Demarest The Cross and Salvation (Hardcover)

The Doctrine of Salvation
1. Auflage 2006
ISBN: 978-1-4335-1957-4
Verlag: Crossway
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, 544 Seiten

Reihe: Foundations of Evangelical Theology

With America's confidence in the Bible at an all-time low and the strength of her spiritual convictions waning, it is essential for Christians-especially Christian leaders-to be well-grounded in biblical theology. To have a clear and comprehensive understanding of the key doctrines of evangelicalism. In response, professor and award-winning author Bruce Demarest has made plain God's glorious plan of salvation, his provision for the human dilemma through Christ's work on the cross, and the application of saving grace to unbelievers. Demarest's unique approach defines each topic, identifies its most pressing issues, examines the ways in which the doctrine has been understood historically, and interprets the Bible's revelation. The result is a clear and carefully constructed doctrinal statement that you can defend, live out, and communicate to others. This singular, comprehensive treatment of one of Christianity's essential doctrines gives definitive, Bible-based answers about salvation and the cross-and about related theological issues such as grace and regeneration. It's perfect for clarifying your theology and gaining deep understanding of this foundational theme. Part of the Foundations of Evangelical Theology series.

Bruce Demarest (PhD, University of Manchester) was senior professor of spiritual formation at Denver Seminary, where he taught since 1975, and a member of the Evangelical Theological Society, Theological Thinkers and Cultural Group, and Spiritual Formation Forum.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Demarest, Bruce

Leseproben

CHAPTER

ONE

“WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?”

ACTS 16:30

INTRODUCTION TO THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION

I. THE BIBLE A BOOK ABOUT SALVATION

The issue of one’s future security, if not eternal destiny, is uppermost in the hearts and minds of most right-thinking people. The heart cry of unsaved people who are sensitive to their deepest spiritual needs can only be that posed to Paul and Silas by the Philippian jailor: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30). It is obvious even to the casual reader that the central message of the Bible concerns the spiritual recovery or salvation of lost men and women. From the Protoevangelium of Gen 3:15 to Rev 22:21, Scripture relates the grand story of how God has acted in grace to save his wayward image-bearers.

The OT deals with salvation in a promissory and provisional way. The Hebrew words for salvation shed valuable light on the meaning of this important theological concept. The root ys’ means to “be broad” or “spacious,” suggesting freedom from powers that restrict holistic personal development. The Hebrew verb yasa’ and its derivatives appear 353 times in the OT. In the Niphal it bears the meaning “be saved” or “be delivered,” whereas in the Hiphil it means to “deliver,” “give victory,” or “save.” The nouns yesu’ah (sixty-four times), yesa’ (thirty-one times), and tesu’ah (nineteen times) signify “help,” “deliverance,” “salvation.” The preceding verb and nouns are most frequently used in the general sense of deliverance from various forms of distress, danger, or bondage. Thus the word group describes deliverance from Egypt via the Exodus (Exod 14:13, 30; 15:2; Deut 33:29), victory over Israel’s enemies (Num 10:9; Judg 6:14-16; Neh 9:27; Ps 44:7), release from exile (Ps 106:47; Isa 46:13; Ezek 34:22), and preservation in times of national peril (Jer 14:8). But given the close connection in the OT between the material and the spiritual, the word group occasionally denotes deliverance from sin and its consequences (cf. Jer 17:14; Ezek 37:23), especially in the Psalms (51:12, 14) and Isaiah (30:15; 52:7; 59:1; 61:10). The literature makes clear that the Lord God, not any human warrior or king, is the only Savior. “I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior” (Isa 43:11; cf. 43:3; 45:15, 21; Hos 13:4). In Isaiah’s prophecy “God” and “savior” are synonymous (Isa 45:21; cf. 25:9). All strictly human attempts to confer salvation are futile (Ps 60:11; 146:3). Marshall correctly concludes that in the OT the word salvation is “used in a very broad sense of the sum total of the effects of God’s goodness on his people (Ps 53:6).”1

In the NT the verb sozo (more than 100 times) means to “rescue,” “deliver,” “save;” the noun soteria (forty-nine times) denotes “salvation”; and the personal noun soter (twenty-four times) signifies “redeemer,” “deliverer,” “savior.” The word group generally connotes rescue or deliverance from danger, disease, enemies, or bondage (Matt 8:25; 14:30; Mark 5:34; Luke 1:71; Heb 11:7; Jas 5:15). But in the NT the personal, spiritual, and ethical dimension of salvation, implicit in the OT, comes to full light. Thus the Greek word group commonly bears the theological meaning of deliverance from sin, death, and the Devil and the gift of eternal life (Luke 1:69, 77; 18:26; Acts 4:12; Rom 10:9-10; 1 Thess 5:9; Heb 9:28). In the NT God is the Savior (Luke 1:47; 1 Tim 1:1; 2:3; Tit 1:3; 2:10; 3:4), in that the divine Father planned the gift of salvation and sent his only Son into the world on a saving mission. But specifically Jesus is the Savior (Luke 2:11; Acts 13:23; Eph 5:23; Tit 1:4; 2 Pet 1:1, 11; 3:2, 18), because the purpose of his life and death was to recover sinners from their lost condition (Matt 1:21; John 3:17; 12:47). The salvation Jesus brought is primarily personal and spiritual. It is instructive that the Greek name for Jesus, Iesous, is a transliteration of the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua, which means, “Yahweh is salvation.” Christians (Acts 26:28; 1 Pet 4:16), at a minimum, are those who believe in and commit themselves to Jesus as Savior.

