Unit 4: Soteriology Flashcards
Soteriology:
The study of salvation
What is the beauty of salvation?
- when we consider what we deserve because of sin and what we get because of Jesus verses what Jesus deserves and gets we realize how ridiculous this is
- we get bored with it because we are so familiar. We are shallow people
- salvation applies to me
- good theologians really need to be administers of reality of salvation in the church showing people how the gospel applies to them personally (know theology and know people)
- *God not only loves us, He also likes us
- must not be so focused on the gift that we forget the Giver
How does the trinity influence salvation?
- We must not lose the ad intra in the ad extra
- In ad extra God had wrath for us and now has kindness: this is NOT mean that God changes in ad intra
- In ad extra God acts inseparably
Hamartiology:
The study of sin
Why do we need to consider hamartiology in soteriology?
- The bad news is that we are sinful
- Sin: (1) lack of conformity to the moral law of God (2) idolatry toward God an injustice toward neighbor (vertical/horizontal commands)
- We must not have a low view of sin to understand salvation
– Sin arises in the third chapter and progresses from food to murder to taking over all man’s thoughts
– sin is pervasive and perverting. It is not content and will take over
Total Depravity:
- NOT quality: it does not mean that man is as bad as he possibly could be
- IS quantity: all of who we are has been touched by sin leading to an inability
– we are dead in our trespasses and sins. Our biggest need is to be made alive but this will not be done on our own
Ordo Salutis:
The order of salvation
- How Salvation is applied
Historia Salutis:
The history of salvation
- What happened in history
How can something be both Ordo and Historia Salutis?
- The death of Jesus: the crucifixion is historical but the atonement is order
- The gospel is both repent (ordo, how to get it) and because the kingdom is at hand (the news, history)
- Conservatives seem to be Ordo while liberals tend toward Historia
What are the questions of Ordo Salutis?
- What should go on the list?
- What order should the list be in?
- Should we even have a list?
- What about the doctrines that throw a wrench in all of it? (Union of Christ)
What is the biblical precedence of Ordo Salutis?
Romans 8: aimed at believer’s assurance - foreknew, predestine, called, justified, glorified
What is Dr. Kurtz’s Ordo Salutis?
Foreknowledge/predestination, calling, regeneration, conversion, justification, adoption, sanctification, glorification
(we can disagree, our order determines the denominations we can be apart of)
What is predestination/foreknowledge? What is the debate?
The plan or purpose of God executed in eternity past to save condemned sinners and restore them to relationship with Himself
- NOT does this happen because biblical (Eph 1:3-12)
- IS: how? (Conditional or unconditional, 4 billion option 3s)
What is Conditional Predestination?
God chooses the person by them meeting a condition
- That they would choose God in their free will
What is the debate of conditional predestination?
- Pelagianism: God offers a gift and pleads with you to take it! Problem: we are dead
- This is not the view because of prevenient grace
What is prevenient grace?
- A grace that goes forward/previews
- As God elects He extends grace sufficient to make the person capable of choosing salvation
- Grace is resistible/refusable
- It is a way of reading certain verses and comes from Biblical reasoning
What is unconditional predestination?
God predestines by His will alone
- Not based on ANY condition in the creature
- It is for His will and glory (Eph 1:5, 11)
Who holds to conditional predestination verses unconditional predestination?
Conditional: methodists, Westlyan, many Baptists, Catholics
Unconditional: Reformed, Congregationalists, historical Baptists
How does conditional and unconditional predestination respond to the question Does God what everyone to be saved?
- Unconditional: YES, so why not? because God wants something more: His Glory
- Conditional: YES, so why not? because God wants something more: saved freely
What are the groupings of Ordo Salutis?
- Calling and foreknowledge/predestination are before the foundation of the world everything else in order comes after
- Foreknowledge/predestination, calling and regeneration order depends on unconditional/conditional
– Conditional: Prevenient Grace moves around but For/Pred, Calling, Conversion, Regeneration
– Unconditional: For/pred, calling, regeneration (takes place of prevenient grace making people capable of coming to the LORD), conversion
What is the tricky situation of Calling?
