The Doctrine of Salvation

Table of Contents

Introduction3

Discussion4

Historical Development Of The Doctrine Of Salvation13

In The Bible14

In Dogmatic Theology16

Importance Of This Doctrine For Baptists Today18

The Son as Mediator of Salvation20

Conclusion26

Bibliography28

The Doctrine of Salvation

Introduction

Salvation (being saved) denotes liberation from the control of sin. The real meaning of the baptists' doctrine of salvation is that God has accomplished unending salvation for all who will believe, through the act of Jesus Christ, who passed away on the cross of Calvary as the sinbearer of the humankind. In brief, salvation was achieved for humanity by the Christ's substitutionary compensation. In its extensive logic salvation contains sanctification, justification, glorification, and regeneration. There is no salvation without individual belief in Jesus Christ as the Lord. God's salvation is what Christians want in order to acquire heaven or get everlasting life.

The classical presupposition, expressed in the story of Adam's Fall from innocence, is that what was created as naturally good human nature endowed with free will was radically corrupted by the primal ancestors ' freely chosen disobedience to God (a case of failure to act in one's own best interests even when they are apparent); an act of rebellious self-assertion generating a lasting misalignment between human will and divine purposes, whence came death into the world and all our woe. 'Original Sin', transmitted either genetically and/or socially to later generations, radically altered human nature for the worse, putting it off the course intended by the creator and distorting the divine image in man which in principle provides us with a pattern of moral living in accordance with the dictates of natural reason. Whatever we make of the myth of the Fall, the experiences of alienation from ultimate values, self-centredness, conflict, frustration, failure, guilt and the need for forgiveness are familiar enough to believers and non-believers alike. The Eden myth includes some acute observation about human nature: for example, Adam evades responsibility by blaming Eve who in turn blames the serpent. This paper discusses the Doctrine of Salvation. It also discusses the historical development of this doctrine among Baptists and the importance of this doctrine for Baptists today.

Discussion

An enduring conceptuality has it that Atonement or the reconciliation of estranged humanity with God is effected by the sacrificial, compensatory death of Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Divine Trinity, who has assumed human nature. The dominant idea here is that as a result of the Fall, the gulf between God and mankind was such that a divine initiative was necessary for its traversal. The divine salvific act in Christ may be understood under two related aspects: on the one hand, deliverance from sin by forgiveness and on the other, the restoration of communion between God and humans. The Greek eastern tradition tends to emphasize the potential restoration of people to the divine life whereas the Latin West ascribes primary significance to the expiation of sin through Christ's sacrificial death. St Augustine of Hippo (354-430) followed St Paul in closely relating redemptive salvation with Original Sin, which it removes by restoring ...