Systematic Theology Part 8 (Continued) | Soteriology

IV. SALVATION IS RELATIONAL

Now leave the courtroom and the resurrection chamber.

Enter the family home.

This may be the most neglected dimension.

God does not merely acquit us.

He adopts us.

Romans 8:15

We receive:

“the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’”

Galatians 4:4–7

We are no longer slaves but sons and heirs.

This is extraordinary.

Imagine a guilty defendant standing before the judge.

The judge provides satisfaction for the sentence.

The defendant is legally acquitted.

Then the Judge walks down from the bench and says:

“Come home with Me. You're My son now.”

That's more than justification.

That's adoption.

V. RECONCILIATION

Another relational word is:

καταλλαγή — katallagē

Reconciliation.

Romans 5:10 says:

“while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son…”

Notice the relational category:

Enemies → reconciled.

Second Corinthians 5:18–20 develops this further.

God reconciles us to Himself through Christ and then gives reconciled people the ministry of reconciliation.

That has enormous implications for discipleship.

People who have been reconciled become reconcilers.

VI. THREE ROOMS OF SALVATION

This could become one of your central teaching illustrations:

RoomOur ProblemGod's WorkResultCourtroomGuiltyJustificationRighteous standingResurrection ChamberSpiritually deadRegenerationNew lifeFamily HomeAlienated/enemiesReconciliation & AdoptionRelationship

And all three happen because we are united to Christ.

This prevents salvation from becoming merely transactional.

VII. SALVATION IS PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

Here's another major theological distinction worth teaching carefully.

The New Testament can speak about believers as people who:

have been saved,

are being saved,

and

will be saved.

Those are not contradictions.

They describe different dimensions of one salvation.

PAST — I have been saved.

Ephesians 2:8.

This emphasizes God's completed saving action.

PRESENT — I am being saved.

1 Corinthians 1:18 speaks of “us who are being saved.”

God continues transforming His people.

FUTURE — I will be saved.

Romans 5:9–10 points toward final salvation from wrath.

Salvation therefore stretches from conversion all the way to resurrection glory.

VIII. JUSTIFICATION — SANCTIFICATION — GLORIFICATION

I would give your class three simple words:

JUSTIFICATION

I have been saved from sin's penalty.

SANCTIFICATION

I am being delivered from sin's power and increasingly conformed to Christ.

GLORIFICATION

I will ultimately be delivered from sin's presence and corruption.

Or even shorter:

Justification changes my standing. Sanctification changes my living. Glorification completes my transformation.

But there is an important theological qualification: sanctification in Scripture is not only progressive. Scripture can also speak of believers as already sanctified or set apart (1 Corinthians 6:11; Hebrews 10:10). That becomes important when we examine Wesleyan-Holiness theology.

IX. WHAT IS SANCTIFICATION?

Greek:

ἁγιασμός — hagiasmos

Related to hagios, “holy.”

The basic theological idea is holiness, consecration, or being set apart to God.

1 Thessalonians 4:3

“For this is the will of God, your sanctification…”

Sanctification therefore has two inseparable dimensions:

Separation FROM sin

and

Consecration TO God.

Holiness is not merely:

“What don't you do?”

Biblical holiness asks:

“Wholly belonging to whom?”

That is deeper.

X. IS SANCTIFICATION INSTANTANEOUS OR PROGRESSIVE?

This is where your class can have a substantial theological discussion.

There are broadly different emphases within Christian traditions.

Progressive Sanctification

Many Protestant traditions emphasize sanctification as the lifelong work of God by which believers increasingly die to sin and grow in Christlikeness.

Strong texts include:

2 Corinthians 3:18

We are being transformed from glory to glory.

Philippians 2:12–13

God works within believers as they work out their salvation.

Colossians 3:5–14

Believers continually put sinful practices to death and put on Christlike virtues.

Hebrews 12:14

We actively pursue holiness.