- Paul’s ordo suggests that those who are called are justified
- Matthew 22:14 suggests that not all who are called are chosen
- Result: two kinds of call
Call passages: 1 Cor 1:9, 2 Pet 1:10, 2 Tim 1:8-9
What is Universal Call?
The call of the gospel that goes to everyone
(Matthew 22:14)
What is Effectual call?
- The call of God that evokes the power to fulfill the call
- Unconditional: Unresistible grace
- Prevenient Grace: resistible grace
- NOT a violation of free will because effectually allows called to see beauty of Christ that compels them to turn to God
What is regeneration?
Radical and complete transformation wrought in the soul by God the Holy Spirit by virtue of which we become new men
- Titus 3:5, John 3, 1 Peter 1:3-5
What is helps us to understand conversion? How is conversion often used in relation to the salvation?
- Monergism/synergism: views on conversion.
– even monergistic views prior to conversion become synergistic here - Faith/Repentance: two things conversion entails
- Often used as the synechody for salvation (part that represents the whole ie “all hands on deck”)
Monergism:
An activity in which one person’s energy is involved
- monergistic view of salvation is unconditional election: a view of salvation where only God is at work
Synergism:
An activity in which multiple peoples energy is synchronized
- synergistic view of salvation: God and creature are involved (conditional election)
How does conversion entail faith?
- Seems to entail knowledge, conviction, and trust
1) Know who God is (exclusivist view of gospel) believe exclusively in the name of Christ - not enough because the demons know
2) Convicted that Jesus is who He says He is
3) Trust that Jesus will do what He says He will do - Save you
What is challenging about “repentance”?
Hard to define because the Bible seems to talk about it in two different ways (once and for all and continual)
Repentance:
Saving grace from a current grief about sin and understanding God’s mercy resulting in a turning from sin to God
How does repentance need retrieval?
1) Christian maturity is not repenting less. Deeper one goes into their soul the more they find that needs to be repented of
2) Repentance always yields life. High cost often feels like death
3) Forgiveness is infinitely sweeter than the denial of sin
What is justification’s role in the reformation?
- Presented a three-fold doctrine (infused righteousness, purgatory, indulgences) that protestant reformers wanted to slay
- Catholics protestants agree that Jesus’ righteousness is needed but disagree as to how we get this (imputed - once and for al, infused - continuous)
Infused righteousness:
Jesus’ righteousness is infused into the believer as they take part in the sacramental system (7)
- someone can have more or less righteousness than another
Purgatory:
Place of purification of the dead who will someday obtain glory
- we must be perfect to enter heaven s if we die before we have enough of Christ’s righteousness then we go to purgatory
Indulgences:
- Began late antiquity or tight before reformation
- Some saints have so much righteousness (more than they need) that you can buy their left over if you do not have enough
- Went to uneducated, poor placed who had just lost someone and tell them that if they want to help their loved one they should buy an indulgence to decrease their time in purgatory
Tetzel
One of the best sellers of indulgances
“Once a coin in the coffer rings a soul from purgatory springs”
Justification:
A judicial act of God in which He declares on the basis of the righteousness of Jesus Christ that all of the claims of the law are satisfied with respect to the sinner
What do we/don’t we know about the reformation?
- Don’t know if theses were actually nailed to a door
- If there was a door, we don’t know where it was
- Luther did not start the reformation, John Huss was saying the same thing years before
- More accurate to say protestant reformations because came about differently in different areas
- Doctrines of trinity and God not reformed
Martin Luther:
- Monk professor who became bothered by “free gift” language with infused righteousness while preparing lectures
- Takes issue with righteousness being earned, bought, used against poor and uneducated (man made for profit)
- Taught imputed righteousness
Imputed righteousness:
- Imputed: to credit (giving, declaring charging) to someone else something that is not theirs (once and for all)
– three major in scripture (Adam sin to us, ours and Adam’s sin to Christ, Christ’s righteousness to us) - Righteousness: (Jesus’) His obedience that fulfills the entire law
Active obedience:
Obedience of Jesus that he obtained in life and ministry as actively fulfilled Law of God
Passive obedience:
Obedience of Jesus in allowing things to happen to Him to fulfill the law and prophets
How do active and passive obedience relate to Protestantism?
