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Judicial forgiveness is the forgiveness we receive from God when we stand before Him as the Judge of all humanity. This is a one-and-done event that is never repeated, as we are “forgiven us all our transgressions” (Col 2:13). Judicial forgiveness of sins is available to all, but each person must exercise their own volition and turn to Christ, and Christ alone, for salvation. The record of Scripture is that “there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12), and “everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins” (Acts 10:43).

In our relationship with God, there are two kinds of forgiveness. One is judicial and the other is parental. Judicial forgiveness is the forgiveness we receive from God when we stand before Him as the Judge of all humanity. This forgiveness occurs at the moment of faith in Christ, where “everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins” (Acts 10:43; cf. Eph 1:7; Col 1:14). This is a one-and-done event that is never repeated, as we are “forgiven us all our transgressions” (Col 2:13). Parental forgiveness is the ongoing forgiveness we receive from God as our Father and is repeated many times throughout a believer’s life. Judicial forgiveness brings us into a right relationship with Him at the moment of faith in Christ. Parental forgiveness restores our fellowship with Him.

In this series of lectures, Dr. Steven R. Cook explains the doctrine of Soteriology, which is the study of salvation. The word soteriology is derived from the Greek words soter, which means savior, and logos, which means a word about, or the study of something. The word salvation is used throughout the Bible of physical deliverance as well as spiritual deliverance. Click here for PDF copy of my study notes: https://thinkingonscripture.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Biblical-Terminology-Related-to-Soteriology-2.pdf Two Kinds of Forgiveness with God: https://thinkingonscripture.com/2024/01/30/two-kinds-of-forgiveness-with-god/ Two Kinds of Forgiveness with People: https://thinkingonscripture.com/2024/02/05/two-kinds-of-forgiveness-with-people/ Thinking on Scripture Blog: https://thinkingonscripture.com/ Thinking on Scripture Podcast: https://windowwalker.podbean.com/

The Bible reveals God is holy. God declares of Himself, “I am holy” (Lev 11:44), and the psalmist says, “holy is the LORD our God” (Psa 99:9), and the Seraphim declare, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts” (Isa 6:3). In these verses, the word “holy” translates the Hebrew word qadōsh (קָדוֹשׁ), which means “to be holy, [or] separated.” James Swanson says it refers “to being unique and pure in the sense of superior moral qualities and possessing certain essential divine qualities in contrast with what is human.” God’s holiness is closely linked with His righteousness, justice, and perfection. Holiness denotes moral purity.

The apostle Paul referred to the Bible as “the holy Scriptures” (Rom 1:2), and “the sacred writings” (2 Tim 3:15). The terms “holy” and “sacred” mean the Bible is a special book in that it conveys divine revelation from God to mankind (2 Tim 3:16-17). Though written by human authors under the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit (2 Pet 1:20-21), the end product is “the word of God, which performs its work in you who believe” (1 Th 2:13).

In this series of lectures, Dr. Steven R. Cook explains the doctrine of Soteriology, which is the study of salvation. The word soteriology is derived from the Greek words soter, which means savior, and logos, which means a word about, or the study of something. The word salvation is used throughout the Bible of physical deliverance as well as spiritual deliverance. Click here for PDF copy of my study notes: https://thinkingonscripture.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Biblical-Terminology-Related-to-Soteriology-2.pdf Thinking on Scripture Blog: https://thinkingonscripture.com/ Thinking on Scripture Podcast: https://windowwalker.podbean.com/

Faith as an adjective (pistos πιστός), which describes someone “being worthy of belief or trust, trustworthy, faithful, dependable, inspiring trust/faith.” (BDAG, 820). The word is used of God (1 Cor 1:9; 10:13; 2 Tim 2:13; Heb 10:23; Rev 1:5), and of people (Matt 25:23; 1 Cor 4:17; Col 1:7; 1 Tim 1:12; 2 Tim 2:2; Heb 3:5).