Under this model:

Conversion begins a process that continues throughout Christian life.

XI. THE WESLEYAN-HOLINESS POSITION

The Wesleyan tradition adds an important emphasis.

John Wesley taught both Christian growth and the possibility of a decisive work of sanctifying grace.

Historical scholarship on Wesley notes that he certainly taught gradual sanctification, but by around 1739 he had become convinced that a distinct instantaneous experience was also integral to his understanding of Christian perfection: cleansing of the heart and perfection in love. 

That eventually developed within the nineteenth-century Holiness Movement into increasingly standardized language such as:

“Entire Sanctification”

and

“A Second Definite Work of Grace.”

The later American Holiness movement sharpened and systematized some formulations inherited from Wesley; historians therefore caution against assuming every later “second work” formula is identical in wording or emphasis to Wesley himself. 

That historical nuance is worth teaching.

XII. WHAT DOES “SECOND WORK OF GRACE” MEAN?

The classical Holiness argument generally runs like this:

First work of grace:

Conversion / regeneration

The sinner repents, believes, is justified, regenerated, and reconciled.

Then:

Second work of grace:

Entire sanctification

The believer consecrates himself or herself wholly to God and receives a deeper cleansing and wholehearted devotion through grace.

Traditional Holiness theologians often distinguished:

sins committed

from

the remaining principle or corruption of sin.

The first requires forgiveness.

The latter requires cleansing.

H. Orton Wiley, for example, explicitly developed this distinction in his theology of entire sanctification. 

But here's an important point for your class:

Even classical Wesleyan theology should not be reduced to “one moment and you're finished growing.”

Wesley emphasized growth before and after decisive experiences of grace.

XIII. WHAT DOES THE CHURCH OF GOD OF PROPHECY TEACH?

This is where the present official statement is particularly helpful.

The Church of God of Prophecy's current statement of beliefs says:

“Sanctification is both a definite work of grace and a lifelong process of change…”

and attributes this sanctifying work to the blood of Christ, the Word of God, and the enabling power of the Holy Spirit. 

That is significant.

The position does not require choosing between:

crisis

OR

process.

It holds together:

Definite work AND lifelong transformation.

I think that's the most productive theological tension to explore with your class.

XIV. CRISIS AND PROCESS

I would put this on the board:

SANCTIFICATION: CRISIS + PROCESS

There are moments when God decisively transforms, cleanses, consecrates, convicts, and redirects us.

But there is also a lifelong formation into Christlikeness.

Consider marriage as an analogy.

There is a definite moment:

“I do.”

But there is also a lifelong process:

learning to live out what “I do” means.

The covenant moment is real.

The continuing relationship is also real.

Similarly, a decisive consecration to God should produce an ongoing life of holiness.

A person cannot credibly say:

“I was entirely sanctified twenty years ago”

while refusing present transformation.

The experience should produce the life.

XV. SANCTIFICATION DOES NOT MEAN SINLESS OMNIPERFECTION

This distinction is essential when teaching Wesleyan theology.

Christian perfection historically means something closer to perfect love or wholehearted devotion than absolute perfection in every conceivable sense.

It does not mean:

You become omniscient.

You never make mistakes.

You never exercise poor judgment.

You cannot mature further.

You become incapable of temptation.

You have reached glorification.

That last distinction matters enormously:

Sanctification is not glorification.

If sanctification meant absolute perfection in every dimension, there would be very little theological work left for glorification to accomplish.

XVI. GLORIFICATION — SALVATION COMPLETED

Romans 8:29–30 moves toward glorification.

Those God foreknew, He predestined to be:

“conformed to the image of his Son.”

Then Paul reaches:

“glorified.”

Glorification is God's final transformation of His people.

Philippians 3:20–21

Christ will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.

1 Corinthians 15:42–53

Corruption gives way to incorruption.

Mortality gives way to immortality.

1 John 3:2

“When he appears we shall be like him…”

The salvation that began in regeneration reaches its consummation in resurrection.

