1 Introduction
1.1 The biblical vision
The Bible does not present a systematic doctrine of salvation. Instead, it tells the story of the redemptive acts of God, reflects on the meaning of those acts, and calls for a response by human beings. The Bible does present a holistic vision of salvation (Wright 2007: 15–35, 195). For example, it does not distinguish between religious and nonreligious spheres as modern Western Christians might do. God’s salvation reaches into all areas of life to restore, transform, and heal. Salvation in the Bible is a grand narrative in which human beings participate (Wright 2007: 72). The overarching narrative comprises creation, fall(s), redemption(s), and new creation. Stories of salvation begin in the middle of this central narrative with the need for redemption, but they presuppose a creational theology, a sense of the way the world is supposed to be.
1.2 Terminology
In the Old Testament (OT), the words commonly translated as salvation are teshu‘a and yeshu‘a (verb form yasha‘), which mean rescue, deliverance, or release. They usually have material deliverance in view, especially rescue from personal or national enemies. However, Jer 17:14 parallels salvation with healing, and Ps 79:9 connects it with both deliverance and forgiveness of sins. Jeremiah’s oracles of salvation often include healing (Jer 3:22–23; 30:17; 33:6–8). Other important words include nasal and malaṭ, which mean deliverance or escape from danger. Psalmists use the word palaṭ to describe divine deliverance or appeal to God for rescue. Padah means ransom or redemption, and ga‘al (redeem) is used with reference to God as well as the kinsman-redeemer and the avenger of blood.
In the New Testament (NT), the main word for salvation is sōtēria (verb form sōzō), which can mean both rescue and healing; its most common use in first-century secular Greek is in medicine (Green 2003: 36). While it can refer to physical rescue or healing, in the NT it more often refers to salvation from sin. A related word, diasōzō, means to come safely through, or bring someone safely through, danger or illness. Another word, rhuomai, is used for rescue from danger, whether from enemies, affliction, the demonic, or God’s wrath at the final judgment, rather than for the fullness of salvation: ‘The Lord will rescue [rhusetai] me from every evil attack and save [sōsei] me for his heavenly kingdom’ (2 Tim 4:18 NRSV). The goal of salvation in both OT and NT is a state of holistic wellbeing often expressed as life (Hebrew ḥayyim; Greek zōē) and peace (Hebrew shalom; Greek eirēnē; Swartley 2006).
Besides the language of salvation, the concept of salvation is expressed in a variety of ways in the Bible. The story of God’s rescue and restoration of creation is told from different perspectives, with different pictures of the problem and its solution. An article-length discussion cannot do justice to the diversity of the witnesses, particularly in the OT. As a consequence, this exploration of soteriological themes will be illustrative but not exhaustive.
1.3 Three tenses of salvation
In both OT and NT, salvation has three tenses: past, present, and future (Green 1998: 152–189; Wright 2007: 98–106; Colijn 2010: 124–136). In the OT, because God’s covenant with the Israelites is ongoing, they can declare that God saved them in the past (Exod 14:30–31; Deut 33:29), rescues them in the present (Ps 37:39–40), and will save them in the future (Ps 69:34–36; Isa 46: 3–4). Israelites look back to the exodus as God’s deliverance that established them as a nation – often as a source of encouragement for the present (Ps 77–78). In the present, they call on their covenant God to rescue them in times of trouble (Ps 46). Increasingly, they look forward to a day when God will vanquish all their enemies, forgive all their sins, and establish peace on the earth (Isa 11–12; 65:17–25; 66:5–24; Jer 31:31–34; Ezek 11:14–21; 36:22–38; Zeph 3:8–20).
Similarly, the NT writers, especially Paul, can say of believers that they ‘were saved’ (Rom 8:24), they ‘are being saved’ (1 Cor 15:2), and they ‘will be saved’ (Rom 5:9–10). Past salvation refers to the atonement or to conversion (Titus 2:11–14; Rom 8:24; Eph 2:5, 8–9; 2 Tim 1:9). Present salvation refers to the process of maturing in one’s faith (1 Cor 1:18; 15:2; Phil 2:12; 1 Pet 2:2). Future salvation usually refers to deliverance from God’s wrath at the final judgment (Rom 5:9–10; 13:11–14; 1 Cor 3:13–15; Heb 9:28; for an extended discussion, see Byrne 2021). Some passages draw upon both past and future to guide the present (Tit 2:11–14; 2 Pet 3:8–13).