Faith as a verb (pisteuō πιστεύω), which means “to consider something to be true and therefore worthy of one’s trust, believe…to entrust oneself to an entity in complete confidence, believe (in), trust.” (BDAG, 817). The word is used of trust in God (Gen 15:6; Heb 11:6; cf. Rom 4:3), trust in Jesus (Acts 16:31; 1 Pet 1:8), and trust in Scripture (John 2:22).

Faith as a noun (pistis πίστις), often refers to “that which evokes trust and faith. (BDAG, 818). The word is used with reference to God who is trustworthy (Rom 3:3; 4:19-21), and of people who possess faith (Matt 9:2, 22; 21:21), which can be great (Matt 15:28; cf. Acts 6:5; 11:23-24), small (Matt 17:19-20), or absent (Mark 4:39-40; cf. Luke 8:25). It is also used of Scripture itself as a body of reliable teaching (i.e. Acts 14:22; 16:5; Rom 14:22; Gal 1:23; 2 Tim 4:7). Paul was said to preach “the faith which he once tried to destroy” (Gal 1:23).

In this series of lectures, Dr. Steven R. Cook explains the doctrine of Soteriology, which is the study of salvation. The word soteriology is derived from the Greek words soter, which means savior, and logos, which means a word about, or the study of something. The word salvation is used throughout the Bible of physical deliverance as well as spiritual deliverance. Click here for PDF copy of my study notes: https://thinkingonscripture.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Biblical-Terminology-Related-to-Soteriology-2.pdf Thinking on Scripture Blog: https://thinkingonscripture.com/ Thinking on Scripture Podcast: https://windowwalker.podbean.com/

In Romans, Paul discusses the concept of believers being “dead to sin” (Rom 6:11) in the context of our spiritual union with Christ. The main idea of Roman 6:1-14 is that through faith in Jesus Christ, we are spiritually united with Him in His death and resurrection and separated from the power of sin. For Christians, there is a double identification with Christ in His death and resurrection. First, “we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death” (Rom 6:5), as “our old self was crucified with Him” (Rom 6:6), and “we have died with Christ” (Rom 6:8). Second, Paul says we have been raised with Christ “so we might walk in newness of life” (Rom 6:4), having been “freed from sin” (Rom 6:7). The culmination of these truths leads to Paul’s exhortation, “Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom 6:11). When Paul speaks of being “dead to sin,” he means that believers, through our union with Christ, have been freed from the power and dominion of sin in our lives. Paul emphasizes that the old self, characterized by slavery to sin, has been crucified with Christ. As a result, believers are no longer under the dominion of sin but are now alive to God in Christ. Being “dead to sin” doesn’t mean believers are without a sinful nature. On the contrary, we continue to possess a sin nature (Rom 13:14; Gal 5:17, 19; Eph 4:22; Col 3:9; 1 John 1:8), and commit acts of personal sin throughout our lives (Eccl 7:20; Rom 7:14-25; 1 John 1:10), “For we all stumble in many ways” (Jam 3:2). Instead, being “dead to sin” signifies a change in our relationship to the sin nature and it’s power over us. This is why Paul states, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness” (Rom 6:12-13a). The sin nature continues to reside in our bodies after our salvation in Christ, and it is possible for us to yield to its influence and to let it reign over us. Sadly, it is possible for Christians to commit any sin unbelievers commit (i.e., lying, murder, gossip, adultery, idolatry, etc.), and to fall into a pattern of sin that can destroy their lives (i.e., alcoholism, drugs, etc.) This is not what God wants for us. He wants us to live righteous and holy lives based on the truth of His Word (2 Tim 3:16-17; 1 Pet 1:15-16), lives that glorify Him and edify others, manifesting humility, love, selflessness, and sacrifice. God calls us to live new lives, empowered by the Holy Spirit (Eph 5:18), for if we “walk by the Spirit” we “will not carry out the desire of the flesh” (Gal 5:16). God’s directive is “to present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God” (Rom 6:13b). That’s how we should walk. In summary, being “dead to sin” in the context of the New Testament, especially in Paul’s writings, refers to the idea that through faith in Christ, believers have undergone a spiritual transformation. We are no longer enslaved by the power of sin, having been united with Christ in His death and resurrection, and are now called to live in righteousness and obedience to God.