XVII. THE ENTIRE MOVEMENT OF SALVATION

Here is the framework I'd want your students to leave remembering:

Election / Calling ↓ Repentance & Faith ↓ Justification — declared righteous ↓ Regeneration — made alive ↓ Reconciliation — brought near ↓ Adoption — welcomed into God's family ↓ Sanctification — made holy / transformed ↓ Persevering life in Christ ↓ Death / Christ's return ↓ Resurrection ↓ Glorification — completely conformed to Christ

And over the whole diagram write:

GRACE

None of this begins with human achievement.

XVIII. SALVATION IS FOR NOW

This is where soteriology needs to become pastoral.

Some Christians possess an almost exclusively future gospel:

“I got saved so that when I die, I can go to heaven.”

But Jesus came to give us life now.

Salvation affects:

How I treat my spouse.

How I raise my children.

How I handle money.

How I treat enemies.

How I control my appetites.

How I respond when offended.

How I work.

How I speak.

How I use sexuality.

How I forgive.

How I think.

How I serve.

How I worship.

How I respond to injustice.

Salvation is not merely God's evacuation plan from earth.

It is God's work of re-creating human beings into the image of Christ.

XIX. THEOLOGY IN PRACTICE

This would make an excellent closing section.

Ask your class:

If I am justified…

Why am I still living under condemnation for sins Christ has forgiven?

If I am regenerated…

Why would I continually identify myself primarily by the person I was before Christ?

If I am adopted…

Why do I approach God only like a terrified defendant instead of also approaching Him as Father?

If I am reconciled…

How can I celebrate reconciliation with God while refusing reconciliation with people?

If I am being sanctified…

Where is measurable transformation occurring in my life?

If I will be glorified…

Why am I treating this temporary world as though it were my final home?

That is theology in practice.

Doctrine moves from:

head → heart → habits.

Discussion: Digging Deeper

Is salvation primarily an event, a process, or both? Defend your answer biblically.

What do we lose when salvation is reduced to “going to heaven when I die”?

Why does a spiritually dead person need more than forgiveness?

What is the difference betweenand? justification  regeneration

Could someone be justified without being transformed? What would James say about such a claim?

Why is adoption one of the most relationally powerful doctrines of salvation?

Which picture of salvation speaks most strongly to you:? Why? courtroom, resurrection, or family

Does progressive sanctification contradict a definite work of sanctification—or can Scripture accommodate both?

What biblical evidence would you use to argue for progressive sanctification?

What biblical evidence would a Wesleyan-Holiness theologian use for a decisive work of sanctification?

What is gained by the Church of God of Prophecy's present formulation of sanctification as both aand a? definite work lifelong process 

What is the difference betweenand? purity  maturity

Can a sanctified believer still grow? In what ways?

Why must we distinguish entire sanctification from glorification?

If sanctification produces no observable change in our relationships, speech, priorities, sexuality, finances, and character, what exactly do we mean when we say we are being sanctified?

How would you answer someone who says, “I'm saved. Why does it matter how I live?”

Which is the greater miracle: God changing our destination or God changing? us

Finally: If salvation is legal, spiritual, and relational, which dimension have you personally tended to emphasize—and which have you neglected?

Closing Thesis

I would bring the entire lesson home with this:

In justification, God changes my standing. In regeneration, God changes my spiritual condition. In reconciliation, God changes my relationship. In adoption, God changes my family. In sanctification, God changes my life. In glorification, God finishes what He started.

That is the breadth of biblical salvation.

And Philippians 1:6 gives the believer confidence that the God who began the good work is also the God who will bring it to completion.

This would translate very well into a polished Encounter Church student workbook like the Christology one, with Greek word-study boxes, a full “Second Work of Grace: Wesley → Holiness Movement → COGOP” historical timeline, leader notes, writing space, and a one-page visual chart of Justification → Sanctification → Glorification.