Theology Salvation and Christology

Theology: Christology and Salvation

Divine Election and Perseverance

Compare and Contrast

Doctrine

Arminian Position

Calvinist Position

Election

They believe that God has chosen or elected the individuals to be saved from the beginning by keeping one condition; the condition is having belief in God (Christopher Chapman 2019)

They believe that God has elected individuals from the beginning who is to be saved but having a belief in God is not a condition; it is unconditional.

Perseverance

It is believed that in order to be perserved, the faith should be saved as well for attaining the eternal life that God has chosen for the elected ones (Kangaroodort 2007).

Those who have been elected, no one can save them from being preserved till the end to face the eternal life that God has chosen for them.

Reconciliation and Justification

Biblical Understanding of Reconciliation and Justification

Doctrine

Scripture Evidence

Summary of Doctrine

Reconciliation

· “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (Open Bible n.d.)

· “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”

· “For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?”

In theological terms, reconciliation means to put an end to the estrangement that sin had created in man’s heart from his God. The Scripture provides evidence that God has asked through His Son to reconcile man to God again so that he could be awarded God’s acceptance. God’s Son gave his sacrifice that should be enough for the man to reconcile towards God, otherwise, the acceptance towards worldly life would only mean death.

Justification

· “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Open Bible n.d.)

· “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.”

· “It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

In theological terms, justification means that God saves man and makes him righteous in his living days so that he could have peace with Him. If one person would intrude set rules by God, all of the righteousness would be snatched while one act of morality would save them all. He is the only the best justifier for all who have faith in Him.

Faith and Repentance

My personal experience, along with the textbook learnings, has shown that God does help in repentance after the sin is committed either wholly or partially as he has said in Bible that he is the forgiver and full of compassion, which is a sign given to people about his features if they sin. God is waiting for them to turn back to Him as He has called to them so that He could be merciful and could possibly become one of the elected (McKinley 2017). The complete change of the sinner’s mind and soul is the indication of God’s seed of love that He has already sowed in the repenter’s heart for His forgiveness.

Justification across Christian Traditions

Justification Across Christian Traditions

Roman Catholic

Greek Orthodox

Protestant

Catholics are of the view that their justification is by God’s grace that is distributed to them as a free gift by merely having faith in Him. It is given to them when they are initially baptized as the love towards God is initiated at that very moment.

Greek Orthodox believe that for have to be justified, there must be tangible in man’s hands in the form of good deeds and not just it could be gifted by God only on the basis of Baptism (Truglia 2020).

The Protestant view partially agrees with the Roman Catholic view that having mere faith in Him justifies them, for the mercy of God. However, it should be followed a daily ritual in his living reality that he follows Christ and be actively engaged in a righteous life.

The Work of the Spirit in the Life of the Believer

The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives regenerates our lives and it turns us to be righteous and be demanding of His mercy. If we do good deeds, we are naturally mobilized by the Holy Spirit to have our hearts filled with His gift of believing Him only. As the Scripture says “He saves us, not because works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” (Open Bible n.d.). Once the humans are regenerated, they are sanctified from their own sins that had made them disgraceful not only in the eyes of the world but in front of God as well. This sanctification protects man from hellfire, granting him protection and pity from God for which He is ever-ready for His true followers. As the scripture says “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Open Bible n.d.).