Humanism rejects God and His revelation and places mankind at the center of morality and meaning. Francis Schaeffer explains humanism as “Man beginning from himself, with no knowledge except what he himself can discover and no standards outside of himself. In this view Man is the measure of all things, as the Enlightenment expressed it.” (Francis A. Schaeffer, A Christian Manifesto, 24) But atheism creates a problem concerning moral absolutes, for if there is no God, then there is no moral absolute Law-giver; and if there is no moral absolute Law-giver, then there are no moral absolutes, and we are left to conclude that what is, is right, and any further discussion about right and wrong becomes nothing more than opinion. Francis Schaeffer is correct when he states, “If there is no absolute moral standard, then one cannot say in a final sense that anything is right or wrong. By absolute we mean that which always applies, that which provides a final or ultimate standard. There must be an absolute if there are to be morals, and there must be an absolute if there are to be real values. If there is no absolute beyond man’s ideas, then there is no final appeal to judge between individuals and groups whose moral judgments conflict. We are merely left with conflicting opinions.” (Francis A. Schaeffer, How Should We Then Live?: The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture, 145) Those who reject God are left to create and impose arbitrary values on others, and the tyrants of the world are glad to bully and control others by means of strong arm tactics, whether social intimidation, economic coercion, or brute physical force. The only objective standard for measuring righteousness or guilt is set forth in God’s Word which defines reality. The Bible reveals God is “the Judge of all the earth” (Gen 18:25), and He “is a righteous judge” (Psa 7:11), and He “judges righteously” (Jer 11:20), and “will by no means leave the guilty unpunished” (Ex 34:7). Yet, the Bible also reveals God is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth” (Psa 86:15), and One “Who pardons all your iniquities” (Psa 103:3), when we come to Him in honesty and humility. And for those who come to Him in humility, who are like the tax collector, who “was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’” (Luke 18:13), will find Him to be merciful. For those of us who trust in Christ as Savior, we are blessed with “forgiveness of sins” (Eph 1:7; cf., Acts 10:43), the “gift of righteousness” (Rom 5:17; cf., 2 Cor 5:21; Phil 3:9), “eternal life” (John 10:28), and become “children of God” (John 1:12), with a promise that we will spend eternity in heaven with Him (John 14:1-3). J. Dwight Pentecost notes, “If you should be without Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you stand guilty before God because you are still in Adam’s race. Even though Christ bore that sin, it means nothing to you until you are related to Him by faith. The righteousness of Christ cannot be imputed to you unless you personally receive Jesus Christ as your Savior.” (J. Dwight Pentecost, Things Which Become Sound Doctrine, 48). If you have not yet trusted in Christ as your Savior, then I “beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Cor 5:20).

The apostle John wrote, "And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life." (1 John 5:11-12).

In this series of lectures, Dr. Steven R. Cook explains the doctrine of Soteriology, which is the study of salvation. The word soteriology is derived from the Greek words soter, which means savior, and logos, which means a word about, or the study of something. The word salvation is used throughout the Bible of physical deliverance as well as spiritual deliverance. Click here for PDF copy of my study notes: https://thinkingonscripture.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Biblical-Terminology-Related-to-Soteriology.pdf Thinking on Scripture Blog: https://thinkingonscripture.com/ Thinking on Scripture Podcast: https://windowwalker.podbean.com/

After being justified (and awaiting glorification), it is possible for the Christian to go negative to God, not learn or live His Word, and remain a carnal Christian (1 Cor 3:1-3). Such a one will be subject to divine discipline (Heb 12:5-11), even to the point of physical death if their sinful lifestyle becomes egregious (1 Cor 11:30; 1 John 5:16-17), and they will forfeit future rewards (1 Cor 3:10-15; 2 John 1:8).

