The Holy Spirted

Others point out that you cannot get into heaven based upon good works alone; if you could, then Christ’s sacrifice would have been meaningless. To gain salvation, you must receive God’s grace,

Vicarious atonement and salvation by grace (cf. 1 Pet. 2:24, 2 Cor. 5:21, Rom. 4:25, 1 John 2:2, 4:10; John 11:25-26; 14:6; Eph. 2:8-9; Gal. 2:21, 5:4; Rom. 3:20; 4:1-11; 10:1-13).

This idea of Christ’s incarnation as humanity’s chance to finally get it right is essential to understanding our faith and why Christ lived the life he did, and therefore, suffered the way he did. Heine and Jones, in the spirit of describing correctly the incarnation of Christ, also emphasize the role of heavenly grace in humanity’s redemption. Both authors clearly remind us that we do not deserve to be saved, but are saved because of the grace of God and our inheritance as God’s chosen people after the death of Christ. Jones says that grace is an agent of salvation and sanctification, because we are not able to change the way we are by ourselves, but purely because of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives (Jones, 151). She discusses the way that the fruit of the spirit manifests itself in a new believer, saying that it is “consequent” of our newfound righteousness, not because of a choice that we make. Heine, in his discussion of grace as an agent of salvation, also talks about how Christ’s death returned the reins of humanity to God and rescued us from Satan, by “both creation and redemption” (Heine, 127). By grace, we were returned to God’s hands and delivered from Satan’s clutches that we allowed ourselves to fall into.

Another way to think about this is how Wesley wrote in his sermon The Scripture Way of Salvation. On our journey to sanctification, he states, what keeps us going on the journey are the means of grace, whether they be for ourselves or done for others. His basic point was that once we are brought into awareness of the grace and our need to repent and turn from our sin, the means provide the nourishment our souls need to grow in grace. How else could one grow in grace than by means of grace?

Atonement is a Christian theory that explains the reconciliation of human beings with God (Torrance 6). In simple words, it is the redemption/forgiveness of sins through the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Christians were forgiven their sins and reconciled with God. The bible in the book of John 3:16 say that, “For God so loved the world, and gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish” (King James Version, John 3.16). According to the bible, whoever believes in the son of God, shall not perish but will have everlasting life, and this is the atonement, since through the death of the son of God, Christians were forgiven their sins, and received eternal life. According to the doctrine of

Though Jesus was sinless and undeserving of death, he offered himself as a sacrifice in atonement for all sin (Invitation to World Religions, pg.418). Paul was always emphatic in maintaining that salvation cannot be earned by “works”, whether humans’ effort to obey the commandments in the Torah or excellent work in general. Instead, he taught that the salvation made possible by Christ’s sacrifice is a gift, the ultimate expression of God’s love and grace. Salvation is given to those who respond to God’s grace in faith, the conviction that God has acted through Jesus Christ to amend for human sin. Although Paul was very clear in teaching that salvation depends on God’s grace and the individual’s turning to God in faith, he did not dismiss the importance of works (Invitation to World Religions, pg.419). For Paul, faith does more than bringing salvation; it unites the believers with Christ in a “newness of life”. He believed that the spirit lives in believers and brings them into union with God. As a divine presence within, the spirit encourages the growth of spiritual virtues, the greatest which is love and makes all Christians one in the church often called “the body of Christ”.

When we receive Christ we turn to God from self (repentance) and trust Christ to come into our lives to forgive our sins and make us what He wants us to be. God’s forgiveness implies that our sins deserve judgment, but in His love God has shown us grace, giving us freedom from sin and reconciliation in our relationship with God. If we accept this gift of Jesus who died in our place and bore the punishment of our sin, we receive a new life free from the judgment and rule of sin. Nothing we can do ourselves can take away our own sin or its consequences. We simply and only must believe what God says and receive new life in Him as a gift by trusting

During my time as an undergraduate, I majored in philosophy but intentionally selected courses that would further my knowledge on my range of interests in social justice and law. As I started to engage and learn about theories of intersectionality, social and structural inequalities and constructs, I grew angry at the world we have created for ourselves to live in. I understood that the injustices imposed on people at the dangerous intersections of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, race, and ability are frequent and widespread. The oppressive forces that have allowed for the creation of such injustices have not only routinely excluded and silenced the voices of many groups of people, but have destroyed countless lives.

Therefore, this justification can be accessed by anyone through faith in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice. If one does as Paul has written, he or she, as Paul has concluded, will declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past. In an attempt to clarify Paul’s writings in Romans 3:21-26,

First century Christians founded their new identity on the understanding of being sinners, saved through Christ Jesus, and true people of God. The Jews had a misinterpretation of the coming of the Messiah and they did not acknowledge his resurrection and believed Jesus was cursed by God for being crucified. It was a necessity for the Apostles to preach the Gospel with truth and bring awareness to the people of the true interpretation of scripture. The Apostles pleaded the people to get saved (2:40) and acknowledging their sin by repenting and get baptized (2:37-38). The opportunity of repentance is a gift of God’s mercy and grace to nullify our understanding and pride. Israelites considered themselves God’s holy people (22:3; 26:4-5) but they were sinning in ignorance (3:17). I am a sinner in nature and I will either sin intentionally or unintentionally. Through Jesus Christ crucifixion and resurrection, I am able to repent and ask for forgiveness with the confidence that my sins will be wiped out (3:19). Repentance and being able to be baptized (8:37)not only in the name of Lord Jesus but also in the Holy Spirit is

The word “Atonement” is frequently used in the Old Testament. Nevertheless, in regards to the New Testament, the King James Version of the Bible mentions “Atonement,” only once, which is found in (Rom. 5:11.) Furthermore, other versions, such as, the NRSVA, NIV, ASV and others uses the word “Reconciliation” as an alternative. Perhaps, when one seeks the etymology and the meaning of the word, this phrase simply can be seen as at-one-ment, which can be translated as the state of oneness of two who had been alienated from each other, or reconciled, in other words, two entities, in this case, God and humanity who was separated once, together again. In reality, atonement is reconciliation. Thus, it is used to denote the effect that resulted from the death of Christ on the Cross of Calvary.

Yet, there is confusion in the world about how or upon what conditions sins are forgiven today and that has developed, in large measure, by not “rightly dividing the word of truth.” (II Timothy 2: 15)

"But it is more in harmony with Scripture to say that the good pleasure of God to save sinners by a substitutionary atonement was founded in the love and justice of God." (Berkhof, 1994, p. 405).

1. The Bible teach us the true teaching of Christ who hate the sin. This word can be found in the Psalm 5:4-6 and Rome 1:18. Apostle Paul said that in Rome 3:25-26, that tell if Christian need teh atonement, because of this statement God gives HIs beloved Son as the one way to paid

John Paul II makes a very clear distinction of suffering, and one of the suffering more painful is when human beings commit sin and stain the soul, and we know that is truth because when you commit a sin against God, you can feel the suffering that sometimes we cannot find the words to explain, it’s like you lose something from your soul. This moral suffering, we can cure through the sacrament of reconciliation that is the medicine that Jesus Christ left us before he departed from world.