presence in human life are God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. This discussion board post will elaborate on the roles of God the Son and God the Holy Spirit in the work of salvation.
In Jesus Christ, the true essence of man’s salvation is revealed to the highest degree, as he is viewed as the sinless substitute. Believers’ baptism itself visibly and eloquently points – the self-giving of the triune God himself in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the benefits of which are freely bestowed by grace alone on all who truly repent and believe1. In the baptism of Christ, the appearance of the Triune God took place: the baptism of the Son, the voice of the Father, the descent of the Spirit. Thus began the path to the salvation of humanity, and Jesus is the center stage of this path. Only through biding the allegiance to him and willing to act under his guide, a man can find a way to salvation. However, it is not possible to know Jesus without the Holy Spirit. When a person confesses their allegiance to Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit makes His home in them (John 14:23; Eph. 3:17), and God communes with their every being (Rev. 21:3). The Holy Spirit directs the Christian’s religious life and guards them against the evils of temptation.
The assurance of salvation, the evidence of salvation, and security of salvation intersect in the religious life of a believer. Nevertheless, each of these terms has its distinctive meaning. The assurance of salvation grows from the knowledge of God’s act of redemption in Jesus Christ after he took the sins of humanity upon himself. Therefore, the assurance of salvation is a promise of eternal life, even after death. However, the evidence of salvation form from other aspects and are mostly directed on the believers and their actions. Only through the implementation of the scriptures and other regulations in everyday life can the Christians support the certainty of their salvation, as the evidence of their salvation grows from within. The individual is plagued with feelings that must be eradicated – guilt, inferiority, insecurity2. The condition for salvation is doing – a will-based pursuit of living as Christ said, in which faith is manifested.
Lastly, the basis of the security of salvation lies not in what the people assume or feel or what they once heard from someone. God Himself states the fact that salvation and its result – the eternal life – are a gift, not to be traded or auctioned. This gift is revealed to be His Son, Jesus himself – he is the guarantee for the salvation of humanity. “The practical implication of our understanding of the doctrine of perseverance is that believers can rest secure in the assurance that their salvation is permanent; nothing can separate them from the love of God3. And in this point, the three terms converge into the path to salvation. Although salvation is secured for every Christian believer, the assurance must manifest like the warrior’s assurance of victory or the traveler’s assurance of a safe return home – in the evidence of the faith.
Bibliography
Erickson, Millard J. 2013. Christian Theology. 3rd ed. Ada, OK: Baker Academic.
Schreiner, Thomas R., ed. 2007. Believer’s Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman.
Footnotes
- Schreiner, Thomas R., Believer’s Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ. (TN: Broadman & Holman, 2007), 23.
- Erickson, Millard J. 2013. Christian Theology. 3rd ed. (OK: Baker Academic, 2013), 960.
- Ibid., 923.