At the moment of faith in Christ we receive forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and the gift of God’s righteousness. Peter said, “everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins” (Acts 10:43). Concerning eternal life, Jesus said, “I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish” (John 10:28). And, at the moment of faith in Christ, we receive “the gift of righteousness” from God (Rom 5:17). This is not our righteousness, but God’s righteousness. Paul wrote of “the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith” (Phil 3:8-9). This is the gift of righteousness.

Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone (Eph 2:8-9). No works are required by us to be saved. This means that grace and works don't mix when it comes to our salvation.

Jesus is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). And how does He accomplish this? By means of His penal substitutionary atoning sacrifice on the cross where He shed His blood and paid the total price for our sins. As Christians, we are part of “the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28), for “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph 1:7), and He is the One “who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood” (Rev 1:5; cf., Rev 5:9), and we have been redeemed “with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ” (1 Pet 1:19). Jesus came into the world “to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45), and to pay our sin debt. If we could have paid it ourselves, then the death of Christ would have been unnecessary. But His death was necessary. Jesus had to die to satisfy God’s righteous demands concerning our sin. Because God is absolutely holy, it means He must condemn sin. Either He will condemn it in us, the guilty, or in a substitute who is willing to bear the punishment for us. Jesus is our substitute. He died for us. Paul wrote, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). Jesus said, “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative” (John 10:17-18). Jesus shed His blood on Calvary, and when we trust in Him for salvation, we receive forgiveness of sins (Eph 1:7), and, having “been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him” (Rom 5:9).

The Bible reveals “there is no man who does not sin” (1 Ki 8:46), and “no man living is righteous” (Psa 143:2), and “there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins” (Eccl 7:20), and “your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear” (Isa 59:2), and “all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away” (Isa 64:6), and “there is none righteous, not even one” (Rom 3:10), and “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23), and “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8), and “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us” (1 John 1:10). Solomon asked, “Who can say, ‘I have cleansed my heart, I am pure from my sin?’” (Prov 20:9). The answer is: no one! God is righteous and we are guilty sinners. Sin separates us from God and renders us helpless to merit God’s approval.

Now that we are God’s people and are growing spiritually, we are called into service to the King, to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called” (Eph 4:1). Paul uses similar language when writing to Christians in Thessalonica, saying, “walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory” (1 Th 2:12). We are called to a mission, and our mission field is wherever we happen to be and includes whoever we happen to meet. To fulfill our divine objective requires submission, humility, commitment, biblical education, field training, and advancement testing. We reach the spiritual high-ground by operating by faith as God’s Word saturates our thinking and directs our speech and behavior. And this dynamic life of service is executed in the Lord’s power, for “whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever” (1 Pet 4:11).

The Bible presents God's Word as truthful, and all it reveals as factual. This means God created the universe is six literal days, the earth is young, people are made in the image of God, all mankind is sinful, and Satan, angels, and demons exist and influence mankind.