- We know a lot about passive, not so much about active (answer why had to die but not why had to live)
- Active: fulfills being the second Adam, the parallels are beautiful
- Gospel NOT: our infinite moral dept is paid (passive)
- Gospel IS: out infinite moral debt is paid AND we are brought to infinite righteousness (Active) (seen as infinitely holy and pure)
–> Sola Gratia
Five Solas:
Sola Gratia: by grace alone
Sola Fide: through faith alone
Solus Christus: by Christ’s (work) alone
Soli Deo Gloria: for the glory of God alone (not the glory of dead saints)
Sola Scriptura: according to the Scripture alone (not words of man)
Adoption:
A doctrine that demonstrates the filial shape of salvation–not only saved but brought into a family
What is the beauty of adoption?
- often neglected, this Greek word is only used 5x but referred to in many other areas
- Passages: Gal 4:1-7 (trinitarian in verse 6) Rom 8:14
- We have the guild and shame of Adam and Eve: they deserved to die immediately, it is infinitely gracious to let them live and even more to let them be near God but what we get is a family with unrestricted access to God our Father
- Abba Father does not make sense for us we were aliens but now we have been made sons
What does it mean to be adopted?
- New name and identity, indwelling of His Spirit, Father’s special care and love, Father’s provision, bold access to Father’s presence, loving discipline, heirs of the Father’s Eternal kingdom
- Saved in the Son by becoming a son (through the Son in the Son)
- Leads us to value civil adoption and to love the church–the real people who comprise the church
Sanctification:
- Be holy as God is holy, the already not yet, (two types)
Definitive Sanctification:
Once and for all set apartness - completed at predestination/election
Progressive sanctification:
On going pursuit, putting off old and putting on new
Simul Justus et Peccator
Simultaneously Justified and yet a sinner or simultaneously just and yet sinful
- why is this so hard, already and not yet
- you are Holy but the merits of Jesus our High Priest and not holy as you sin all the time
- Beautiful Gospel Reality: Reality precedes practice. The Glorious truth of the Christian Story
Union with Christ
- “in Christ”
- we get all Spiritual blessings, we are given righteousness by being made one with Christ so that all that is Christ’s is ours
- Pay attention to in, with, by, through in Eph 1:1-14
Atonement: (what are the theories)
What exactly took place when Christ died and how did this impact us
1) Christus Victor/Ransom Theory
2) Moral Influence Theory
3) Satisfaction Theory
4) Governmental Theory
5) Penal Substitution Theory
Christus Victor/Ransom Theory:
THE view of the early church
- Sin puts humans under Satan’s dominion. God doesn’t steal humans back so he randoms them. Jesus dies but is victorious because unlike Satan’s expectations He does not stay dead.
- 1 Cor 6:20, Matt 20:28
Moral Influence Theory:
- There were no obstacles for God to overcome (wrath/justice) in atonement.
- Atonement is simply a moral example that persuades sinners to be reconciled.
(Reaction to Satisfaction theory)
Satisfaction Theory:
- Offense
- God’s honor is not upheld by sinners thus offending Him.
- It takes an infinite redeemer to satisfy an infinite offense
(Anselm)
Governmental Theory:
- Justice
- The law was violated and this needs payment
- Also, Christ’s death is a deterrent to continued sin once one witnesses the gravity of Jesus’ death
(Hugo Grotius, late 1500s - early 1600s)
Penal Substitution Theory:
- Jesus was the substitute for the penalty sinners deserved
- Other theories have something good to day, this is the best individual view
- 1 Pet 3:18
- Critique: divine child abuse - no because trinitarian will
Propitiation:
Removal of God’s wrath
Expiation:
Removal of sin
Three tenses of sanctification:
- Past: Acts 20:32, 26:18 - “who are sanctified
- Present: 1 Thess 4:3-4 this is your sanctification
- Future: 1 Thess 5:23 may God sanctify you
Already / Not Yet:
Where believers live in their sanctification journey. Made sense by the three tenses of sanctification.
