Systematic Theology
October 28 – Windsor Locks Congregational Church – Tony Arsenal
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Soteriology
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Ordo Salutis
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The Ordo Salutis – Order of Salvation
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Various orders of salvation have been proposed depending on the perspective
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Generally, human choice and cooperation is what distinguishes the order
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Reformed: Election, Regeneration, Profession/Justification, Sanctification, Glorification
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Arminian: (Election), Profession/Justification, Regeneration/Sanctification, Glorification
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Roman Catholic: (Election), Justification (Initial Justification,
Regeneration/Sanctification/Progressive Justification/Purgation, Glorification/Perfection)
Sanctification Coram Deo
J.O. R J.A.
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Election
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Total Depravity
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As a result of the Fall, there is nothing left within a human person that is not affected by the
Fall
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This means that our will specifically is turned in on itself and never desires to serve or seek
God
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Since we can only do that which we desire to do, we will never on our own accord choose to
serve or seek God
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This is known as “the bondage of the will”
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None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned
aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. (Romans 3:1112, paraphrasing Psalm 14 and 53, ESV)
Term is named after Luther’s famous treatise
Often represented in Scripture as being dead and enslaved to sin or Satan
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And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of
this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the
sons of disobedience (Ephesians 2:1-2, ESV)
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Unconditional Election
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God does not choose us based on anything that he sees within us
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This is in contradiction to the Roman Catholic and Arminian views that God
looks forward in history, and chooses us based on how he knows we will react
to his grace
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This does not mean that God is arbitrary or random in his choice of whom he
will save and whom he will pass by
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God chooses according to his good purposes and according to his wise counsel
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even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be
holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons
through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will (Ephesians 1:4-5, ESV)
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In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the
purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will (Ephesians
1:11, ESV)
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The Decrees
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When we speak of the order of the decrees, we are speaking in a very specific way
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Logical Order, not Chronological Order – We are not talking about events that happened
in time or sequence, we are speaking about the logical order of things
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If concept A is logically prior to concept B, then concept A is formulated without consideration of
concept B
These are notional/conceptional distinctions, not actual distinctions
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God doesn’t deliberate, and thus to break these up into separate decrees is artificial
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We cannot understand how God “makes decisions” or ponders things, thus we have to
anthropomorphize the decree into separate decrees
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The way we separate these speak to what we think of the character of God
The order of the decrees is primarily a consideration in Reformed theology
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Lutheran Theology tends to leave this to mystery
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Arminian Theology is only able to sustain Infralapsarianism so this is not a point that is debated
or discussed much
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Supra- or Ante-lapsarianism
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This is the classic position held by the early Reformed figures
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Order of Decrees
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Election and Reprobation
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Creation
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Fall
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Means and Provision for salvation of Elect
Strengths
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Even within God’s own mind, salvation is not plan B
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Creation serves to bring about the salvation of God’s elect
Weaknesses
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Salvation is not a response to any clear distress
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Creation serves to bring about the damnation of the Reprobate
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The Fall is no longer the cause of damnation, but the means
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Sub-, Infra-, or Post-lapsarianism
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Generally held by the later Reformed, Arminians, and Lutherans (implicitly)
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Order of Decrees
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Creation
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Fall
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Election and Reprobation
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Means and Provision for salvation of God’s Elect
Strengths
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The Fall is the cause of damnation
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Salvation is a response to distress
Weaknesses
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Logically, salvation is a response to the Fall and therefore a type of plan B
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Creation has no clear purpose, and whatever purpose there was is changed by the Fall
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Justification
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Irresistible Grace (Effectual Call) and
Regeneration
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God’s grace accomplishes that which it intends to accomplish
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God intends to save his elect, not simply give them the possibility of being saved
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Grace actually changes us, giving us new desires which now seek to follow and serve God
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I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may
walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will
be their God. (Ezekiel 11:19, ESV)
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And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the
heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within
you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (Ezekiel 36:26-27,
ESV)
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For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the
Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God,
and they shall be my people. (Jeremiah 31:33, ESV)
As we follow those desires, which we will invariably act on, we will ultimately make a
profession of faith and trust in Christ’s atoning work
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A Change in Legal Status
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The Greek word δικαιόω | dikaioō is a legal term that is roughly synonymous with our “Not
Guilty” or “Innocent”
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It is declarative, meaning that it effects an immediate change in status, though not a change
in nature
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Analytical vs Synthetic
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Analytical: God looks on us and upon analyzing us finds us to be just
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Synthetic: God looks on us and adds something to us in order to find us to be just
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Protestant view, especially Lutheran and Reformed
Justification was obtained for the elect, concretely and actually, on the cross
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Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox view
The atonement on the cross actually brings about the salvation of those it was intended for
However, Justification is only applied to the Elect upon genuine trust in and profession of