The centrality of salvation in the NT is further evidenced by the fact that the burden of the disciples’ message, both orally and in writing, was salvation from sin. Thus Peter, used of God to launch the Christian movement, boldly proclaimed salvation through the name of Jesus (Acts 4:12; 5:31; 1 Pet 1:3-5). God in eternity past chose his people for salvation (1 Pet 1:1; 2:9), and in time he gave them new life (1 Pet 1:3, 23; 2 Pet 1:4) through their response of faith (1 Pet 1:9, 21). Peter enjoined believers to purify themselves (1 Pet 1:15-16; 2:1, 11; 2 Pet 3:11) through God’s enablement (2 Pet 1:3) and so to persevere in God’s grace (1 Pet 5:12). John taught that the Father sent his only Son to bring the world salvation (John 3:17; 1 John 2:2). Thus Jesus is “the Savior of the world” (John 4:42; 1 John 4:14). According to John, the Father gave to the Son the “sheep” he purposed to save (John 6:37, 39). For their part the “sheep” believe on the Son and obey him (John 10:27, 42). They receive forgiveness and cleansing of sins (1 John 1:7, 9; 2:12) and the gift of eternal life (John 3:16-17, 36; 1 John 2:25; 5:11, 13). The Father and the Son vouchsafe to preserve the “sheep” safe to the end (John 6:39; 10:29). Paul declared that in grace (Rom 5:15; 1 Cor 1:4; 15:10; 2 Cor 9:14) God sent his Son into the world to bestow on sinful Jews and Gentiles (Acts 13:26, 46; 28:28) the gift of salvation, viewed as forgiveness of sins (Eph 4:32; Col 2:13), right standing with God (Rom 1:17; 3:21-22; 5:17; Phil 3:9), reconciliation with the Father (Rom 5:10; 2 Cor 5:18-19), and new birth (2 Cor 5:17; Tit 3:5). Luke viewed the universal salvation (Luke 1:69, 71, 77; 3:6; 19:9) as redemption from oppression and sin (1:68, 74), particularly the recovery of that which was lost (15:3-32; 19:10). Salvation is predicated upon a spirit of true repentance (13:3, 5). The writer to the Hebrews used the word “salvation” seven times, more than in any other NT document. The letter envisages Jesus’ saving work as the perfect fulfillment of the OT sacrificial system (Heb 2:3; 5:8-9; 9:28). Via the single self-offering of his body, Christ destroyed Satan (2:14), put away sin (9:26, 28; 10:18), freed those who were in spiritual bondage (2:15), and so brought “many sons to glory” (2:10). The saints are urged to persevere in faith that they may receive all that God has promised (6:12; 10:36). Jude upheld the true salvation that came through Jesus Christ against the distorted views of proto-Gnostic false teachers (Jude 4) who will perish in their unbelief (v. 7). To gain salvation Jude stressed the need for correct beliefs (v. 3), prayer (v. 20), and perseverance (v. 21a). Yet he assured believers that God is fully able to preserve them safely to the end (vv. 24-25).

In sum, the word salvation in its theological sense denotes, negatively, deliverance from sin, death, and divine wrath and, positively, the bestowal of far-ranging spiritual blessings both temporal and eternal. God freely conveys these benefits on the basis of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Mediator. Soteriology (from the Greek words soter and logos) is the theological term denoting the doctrine of salvation, the aspects of which will be discussed in logical order in the subsequent chapters of this volume.

II. HUMANKIND’S NEED FOR SALVATION

Because of the problem of human sin, the salvation described above is absolutely necessary if one would experience new life in fellowship with God. Scripture is clear in asserting that every last person in the world succumbs to sin (Ps 53:1, 3; Jer 17:9; Rom 3:10, 23; 5:12) and consequently experiences moral corruption, estrangement from God, forfeiture of eternal life, and everlasting punishment.

Consider, first, what Scripture teaches concerning the present condition of the lost. The Lord Jesus spoke candidly about the present spiritual condition of unconverted men and women. In conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus implied that those who have not been born again are perishing (apollymi, John 3:16). Furthermore, in his encounter with Zacchaeus Jesus said, “the Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost” (to apololos, Luke 19:10). The figurative notions of perishing and lostness connote the forfeiture of everything good and utter spiritual ruin. The parable of the lost son (Luke 15:11-32) graphically highlights the spiritual bankruptcy and moral degradation of unconverted rebels against the loving Father. In addition, Jesus described the present condition of the unconverted in the language of judgment or condemnation. The Lord said, “whoever does not believe stands condemned already [ede kekritai] because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:18). The true believer in Jesus experiences no judgment or condemnation; but the unbeliever has been judged already (perfect tense), and thus stands under the condemnation of the holy God.

The...