Three Motivations for Sanctification:
Current sanctification is…
- Motivated by the Past /grace fueled: do not sin because of what Christ has done
- Motivated by the present: present spiritual disciplines
- Motivated by the future: God’s promises that will be fulfilled, (because of what will get will not sin now)
More on sanctification motivated by the past:
- What God already done
- more look at Jesus more earthly things grow dim
- Psa 51: David’s repentance not a lust of rules to prevent but a desire to restore the joy of my salvation
More on sanctification motivated by the present:
- We must be mortifying sin too
- Use present, ordinary spiritual disciplines
More on sanctification motivated by the future:
- Grabbing hold of God’s promises - those that will be fulfilled
- Matt 5:8 - theology means to seeing God, His glory & good of His people
How is justification differentiated from sanctification?
Quality:
- Justification: instantly declared righteousness, objective/judicial, external, imputed, instantly remove sin guilt & penalty, not change character
- Sanctification: gradually made righteous, subjective/experiential, internal, imparted experientially, gradually remove sin’s pollution & power, gradually transform character
Quantity:
- Justification: all Christians share same legal standing
- Sanctification: all Christians diff stages growth
Duration:
- Justification: single, instantaneous, once-for-all
- Sanctification: continual, gradual, lifelong
Legalism:
- Focus on sanctification still lost of God’s grace
- focus on law & makes light of God’s grace
- loves imperative (do not sin) makes light of indicative (sins forgiven)
Antinomianism:
- Make light of imperative (do not sin) loves indicative (sins forgiven)
- Do whatever we want because of justification
- love justification and light sanctification
Do we pick between legalism and antinomianism?
No. We need both. lndicative leads to impairative
Perseverance:
Focus on saint’s aspect of synergy. We continue on in salvation.
- biblical but NOT primary
Preservation:
Focus on God’s aspect of synergy. He keeps us in salvation.
- primary
Apostasy:
Abandonment of the faith (not truly possible according to Dr. Kurtz)
Seven Reasons why Dr. Kurtz believes you cannot lose your salvation
1) The Doctrine of Election: God is immutable and so are His commands
2) The Doctrine of Inseparable Operations: who Father elects, Son redeems, Spirit seals because same will
3) The Golden Chain of Redemption: Rom 8 Predestined –> Glorified, you can’t get out
4) Christ’s Prayers: Intercession will work - separates Christ from OT priests
5) Holy Spirit is your guarantee: If currently have Holy Spirit you will be saved
6) Jesus was perfect in His mission - to raise up and not lose any of those who the Father gave Him (Strongest, John 6:6-7)
7) Metaphors: Branch and vine, body and head. Brach 100% dependent on vine. If vine will make it you will make it
Doctrine of Assurance for real people:
- Talking to real people with real pain
- Either they were never really saved or they will repent. Do not give up on them
Hebrews 6 and the Doctrine of Assurance
- This passage is hard for everyone
- Either
– Not Christians who got close: not make sense that those who got close will never repent - not true
– Christians: Christians who fall away will never be restored - not true - Dr. Kurtz: to Christian but this will not happen because of Means of Grace
- Warning so severe to ensure that it NEVER happens
Means of Grace:
- Catholics: Sacraments
- Protestants: Means by which God keeps people in the fold
– friends, church, Lord’s supper, Read Bible, prayer, fasting, warnings (like Heb 6)
Glorification:
1) Everything beautiful and lovely experiences so far is just the first fruits - living in Ectype (Rom 8, 2 Cor 1, Heb 11:13)
2) Physical Bodily Resurrection from the Death - we will be raised as Jesus was
3) No time between death and being with Christ - thief on Cross “today,” absent with Body = present with Christ
– not soul sleep –> feel like immediate
4) Beatific Vision: to make happy/glad,
- eschatological vision of God that will make our souls glad
– used to be more popular, this helps us to focus on the giver - we will see Christ