1.4 Deliverance and blessing
In the Bible, God is both a deliverer and a healer (Ex 15:26; Ps 18:2; 65:5; 30:2; 41:3; Gal 3:1–5; Jas 5:14–15; Green 2003: 35–92). For this reason, salvation involves both deliverance and blessing (Martens 1998: 37–64). The words translated ‘to save’ focus on the aspect of deliverance, but ‘both saving and blessing belong to God’s acts from beginning to end’ (Westermann 1982: 12). God delivers people from a negative condition into a positive one. In deliverance, God comes to rescue; as a result of God’s coming, God is present to bless (Westermann 1978: 8), and this blessing often has a covenantal context (Wright 2007: 56–85). For example, the Abrahamic covenant begins with a promise of blessing to Abraham and his descendants – and through them, to the world (Gen 12:1–3). Viewed more broadly, the blessings of salvation are a restoration of the blessings God bestowed at creation (Gen 1:22, 28; 2:3).
The central narrative of deliverance in the OT is the exodus, in which God delivers Israel from slavery in Egypt and establishes the Israelites in the promised land. Other stories tell of God’s deliverance of Israel from oppression by foreign nations and God’s restoration of Israel after exile. The later OT hints at a time when God’s salvation will become more inclusive (Isa 56:1–8). The central narrative in the NT is Jesus’ inauguration of the kingdom or reign of God, and within that story, his deliverance of his followers from guilt and estrangement into a familial relationship with God. The gospels draw on exodus imagery to suggest that Jesus is bringing an even greater deliverance (e.g. Matt 2:13–15; 5:1–48; Luke 9:30–31; John 6:14, 25–35). The rest of the NT opens up that narrative beyond Israel, arguing that the divine plan had always been to admit Gentiles into God’s people.
1.5 Initiative and response
Salvation involves both divine initiative and human response. Salvation is initiated by God’s redemptive acts in history, whether their scope is personal, societal, or cosmic. Salvation also requires a response from human beings, including trust, obedience, and exclusive allegiance (on allegiance, see Bates 2017).
The relationship established between God and human beings by God’s greatest acts of salvation takes the form of a covenant. While some covenants are unilateral, such as God’s covenant with Noah (Gen 9:8–17), most require loyalty and consist of reciprocal obligations – for example, the Davidic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, and new covenants. In both Mosaic and new covenants, human obligations include serving as witnesses to God’s saving deeds (Isa 43:8–13; 44:1–8; John 15:27; Acts 1:8; 1 Pet 2:9–10). Salvation is thus both a gift and a task: God’s gracious acts of redemption and restoration invite God’s people to participate in God’s mission in the world.
1.6 Creation-affirming
Salvation in the Bible is creation-affirming. Its concerns are this-worldly as well as otherworldly. This is especially true of the OT, which does not have a developed view of the afterlife. The goal of salvation is a long life spent enjoying God’s protection and provision. Daniel 12:2–3 extends the emphasis on life in its prophecy of resurrection. Isaiah 65:17–25 broadens it in its prophecy of new heavens and a new earth. Even in the NT, which does have a developed view of the afterlife, salvation affirms the goodness of creation. The goal of salvation is not an escape from materiality but the bodily resurrection of believers in the new creation (1 Cor 15:20–28, 35–58; Rev 21:1–7).
1.7 Continuity and development
Compared with the OT, the NT vision of salvation shows both continuity and development. The NT builds on the OT narrative, understanding Jesus Christ as the climax of that narrative. Many of the concepts used by the NT writers are drawn from the OT. The NT writers continue to view salvation as both deliverance and blessing.