The Bible teaches that we are “justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus” (Rom 3:24), and “justified by faith apart from works of the Law” (Rom 3:28). Salvation is free, and it is received freely by “the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness” (Rom 4:5). Our salvation was accomplished entirely by Jesus at the cross when He shed His blood at Calvary, for we are redeemed “with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ” (1 Pet 1:19). And because our salvation was accomplished in full at the cross, it means there’s nothing for us to pay. Nothing at all. Salvation is a gift, given freely to us who don’t deserve it. That’s grace, which is unmerited favor, underserved kindness, unwarranted love, unearned generosity, and unprovoked goodness. Scripture reveals, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph 2:8-9). Salvation is never what we do for God; rather, it’s what He’s done for us by sending His Son into the world to live a righteous life and die a penal substitutionary death on the cross in our place, “the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God” (1 Pet 3:18). Our faith needs to be in Jesus alone. This, of course, is the Jesus of the Bible, for no other Jesus will do. A false Jesus does not save anyone, such as the Jesus of Mormonism or Jehovah’s Witness. The Jesus of Scripture is the second member of the Trinity, God the Son (John 1:1; Heb 1:8), who added perfect humanity to Himself two thousand years ago (John 1:14; 1 John 4:2), was born of a virgin (Isa 7:14; Luke 1:26-35), in the prophesied city of Bethlehem (Mic 5:2; Matt 2:1, 6), a descendant of Abraham and David (Matt 1:1), as the Jewish Messiah (Matt 1:1, 17), who lived a sinless life (2 Cor 5:21; Heb 4:15; 1 Pet 2:22; 1 John 3:5), and willingly went to the cross and died for us (John 10:18; Rom 5:8; 1 Pet 3:18), atoning for our sins (Rom 6:10; Heb 7:27; 1 Pet 1:18-19), and was raised again on the third day (Acts 10:40-41; 1 Cor 15:3-4; 1 Th 4:14), never to die again (Rom 6:9). This is the Jesus of Scripture, the One who saves those who trust solely in Him for salvation. No one else can save. Scripture says of Jesus, “whoever believes in Him will have eternal life” (John 3:15), and “whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16), and “He who believes in Him is not judged” (John 3:18), and “He who believes in the Son has eternal life” (John 3:36). Jesus Himself said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life” (John 6:47), and “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies” (John 11:25), and “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved” (John 10:9), and “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6), The apostle John wrote, “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life” (1 John 5:12). These passages emphasize that eternal life is obtained through belief in Jesus Christ. Salvation is exclusively in Jesus. Those who reject Jesus as Savior will spend eternity away from God in the lake of fire, for “These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Th 1:9; cf., Rev 20:15). To be saved, one must turn to Christ alone for salvation and trust Him 100% to accomplish what we cannot – to rescue us from eternal damnation. We must believe the gospel message, “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:3-4). Knowing the good news of what God accomplished for us, we must then “Believe in the Lord Jesus” (Acts 16:31), and trust exclusively in Him, for “there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). We should not look to ourselves for salvation, for there is nothing in us that can save us. Nothing at all. Christ alone saves. No one else. Nothing more. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

All humanity is quite competent to produce sin, but utterly inept and powerless to produce the righteousness God requires for acceptance. Scripture reveals we are helpless, ungodly, sinners, and enemies of God (Rom 5:6-10), and prior to our salvation, we were dead in our trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1). We cannot save ourselves. Only God can forgive sins (Eph 1:7; Col 1:13-14), and only God can give the gifts of righteousness (Rom 5:17; 2 Cor 5:21; Phil 3:9) and eternal life (John 10:28) that make us acceptable in His sight. Our good works have no saving merit, as God declares righteous “the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly” (Rom 4:5a), for “a man is not justified by the works of the Law…since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified” (Gal 2:16), for “by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph 2:8-9), and God saves us, but “not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness” (Tit 3:5a). We cannot save ourselves any more than we can stop the rotation of the earth, jump across the Grand Canyon, or run at the speed of light. Christ alone saves. No one else. Nothing more.

Dr. Steven R. Cook explains that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. See the following link for a copy of his study notes. https://thinkingonscripture.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Saved-by-Grace-Alone-Through-Faith-Alone-in-Christ-Alone.pdf

In this series of lectures, Dr. Steven R. Cook explains the doctrine of Soteriology, which is the study of salvation. The word soteriology is derived from the Greek words soter, which means savior, and logos, which means a word about, or the study of something. The word salvation is used throughout the Bible of physical deliverance as well as spiritual deliverance. Click here for PDF copy of my study notes: https://thinkingonscripture.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Biblical-Terminology-Related-to-Soteriology-2.pdf Thinking on Scripture Blog: https://thinkingonscripture.com/ Thinking on Scripture Podcast: https://windowwalker.podbean.com/