Basics Series. Soteriology, part 2.

The Doctrine of Soteriology
(Salvation)

Original artwork by Deacon Rick Bettez of Grace Bible Church, Somerset MA

“Soteriology” comes from the Greek word “soter” meaning “savior”.

Soteriology is the study of salvation, which is the work of the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ.

The problem
is a little
3 letter word
called
“sin”.

When Adam and the woman sinned, they lost their perfect condition and perfect environment.

They became subject to both spiritual and physical death.

Their nature was now totally depraved.

God charged Adam with sin, and subsequently charged his descendants with the penalty for Adam’s first sin.

Once a person is condemned, it makes him eligible to receive a Savior.

The penalties that rest on all who remain under Adam include:
(1) physical death
(2) spiritual death
(3) the second death

Physical death = separation of the soul from the body

Spiritual death = separation of the soul from God through loss of the function of the human spirit.

Second death = eternal separation from God and banishment from His presence forever.

Because of sin, God and man were in a relationship of hostility and enmity.

That act was
the spiritual death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary in 30 AD, where He offered His life as a substitute for
all mankind.

Salvation is
God’s complete work by which He
rescues man
from eternal ruin,
and bestows on him
the riches of His grace.

If the penalty is gone, it is because a Substitute has met the righteous demands against the sinner.

“the blood of Christ” is an analogy to represent the substitutionary spiritual death of Christ.