However, salvation in the NT develops several new emphases: (1) it is more inward, without losing the OT stress on outward obedience. (2) It is more individual, without losing the OT stress on the communal life of God’s people. (3) It is more spiritual, emphasizing salvation from sin without losing the OT sense of rescue from illness, physical danger, or oppression. Jesus even calls his followers to be willing to lose their mortal lives, if necessary, in order to receive eternal life (Mark 8:35). (4) It is more universal, extending beyond Israel but without losing the OT sense of Israel’s special place in God’s plan. Paul declares that both salvation and judgment come ‘for the Jew first and also for the Greek’ (Rom 1:16; cf. 2:9–1– NRSV). (5) It has a more realized eschatology. The NT writers assert that the age to come has dawned, and God’s eschatological promises are being fulfilled in their day. God’s kingdom or reign has broken into history through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. However, the full realization of God’s reign awaits Christ’s return.
2 The need for salvation
2.1 The problem
The problem to which salvation is the solution may be described most broadly as brokenness or disorder, whether disease and death, personal sin, enmity and oppression, or the defilement of creation itself. All of these inimical conditions damage the order, harmony, and freedom God established in creation (Gen 1:1–2:3; Rom 8:19–22). Illness, sin, violence, oppression, and the dangers of a fallen world are all conditions from which salvation is needed.
The various dimensions of the problem overlap and affect one another. For example, Job’s friends argue that his illness must be due to his sin (Job 4:7–21; 8:1–7; 11:6). Their belief is overruled by Yahweh’s declaration of Job’s righteousness (Job 1:8; 2:3; 42:7). When Jesus heals a man by the pool of Bethesda, he implies a connection between the man’s illness and his sin (John 5:14). However, when Jesus’ disciples make a similar assumption about a man born blind, Jesus rejects it (John 9:1–3).
Genesis roots the world’s brokenness in the first human sin. Human beings, God’s image bearers, turn aside from their stewardship of creation, disobey God, and involve the creation in their own disorder (Gen 1:28; 3:17–19; Rom 8:19–22). The result is alienation, enmity, and death. According to Paul, sin spread through the world after that, even though it was not accounted as lawbreaking until the law came (Rom 5:12–14). Under the Mosaic covenant, sin is violating Israel’s covenant relationship with God, a turning away from God that underlies specific violations of law (Eichrodt 1961: 375–376, 466; Martens 1998: 50–52). The law functions both to bring all of Israel’s life under the rule of Yahweh and to teach Israel how to live in God’s presence (Brueggemann 1997: 581–583).
Jesus generally affirms the Mosaic law (Matt 5:12–20), but he loosens some aspects of it – for example, valuing compassion above the Sabbath regulations (Mark 2:27) – and strengthens others, observing that the attitudes that lead to sin are sinful themselves (Matt 5:21–22, 27–28). His affirmation of the double love command as fulfilling the law and the prophets (Matt 22:34–40) seems to suggest that the violation of relationship is at the heart of sin. Jesus advises radical action to eliminate the causes of sin in one’s life (Matt 5:29–30). However, he offers hope, stating that all sins can be forgiven except for blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which in the context seems to mean the rejection of the Spirit’s testimony to Christ (Matt 12:22–32).
2.2 Characteristics of sin
The most common words for sin in OT (ḥataʿ) and NT (hamartia) mean missing the mark or the way. Sin is going astray from God’s will, whether through carelessness or active rebellion. Sin can be individual or corporate; the Bible has a much stronger sense of corporate solidarity than do modern Western cultures (Eichrodt 1967: 231–267; Malina 1993: 45–47, 66–67; DeSilva 2000: 158).
Sin can be conceived of as a wrong act, an inherent condition or disposition, or a controlling power. Wrong actions, such as lawbreaking or disobedience, also include failure to act rightly (Gen 3:11; Lev 26:14–18; 1 John 3:4; Jas 4:17). More broadly, sin is sometimes regarded as an inherent disposition in human beings (Jer 17:9–10; Ps 51:1–5; Eph 2:3) or an enslaving power, whether internal or external (Gen 4:7; Rom 6:15–7:25; see Campbell 2020: 118–119, 125n2). Paul even regards sin as the sphere in which the unrighteous live – ‘in the flesh’ rather than ‘in […] the Spirit’ (Rom 7:5–6; 8:3–11).
