The panorama of God's salvation

                                                           Salvation unpacked

There are two studies:  Individual Christianity and Corporate Christianity

Individual Christianity....the salvation of the individual

This repeated bible subject is often referred to as "soteriology"-from the Greek soteria which means to rescue from danger. Soteriology is the study of the doctrine of salvation.  The bible presents the condition of man as perilous, requiring Divine intervention to prevent ultimate ruin.  This concept runs through the Old and New Testaments and requires in-depth study to understand the issues involved.  The point is not whether man can be improved, to make him acceptable to God.  We are not patients needing a doctor we are dead, needing to be resurrected; we are lost, needing to be found; we are condemned, needing to be reprieved, and only God can do it, and in salvation He has done it.  There is no reformation possible, no re-habilitation that will work, we need redemption.  We are in peril of eternal loss, unable to help ourselves, and no human agency can help us.  It is God who takes the initiative, and we need to respond.  The wonder of God's salvation is imprinted in holy scripture and is plain for all to see.

"Look unto me, and be ye saved all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none else"-Isaiah 45v22.

"Thou shalt call His name Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins"-Matthew 1v21.

"I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek"-Romans 1v16.

"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved"- Romans 10v13.

So what is meant by salvation?  Some have put it like this-there are three phases to salvation...a) rescue from the penalty of sin  b) deliverance from the power of sin  c)  ultimate removal from the presence of sin.  There is no doubt that the word salvation is a blanket term involving many aspects of the rescue plan involved and we are going to unravel each one.  These many facets of the biblical term salvation can be itemised as follows, and each one requires separate study and understanding, if we are going to live in the good of it here and now.

1. Election 
2. Predestination
3. Regeneration
4. Redemption
5. Reconciliation
6. Propitiation
7. Justification
8. Sanctification
9. Glorification
10. Adoration
11. Presentation
12. Manifestation

All of these are involved in the biblical term salvation in which God is changing worthless human beings into profitable servants, and that for ever.