Theology class - cross/salvation

Theology Class - Salvation

Key metaphors: atonement, victory, love

Romans 3:21–26 NIV

But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

Colossians 2:13–15 NIV

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Romans 5:8–10 NIV

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

Romans 5:8 NIV

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

A - admit

A - admit

B - believe

C - call on him

Rather than pursuing a spirituality rooted in our performance and the fear of punishment (“Try hard and hopefully, if you do well enough, you can please God”), we are invited to place our faith in something completely different: God’s performance and His unfailing love. Jesus already paid for all of our failures by dying on the cross. This means that we experience God’s pleasure not by trying hard to please Him but by trusting in His Son. That trust is not just for salvation. It is a way of life, choosing to trust moment by moment in the sufficiency of Christ. That faith decision opens the door for us to experience the presence of Christ flowing through us in a powerful way. It frees us to obey—not because we have to or as a way to make God smile. Instead, we have a completely different motivation. Alan Kraft, Good News for Those Trying Harder (Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook, 2011).

[1] Alan Kraft, Good News for Those Trying Harder (Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook, 2011).