In this part the Biblical doctrine of salvation will be presented based on the Biblical doctrine of sin and death presented in PART I. Since God is the source of salvation, the Biblical doctrine of God will be examined first. In particular the love and righteousness of God will be discussed. It is not an exhaustive discussion of this doctrine. This exposition then will lead to the main discussion of the Biblical doctrine of salvation. Here it will be shown how God has delivered man from death, sin and wrath by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Salvation will be shown here to be primarily from death to life and secondarily from sin to righteousness and then from the wrath of God. The Biblical meaning of justification will also be presented.
God is the source of salvation. "Salvation is of the Lord" (Jonah 2:9 KJV. See also Genesis 49:18; Exodus 14:13; I Sam. 2:1; I Chron. 16:23; II Chron. 20:17; Psa. 3:8; 9:14; 13:5, etc.). This is so because God is a God of love (Psa. 13:5; 85:7; 86:13; 98:3; 119:41). "God is love" (I John 4:8,16). This is not just an attribute of God; it is what God is in Himself. Before God ever created anything outside of Himself and thus created beings for Him to love outside of Himself, love existed in God. Since love is the choice of a person to do for another person that which is good for him, a person cannot love without another person to love. Love involves a relationship to another person. And since God has made Himself known as three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, there is another person in God for Him to love. These three persons of the Godhead love each other (John 3:35; 5:20; 15:9-10; 17:23-26; 14:31). And God is love in Himself because these three persons love each other. God created beings outside of Himself not because he needed objects for His love (these already existed within Himself) but because of the abundance of His love that existed within Himself. Love is creative and this is true in the supreme sense of God Himself. Creation and salvation are the overflow of the love of this triune personal God of love. When man fell from the image of God because of sin, God provided a way to take away man's sin and to restore him to the image of God. This involved God sending His Son to become man to die for him. But God raised His Son from the dead. And in this resurrected God-man, Jesus Christ, the Son of man, who is the image of God, man is being and shall be restored to the image of God. God provided this salvation because He is love. This so great salvation (Heb. 2:3) is the outflow of His superabundant love.
"9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us,The love of God is the source of our salvation from death and sin.
that God sent his only Son into the world,
so that we might live through him.
10 In this is love,
not that we loved God but that he loved us
and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
(I John 4:9-10 ERS)
God did not have to love; there was no nature or inner necessity that caused God to love. God has freely and sovereignly chosen to be love. His choice determined the good. The good is what God wills. And it is not whimsical or arbitrary because it is God who has willed it. "Thy will be done on earth as in heaven" (Matt. 6:10, etc.) God's will is not determined by His nature; His nature is His will; He is what he chooses to be (Deut. 32:39; Isa. 45:7; 46:8-11). And God has chosen to be love and He has revealed that choice in the history of children of Israel and supremely in Jesus Christ, His Son (John 3:16; I John 4:9-10). The true God is a God of sovereign love, not of sovereign justice. God does not have to fulfill any condition before he can act in His love to save us; God's love is truly free and does not have to satisfy a supposed divine justice before He can act in love.
The grace of God is God's love in action. "But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)" (Eph. 2:4-5 ERS). God's grace is more than His favor; it is His love acting to do something for someone. Because God loves us, He has acted to save us. Salvation is by God's grace. "The grace of God brings salvation" (Titus 2:11 KJV).