Christ’s atoning work on our behalf
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Instrumental Cause– Sola Fide
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There are various ways to think about causes or means
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Efficient Cause – The energy which an actor uses to bring about a result
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Instrumental Cause – The instrument through which that energy is applied
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Formal Cause – The indented plan by which the actor acts
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Material Cause – The substance out of which something is produced
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Final Cause – The final objective which the actor has in mind
Consider a Sculpture
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Efficient Cause – The energy of the sculptor
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Instrumental Cause – Hammer and chissle
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Formal Cause – The image of the sculpture in the sculptor’s mind
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Material Cause – The block of marble
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Final Cause – To beautify a garden
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Instrumental Cause – Sola Fide
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For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it
is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10
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Various Causes
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Efficient Cause – By grace you have been saved
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Instrumental Cause – Through Faith
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Formal Cause – It is the gift of God, for we are his workmanship
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Material Cause – You have been created in Christ Jesus
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Final Cause – Created for good works, that we should walk in them (ultimately for God’s
glory)
While we can point at various causes, justification happens (on our part) only by
instrumental means of faith, not works
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Two Contexts – Courtroom and Adoption
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Courtroom
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The most common way this is explained is the change from guilty to not guilty
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We were guilty before God, and now rather than hold us to be guilty he transfers Christ’s
innocence to us and considers us not guilty
Adoption
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While the courtroom verdict model is not wrong, in itself it can lead to some problematic
conclusions
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It is important to consider the idea of adoption along side of (not instead of) the courtroom
model
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When God declares us just, he is making a legal pronouncement
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This is analogous to the legal pronouncement that happens when adoption takes place
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A person goes from being legally unrelated to another person to being another person’s legal
child
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This legal adoption is not a “legal fiction” but is a genuine change of status, even if it is not a
change of nature
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Sanctification
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Perseverance (Preservation) of the
Saints
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Once we have made a profession of faith, and Justification has been applied to us, the Holy
Spirit is faithful to bring about sanctification in those who belong to the Father, in the Son
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Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every
weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set
before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:1-2, ESV)
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And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the
day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6, ESV)
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Those whom God has unconditionally elected, effectually called, and definitely atoned for,
will necessarily be preserved until they are fully sanctified and glorified
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Those who do not preserver, who have not been preserved, therefore were not
unconditionally elected, effectually called, or definitely atoned for
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They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have
continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. (1
John 2:19, ESV)
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The Causes of Sanctification
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While justification only had the instrumental cause of faith, sanctification
also has the instrumental cause of works, Law keeping, the Sacraments
(especially communion), and the preaching of the Bible
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The efficient, formal, final, and material causes remain the same
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The energy remains God’s grace, even through that grace is now being “channeled”
through our works, the sacraments, and the preaching of the Bible
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The purpose remains God’s glory through our increasing holiness and good works
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God still originated the plan of our sanctification
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It is still in Christ that we are sanctified, meaning that Christ is still the material
cause
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The Law and Its Role in Our
Sanctification
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Nature of the Law
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Refers specifically to the Mosaic Law, but also to the general moral law
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It is an outflow of God’s nature
The Three uses of the Law (Reformed)
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Pedagogical – The Law serves to show us our sin, and point us to the fact that we need a savior
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Civil – The Law serves to restrain evil
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Normative – The Law shows Christians what is expected of us and who God is, therefore
revealing to us the image into which we are to be conformed
Law and Gospel Preaching (Lutheran)
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We preach the Law to convict sinners of their sin and to demonstrate their need for a savior
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We preach the Gospel to bring about the salvation of those whom God has chosen to justify,
sanctify, and glorify
The Holy Spirit therefore empowers us to increasingly keep the Law, and through that
keeping of the Law further sanctifies us
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Bibliography
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Horton, Michael. Pilgrim Theology: Core Doctrines for Christian Disciples.
Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013.
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———. The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way.
Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010.
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For Further Reading
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Horton, Michael. For Calvinism. United States: Zondervan, 2011.
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Luther, Martin. ‘The Bondage of the Will - Introduction, Part VI, and Conclusion’. Pages 165–
96 in Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings. Edited by Timothy F Lull. Second Edition.
Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2005.
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———. ‘The Ninety-Five Theses’. Pages 40–46 in Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings.
Edited by Timothy F Lull. Second Edition. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2005.
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Olson, Roger. Against Calvinism: Rescuing God’s Reputation from Radical Reformed Theology.
Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011.
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Sproul, R C. What Is Reformed Theology?: Understanding the Basics. Grand Rapids: Baker
Books, 2005.
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Vidu, Adonis. Atonement, Law, and Justice: The Cross in Historical and Cultural Contexts.
Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2014.
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Wright, Christopher. Salvation Belongs to Our God: Celebrating the Bible’s Central Story.
Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2008.
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Reading for Next Week
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Chapters 10-12 (pp 246-301)
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Chapter 13 (pp 303-324)
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