3. Salvation in Christ
Because of sin, all in this world are estranged from God, but the biblical answer is that Jesus Christ has regained what was lost in Adam (Romans 5:12–21). The grace of God has provided our restoration and brought about a right relationship with God, with one another, with nature, and with ourselves. Grace declares that salvation is not the culmination of humanity’s quest for God but that it resides in the initiative of God toward men and women (Ephesians 1:4–7).29 Grace comes to us while we are still in our sins and brings spiritual transformation based on the accomplished crosswork of Jesus Christ. Grace is “God’s free and loving favor to the ill-deserving.”30 God does not graciously accept us because he sees our change for the better, as if conversion were the basis for receiving God’s grace. Instead the Bible pictures God’s coming into our lives, taking us just as we are because he is abundantly merciful (Ephesians 2:1–10).31
As a result of God’s grace, believers experience salvation from sin which involves conversion to God. All of salvation is of God, yet we respond in faith and commitment. The Bible expresses these truths in various pictures, underscoring throughout that God is the author and finisher of our salvation (Hebrews 12:2). These various themes of regeneration, justification, adoption, and forgiveness are presented as the new sphere of union with Christ for all who have placed their faith in him (John 15; Romans 6:1–11; Ephesians 1:3–14). Our union with Christ presents us in a new position before God.32 Experientially, the union of believers with Christ is one of the most tender concepts expressed in Scripture; it is invisible and imperceptible to the senses; it is unfathomable, escaping all inward vision.
We recognize that this gift of salvation rests in what Jesus Christ has done for fallen men and women. Christ’s life and death exemplified the love of God33 and exerted an influence for good by providing a model of servanthood and sacrifice. More importantly, Christ’s death provided for sinners a sinless substitutionary sacrifice that satisfies divine justice, an incomprehensibly valuable redemption delivering sinners from estrangement to full fellowship and inheritance in the household of God. As P.T. Forsyth has stated, “The blood of Christ stands not simply for the sting of sin on God, but the scourge of God on sin, not simply for God’s sorrow over sin but for God’s wrath on it.”34 Therefore we cannot rightfully understand the cross unless we perceive both God’s anguish over sin and his infinite holiness that refuses to tolerate sin.35
We trustingly confess and affirm that Jesus Christ as the God-Man has fully revealed God to men and women. Having lived a sinless life, Christ died in our place for our sins. He now sits exalted at God’s right hand, a position of honor and exaltation, exercising his rule and dominion. Those who have placed their trust in Jesus Christ for salvation gladly acknowledge Jesus as Lord, our prophet, priest, and king, who has completely revealed God, reconciled humankind with God, and who sits enthroned as ruler of God’s kingdom and head of his church.36 In him, we place our trust and hope, offering our thanksgiving for the salvation he has provided for us.
4. The Holy Spirit: Renewal and Community
With the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2), there was a universalizing of the ministry and mission of Jesus. Jesus was God’s final word to humanity, and the Spirit’s role was not to bring some new revelation of his own, but to bear witness to Jesus and to interpret and explicate the full implications of God’s final word. The Spirit came in order to enable and unite believers in an unparalleled manner. The ultimate purpose of the Spirit was to bring life and renewal to Christ- followers, drawing them together into the new community, the church of Jesus Christ, and to empower this community for mission, which was the spreading of good news and exalting the name of Christ. Life in the Spirit energizes and enables the new community of faith.37
The basis for life in the Spirit must never be forgotten. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Spirit applies justification, regeneration, sanctification, and ultimate glorification to the lives of believers.38 Life in the Spirit is living out, by the Spirit’s empowerment, what believers are because of Christ, exalting him in the expansion of the church’s worship, ministry and mission, which includes conversion, evangelism, fellowship, renewal, and holiness.39
5. Eschatology: God’s Rule and Reign
God’s final rule and reign will bring victory when Christ returns to establish and consummate his kingdom. Regardless of the diligent and industrious attempts by men and women to bring about righteousness and peace to earth, true peace and righteousness will take place only when Jesus Christ comes again. The age-long quest of the nations can only be fulfilled by the work of Christ. Sincere believers differ over their understanding of the nature and chronology of Christ’s return as well as their expectations for the kingdom itself.40 All orthodox Christians believe that following Christ’s return, the dead will be raised, both the righteous and the wicked, which leads to judgment and then to the eternal state.41
One of the great realities and benefits of the second coming of Christ in the thought of faithful Christians is the assurance that God’s whole program of redemption will be accomplished. The vision of the new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21:1–7) points to a restored creation, a renewed fellowship, and the gift of everlasting blessing.42 God’s providential plan includes not only the redemption of individuals, the redeeming of his church, but also the redemption of all of creation. Creation, which was spoken into existence by God and was defiled by the entrance of sin into the world, will also be included in God’s ultimate work of redemption (Romans 8:18–27). At that time not only will the Antichrist and Satan be defeated, but also sin, death, and sorrow will be eliminated.43
The eternal climax of redemptive history is seen in the description of the new Jerusalem (Revelation 21–22).44 The general image of a future Jerusalem symbolizes the fulfillment of many of God’s promises to his people (Isaiah 2:1–5; 49:14–18; 52; 54; 60–62; 65:17–25; Jeremiah 31:38–40; Micah 4:1–4; Zechariah 14). As is true of Christ’s return and other features of his rule and reign, the trustworthiness of scripture underscores our confidence that these prophecies are indeed true. The picture of the new Jerusalem emphasizes that the people of God will be a universal community of redeemed individuals living together in love.45
The ultimate state of the people of God and their reward is presented under diverse metaphors such as the bride (Revelation 21:2, 9) and the holy city (Revelation 21:9). All darkness and all tears will be banished (Revelation 21:4; 22:5). The face of the Lord will provide all the light that is needed (Revelation 22:4–5). The holy city remains the focal point for the existence of all the redeemed in the new heaven and the new earth. It is, however, the missing item in the description of this place that provides the most moving element in the new Jerusalem. There is no temple because “God the Almighty, and the Lamb are its temple” (Revelation 21:22). The final culmination of God’s plan far surpasses any Old Testament expectation. Ultimately, unbroken fellowship with God through the Lamb of God provides the central feature of the eternal state.46
For all eternity the redeemed of the Lord will worship the triune God supremely without impurity. We will enjoy fellowship with him without conflict. We will serve the living God forever and ever. Thoughtful Christians, with eagerness and expectancy, hope for that day. As thoughtful followers of the exalted Christ, we can at this time, by faith, experience this transforming worship, fellowship, and service, even as we employ this doctrinal interpretive framework to help answer the questions related to the shaping of a Christian worldview. It is to those questions that we now turn our attention.