salvation

Salvation is often understood as having our sins forgiven so that we can be sure of going to heaven when we die. Although the forgiveness of our sins is central, salvation is part of a bigger story. Being rescued from our sin and its consequences is certainly a major aspect of salvation, as is being redeemed. This means that we are set free from captivity – to sin, an empty way of life, death and the devil – by the payment of a price. The price paid is the blood of Christ because we are saved on the basis of Christ’s death on a cross. Salvation also includes the idea of reconciliation as we are brought back into relationship with God, from whom we have been estranged. The word also means ‘made whole’, and refers to being healed or restored, in body, soul and spirit. Salvation, though, is ultimately also about the restoration of all things, about the world being made right, about the coming of God’s good kingdom in all its fullness, about the new creation when God will make all things new and restore the whole world to how he originally intended and live among us. We are ‘saved’ in the sense of being rescued from our sin entirely on the basis of the grace of God. We cannot save ourselves. We simply receive the free gift of salvation through our faith – believing the promise of God. We are then saved (past tense) from the penalty of sin, we are increasingly being saved from the power of sin (present tense) and, in the new creation, we will be saved from the presence of sin (future tense). It is important not just to see this salvation not only in personal terms but in cosmic terms. God is restoring all things. There is an excellent series of short videos by Tom Wright on salvation and the first one can be found here.

salvation-history

The phrase ‘salvation history’ is often used to refer to the progressive unfolding of God’s ultimate purpose and plan to save humankind from the effects of their rebellion against him. It begins with the story of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden and leads ultimately to the garden city of God’s creation of the new heaven and earth, and the restoration of all things. It has different stages, including the call of Abraham and the emergence of the nation of Israel, the providing of the Law through Moses that made clear the problem of sin and our need for salvation from it, and the promise of the prophets of a coming king and kingdom. It centres, of course, on the death and resurrection of Christ and also includes the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon the Church to equip us as witnesses to God’s kingdom and for our mission to take this gospel of the kingdom to the whole world. It ends with the return of Jesus to make all things new.

Scripture

Scripture is another word that Christians use for the Bible. It literally means ‘writings’ and refers to those writings that Christians take to be ‘inspired by God’ in some way. This does not mean that God literally wrote them or that he dictated them to people while they were in some kind of religious trance. Rather, the traditional Christian belief is that the Spirit of God somehow led the writers and editors of the various writings that make up Scripture to write what he wanted and intended to be written. Although these writings were written by many different people living at different times over a period of about a thousand years, they have an amazing unity to them. They tell the story of God’s creation and salvation and are centred upon the person of Jesus Christ. They are divided into two main parts. The Old Testament points to and promises the coming of the Christ, or Messiah, and his salvation. The New Testament is about the fulfilment of that promise with the coming of Christ, the sending of his church into the world in the power of the Spirit, and the future hope of a new creation. As the Scriptures were written in different ancient cultural contexts, they have to be interpreted and applied to today’s world. There are diverse interpretations of many things but the essential message of Scripture, the gospel about Jesus Christ, is clear as we read the whole storyline of the Bible. An excellent book about the Bible and its storyline, showing its relevance to life is called The Bible, by Andrew Ollerton. Read my review of it here.

sin

There are various terms and concepts related to sin in the Bible but two of the primary ones are the idea of transgressing God’s will or law, and of falling short of God’s ideal. The Bible teaches that everyone has sinned and that its effects and consequences have ‘infected’ and corrupted every person, and had catastrophic effects on our relationship with God, with others and with the actual environment of the world itself. Sin separates us from God in some way and Christian theology teaches that Christ’s coming into the world, and his death and resurrection, deal with the problem of sin and its ultimate consequence, death. It sets us free from the penalty of sin, progressively sets us free from the power of sin in our lives, and in the new creation will finally set us free from the presence of sin. For a fuller study of sin see this article in a Baker’s Dictionary of Theology.

sovereignty

Sovereignty, in Christian theology, usually refers to the belief that God is the supreme ruler of the universe, exercising ultimate authority over all creation. This traditionally means that every event, from the vast workings of the cosmos to the intimate details of our lives, unfolds under his control and according to His divine plan. While some traditions, particularly within Reformed theology, emphasise that nothing occurs outside of God’s predetermined will, others highlight that human free will operates in tandem with his sovereign purposes. Still others consider that sovereignty refers to God’s ultimate authority and that, while he permits freedom within boundaries to his created ones, he is able ultimately to bring all things together, including the choices of these free agents, to work toward his good purpose. Regardless of the nuances, the doctrine of sovereignty reassures believers that God’s power, wisdom, and love ultimately govern all things, inviting us to trust in his overarching, benevolent plan and purpose which will be fulfilled.

Spirituality

In Christian thought, spirituality refers to the lived experience of faith — the way belief in God is embodied in daily life through prayer, worship, discipleship, and the pursuit of holiness. It is not merely about private devotion but about a whole way of life shaped by the presence of the Holy Spirit. At its heart, Christian spirituality is Christ-centered: it is about union with Jesus, learning to follow him in community, and allowing the Spirit to transform character and action. Across history, spirituality has taken many forms — from the contemplative rhythms of the desert fathers and medieval mystics, to the disciplined practices of the Reformers, to more contemporary movements of renewal and mission. While the word spirituality is used broadly in modern culture to describe almost any sense of the sacred, Christian spirituality keeps its focus on God revealed in Christ and experienced in the Spirit. For further exploration, see the Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology entry on Spirituality.

theology

Theology is the study of God, including his nature (what he is like), his purpose in creation and salvation, and his ways (how he intends for us to live). We all do theology in the sense that we all have some ideas about God, but these ideas can be badly formed, inconsistent and incoherent. We must learn to have well reasoned and well formed thoughts of God, and Christian theology is the study of how God is revealed in the person of Jesus Christ and through the Old and New Testaments of Christian Scripture that focus on him. Although studying theology is a rational activity involving the intellect, its aim in clarifying and correcting our thoughts about God should ultimately lead us to know and love God better. A good introduction to Christian theology is Theology: The Basics, by Alister McGrath.