Soteriology the study of THE Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ

SOTERIOLOGY, now that’s a big word! It is a Greek word that means “savior”. A savior is someone who saves or rescues people from something bad and provides them something good. In Christianity, SOTERIOLOGY is the study of THE Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the study of salvation, which is the work of THE Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. He rescued us from something bad and provides believers something good!

Psalm 27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear?

The something bad that Jesus Christ rescued us from is sin. Sin started before man was created. It started with Satan. He wanted to be independent from God. He was a rebel! All of the other angels rebelled against God also. However, one third of them changed their minds, repented, and depended on God again. Then Satan tempted Adam and Eve to sin, to be independent from God. They decided to sin. Then they lost their perfect condition and environment. Life changed drastically for them!

2Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell [Tartarus] putting them into gloomy dungeons [pits of darkness] to be held for judgment; Romans 5:1 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned –for before the law was given, sin was in the world.

The drastic changes in Adam and Eve’s lives were that now they were dead spiritually, their souls were separated from God. Their nature was totally depraved or rotten! Their environment suffered decay and imperfection. Then one day they had to die physically. They were slaves to sin! From then on, all of Adam and Eve’s descendants (that includes us) would be born with rotten natures and would be slaves to sin. Their souls would be separated from God, or have spiritual death. They would live in an imperfect environment. They would die physically. They were in need of a Savior! If there was no Savior, Adam, Eve, and their descendants would all have to suffer the second death. This is eternal separation from God and banishment from His presence forever in the Lake of Fire. HELP!

Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities [sins] have separated you from your God;

Fortunately, no one needs to suffer the second death! No one needs to continue to suffer spiritual death, or separation from God. We have a Savior! Jesus Christ is our Savior! He was our substitute. He suffered spiritual death on the cross. He was separated from God the Father. He died spiritually so that we could live spiritually. Sin and its deadly effects were taken away by the “shed blood” of Jesus Christ. “Shed blood” refers to His spiritual death as our substitute on the cross. All we need to do is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and His work on the cross, and we will be saved. We do not need to be slaves to sin! What a blessing and relief that is!!!

1 Peter 2:24 And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

The work of Jesus Christ on the cross repaired all of the damage caused by sin. He rescued man from the eternal ruin and doom of sin. Jesus’ work on the cross freed the essence of God to grace out humanity! God is now free to give us things that He had never given before to anyone except to His Son, Jesus Christ. He can give believers the riches of His grace, including eternal life now and eternal glory in heaven! God restored what was lost by Adam in the fall, and He went way beyond that in giving great new things to believers in Jesus Christ. Believers are not slaves to sin any longer!!!

Ephesians 1:7-8 In Him we have redemption, through His blood [spiritual death on the cross], the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

The great sin issue between God and man was dealt with at the cross. The blood of Christ, His substitutionary, spiritual death, is effective for healing all sides of the sin problem. The work of Jesus on the cross is the “medicine” that cures all of the sickness of sin. His work on the cross completely satisfied the righteousness and justice of God. God said, “That [the cross] is enough. Tetalesti.” The only question that remains is whether man is satisfied with the sacrifice that completely satisfied God. Sin is no longer an issue. The issue is, “What do you think of Jesus Christ?”

Acts 16:31 Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.

All of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross that involves getting rid of negative things was done for ALL of the people in the world. The blood of Jesus Christ, which refers to His substitutionary, spiritual death on the cross, provided:      1. Redemption for ALL. He paid the price or ransomed ALL from the      slave market of sin.      2. Propitiation for ALL! God the Father was propitiated or His justice      was satisfied by Jesus’ work on the cross as payment for our sins.      3. Expiation for ALL. Expiation means that the debt for sin was canceled.      An end was put to guilt.      4. Reconciliation for ALL. This means that there is a peace treaty      between God and the entire human race. The barriers were removed.      Man is restored to peace with God. “It is finished” is the last recorded word of Jesus Christ before His physical death. He was referring to the finished work of salvation that He had just completed on the cross. This was for ALL of mankind!

Hebrews 2:9 But we do see Him Who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.

All of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross that involves giving positive things was done only for believers. JUSTIFICATION is one of those things. It is the declaration that a believer is no longer under condemnation. Justification is the legal act of God. He declares the believer righteous because He has imputed to the believer, or given him, His perfect righteousness, +R. The believer receives the verdict from God of “righteous”. Jesus Christ paid a huge price for this gift, but it is a free gift to us, a gift of grace. We don’t earn it or deserve it. As believers, we are now free from the slave market of sin! Now comes the commitment on the believer’s part of living in that gift of salvation!

Romans 3:26-28 He did it to demonstrate His justice at the present time, so as to be just and the One Who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

Soteriology  the study of  THE Savior, The Lord Jesus Christ References used:                     Robert R.McLaughlin Bible Ministries   www.gbible.org                                                            Lessons: Basic Series, 9-19-06, 9-26-06

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