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Current Issues in Soteriology.Indd CURRENT ISSUES IN SOTERIOLOGY Papers Presented at a Symposium of The International Society for Biblical Hermeneutics Paul Miles General Editor International Society for Biblical Hermeneutics Kyiv, Ukraine Current Issues in Soteriology: Papers Presented at a Symposium of The International Society for Biblical Hermeneutics ©2021 International Society for Biblical Hermeneutics Published by International Society for Biblical Hermeneutics Edited by Exegetica Publishing Typeset by Nataliia Oliinyk ISBN: 978-1-947022-07-2 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a re- trieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechan- ical, photocopy, recording, or any other – except for brief quotation in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher. Unless otherwise noted, Scripture citations are taken from the English Standard Version Anglicised, copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. Table of Contents Preface v 1. A Quadrant Model Of Soteriological Compromises 1 Paul Miles 2. The Lordship Salvation Conundrum: Regeneration Prior To Faith 32 David James 3. Does John’s Gospel Require Continual Belief for Eternal Salvation? 53 Tom Stegall 4. Does James Make Works a Criterion for Eternal Life? 86 Paul Miles 5. Salvation in Eastern and Western Catholicism Compared and Contrasted 110 David James 6. Justification: Are Evangelicals and Catholics Really Together? 136 David James 7. Old Testament Salvation 157 James Myers 8. Baptisms 176 James Myers 9. The Free Grace Faux Pas : Justification by Grace Followed by Sanctification by Works? 208 Dennis Rokser 10. Biblical Discipleship: Sanctification in Practice 232 Daniel Goepfrich Appendix: Doctrinal Statement 247 The International Society for Biblical Hermeneutics iii Preface The message of salvation is rather simple: God gives eternal life to anyone who believes in Jesus Christ. The doctrine of salvation, often called soteriology, is more complex. What is eternal life? What does believe mean? Who is Jesus Christ? What right does He have to offer anything to anyone? Is faith in Christ really sufficient? Is faith even necessary? Erroneous soteriology can hinder an individual’s spiritual maturity. Worse yet, false soteriology can even inhibit the proclama- tion of the saving message itself. This volume addresses a handful of current issues in soteriology that are problematic for both believers and nonbelievers around the globe. The chapters were presented at the first symposium for The In- ternational Society for Biblical Hermeneutics (ISBH) in January 2021. Being a new venture, ISBH deemed it appropriate to begin with a volume on the doctrine of salvation. This is not to say that every member agrees on every aspect of soteriology, nor does it mean that any participant in ISBH has arrived at his final understanding. On the contrary, Christians should be discussing these issues with each other and growing in their knowledge of the Bible and theology therein. In the first chapter, Paul Miles divides soteriological compromis- es into four quadrants: two of which compromise on the sufficiency of faith alone in Christ alone, and two of which compromise on the necessity of faith in Christ. Responding to one compromise on faith’s sufficiency, David James discusses a conundrum of Lordship Salva- tion. Tom Stegall defends faith’s sufficiency from another attack in his chapter, “Does John’s Gospel Require Continual Belief for Eter- nal Salvation?” and Paul Miles answers another common question in “Does James Make Works a Criterion for Eternal Life?” The short answer to both questions is “No.” David James then compares and contrasts Eastern and Western Catholicism, both of which advocate works-based merit, but each in their distinct ways. He then discusses v CURRENT ISSUES IN SOTERIOLOGY a question of pluralism in the chapter, “Justification: Are Evangelicals and Catholics Really Together?” The short answer to this question is also “No.” James Myers brings balance to the controversial issue of Old Testament salvation and then provides an overview of baptisms. Both of these topics are of dispensational significance with implica- tions in soteriology. Dennis Rokser and Daniel Goepfrich conclude this volume with two issues that are relevant to the Christian’s life in the chapters, “The Free Grace Faux Pas: Justification by Grace Fol- lowed by Sanctification by Works?” and “Biblical Discipleship: Sanc- tification in Practice” respectively. Finally, the ISBH doctrinal state- ment is included as an appendix. As we submit this volume, our prayer is that it will help read- ers to better understand the word of God, for our theology only has value if it aligns with what the Bible already says. May God alone receive the glory. Paul Miles The International Society for Biblical Hermeneutics Kyiv, Ukraine March 2021 vi 1 A Quadrant Model Of Soteriological Compromises Paul Miles The purpose of this symposium and the following volume is to describe the soteriological tendencies of The International Society for Biblical Hermeneutics (ISBH). Soteriology is a touchy topic, so it is imperative to establish the boundaries upfront, lest there be yet another schism in the years to come. The position of ISBH can be de- scribed as Faith Alone in Christ Alone (FACA). This view is not held by consensus but rather is derived biblically. Many who fall under the umbrella of Christendom reject our perspective, typically because they deem FACA either to be insufficient or unnecessary to varying degrees, and outside of Christendom are those who reject the Gospel for even more reasons. The following chart shows the relation of FACA to other perspectives: The top represents FACA, and the bottom lists views that typ- ically do not self-identify as Christian. The quadrant in the middle of the chart divides the bulk of Christendom in terms of direction (left, right) and distance (near, distant). The left has Works-Assist- ed Condition (WAC) and Works-Assisted Merit (WAM), both of which compromise the sufficiency of FACA. The right has Chris- tian Pluralism (CP) and Christian Universalism (CU), both of which compromise the necessity of FACA. The distant views (WAM, CU) are more extreme than the near alternatives (WAC, CP). 1 CURRENT ISSUES IN SOTERIOLOGY The differences are vast and often confusing. Within Christen- dom, many will use the phrase, “Faith alone in Christ alone,” includ- ing Protestants who espouse Works-Assisted Condition (WAC) and Christian Pluralism (CP), but while we may be using the same words, we are often using different dictionaries; these arguments are over the application of (but not source of) salvific merit and of- ten deal with semantics. Others, especially the more distant views of WAM camps, are more likely to reject faith alone and say that works are meritorious; these disagreements are rooted more in source of 2 1. A QuaDrant MODEL OF Soteriological COMPROMISES salvific merit than WAC or CP. Yet others come from the CU per- spective and argue that God will save everyone; these arguments may appeal to liberalism or perhaps cherry-pick aspects from opposing soteriological and eschatological systems to render faith in Christ un- necessary in this life. The broad and complex nature of soteriological distinctions renders soteriological reductionism ineffective,1 so this model does not intend to over-simplify any issues but instead hopes to devel- op a better presentation and understanding of perspectives within Christendom. Space restrictions prohibit a thorough response to each view, but in hopes of clarifying IFCA’s position and equipping readers for more meaningful evangelistic conversations, this paper will attempt to present each of these perspectives, especially the four that are Christian, yet non-FACA, and common trends within the perspectives. 1 A particular controversy from the turn of the century comes to mind. With good intentions, Zane Hodges attempted to reduce the core of the Message of Life to a bare minimum of content that is necessary to believe for salvation and the resulting con- tent excluded the cross. As Hodges points out in the final paragraphs of his paper, “apart from the cross, for most modern Americans, the offer of salvation by faith alone in Christ alone, just doesn’t compute” (p. 12). His point was that the evangelist should direct people to believe in Christ and his paper could actually be read as an early cri- tique of CP and CU. Hodges’ pursuit has merit as an attempt to identify the direction to lead evangelistic conversations in theory, but whether or not we agree with Hodg- es’ final conclusions, a prerogative of ISBH is agreement that in practice, reduction- ism does not make good disciples. Several responses and defenses ensued, Stegall’s response being the most exhaustive. See Zane C. Hodges, “How to Lead People to Christ: Part 1 The Content of Our Message” Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society 13:2 (Autumn 2000), 3–12; Thomas Stegall, The Gospel of the Christ: A Biblical Re- sponse to the Crossless Gospel Regarding the Content of Saving Faith (Milwaukee, WI: Grace Gospel Press, 2009). 3 CURRENT ISSUES IN SOTERIOLOGY THE TOP: FAITH ALONE IN CHRIST ALONE (FACA) – Only Christ’s works are meritorious – Salvation is only possible through faith alone in Christ alone – Salvation does not depend on works – Salvation only depends on faith We believe that the Bible teaches that man is saved simply through faith alone in Christ alone. In brief, our view2 could be summarized: God is infinitely holy and therefore cannot have relationship with that which is unholy (1 Sam 2:2; Ps 33:5; Hab 1:13). His perfect justice de- mands that sin be punished (Pss 9:8; 96:10, 13; Acts 17:31). The sin of the world was laid on Christ at the cross, and sin, therefore, does not prevent man from salvation (Isa 53; Rom 5:8; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 2:24); however, since natural man still falls short of God’s standard of holi- ness, he is separated from Him by default and is unable to do any work that could merit righteousness (Isa 64:6; Luke 19:10; John 3:19–21; Eph 2:12; Rom 1:18–3:20).
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