The Bible identifies Satan as a malign power behind sin and evil, although this figure is more fully developed in the New Testament than in the Old. The OT occasionally refers to a figure called the satan (the accuser), while the NT uses ‘Satan’ as a proper name for the devil, also called ‘Beelzebul’ (Job 1:6–12; Zech 3:1–2; Matt 12:24–27; Mark 1:12–13; Rom 16:20). Satan, chief of the fallen angels (Rev 12:7–12), unsuccessfully tempts Jesus at the start of Jesus’ ministry (Matt 4:1–11), opposes Jesus throughout his ministry (Matt 12:22–32; Luke 2:3–6), and tempts Jesus’ followers to sin (Luke 22:31; 1 Cor 7:5). Jesus destroys Satan’s power through his cross and resurrection (Heb 2:14–15); the book of Revelation narrates Satan’s final defeat (Rev 20:7–10).
In both OT and NT, sin is regarded as universal (1 Kgs 8:46; Ps 14:1–3; 51:5; Rom 3:23). The evidence for this is the universality of death (Gen 2:15–17; Rom 5:12–14). The root of sin is often identified as idolatry (Exod 20:3–6; Deut 30:11–20; Isa 44:9–20; Rom 1; 1 Cor 10:14–22; 1 John 5:21). By Paul’s day, Israel is no longer pursuing literal idols. Paul asserts, however, that Gentiles need to be saved from idolatry and immorality (Rom 1:18–32; Gal 4:8–9), while Jews need to be saved from faithlessness and lawbreaking (Rom 3:1–4).
2.3 Sin as defilement
In the OT, sin is often expressed as the opposite of ritual purity – that is, uncleanness (Milgrom 1991: 253 and passim; DeSilva 2004: 111–125). Sin is defilement, which must be cleansed, so that the people of God can continue to live in the presence of a holy God. Uncleanness is contagious: coming in contact with uncleanness makes one unclean (Lev 5:2–3). In some circumstances, the holiness of consecrated objects can be contagious as well (Exod 29:37; 30:29; Ezek 44:19). The sanctuary and the land itself can become defiled by the sin of those who inhabit it. The sanctuary must be cleansed by the blood of the sacrifices (Lev 16:15–19). Defilement of the land through sin is the reason God gives for the Canaanites to be driven out; God warns Israel that the land will ‘vomit [them] out’ if they likewise defile it (Lev 18:24–30).
The concepts of clean and unclean carry over to the NT. Significantly, however, Jesus does not become unclean when he comes in contact with the unclean; instead, he makes the unclean clean (Luke 5:12–14; 8:40–56). He has contagious holiness in himself (Luke 8:46). In some circumstances, the same can be said for believers (1 Cor 7:12–14) because the Spirit of Christ indwells them.
2.4 God’s judgment
As creator, God has the authority to judge the brokenness of creation. This authority is assumed throughout the Bible (Gen 18:25; 1 Sam 2:10; Rom 3:5-6; 2 Cor 5:10). In the OT, God’s judgment comes in various forms, including flood, earthquake, plague, oppression by foreign nations, and exile from the promised land. Jesus regards his own ministry as a crisis point in God’s judgment of Israel (Luke 19:41–44). In Rom 1:18–32, Paul describes God’s judgment at work in the present in giving people over to experience the consequences of their sin.
Both OT and NT expect a definitive judgment, sometimes called the Day of the Lord, that lies in the future (Joel 2:1–14; Amos 5:18–24; Mark 13:1–37; Rom 2:1–16). However, God prefers not to judge but to restore: ‘As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from their ways and live’ (Ezek 33:11; see section 6.1).
3 The scope of salvation
3.1 Deliverance from and deliverance to
In salvation, God does not merely deliver from threat but deliver to blessings that enable people and creation to flourish (Fretheim 1993: 364–365). For example, Psalm 18 recounts God’s deliverance of the psalmist from being hemmed in by enemies to a ‘broad place’ where he finds strength and greatness (v. 16–19, 32–35, 43–45). Psalm 103 similarly celebrates God’s covenant love that provides deliverance from illness, oppression, sin, and death to health, vindication, forgiveness, prosperity, and renewed youth. Salvation oracles that promise deliverance from enemies or from exile emphasize the blessings that will result, including flourishing and God’s presence (for example, Isa 41:8–10; 43:1–7; Jer 33:1–13; Westermann 1982: 68–69).
3.2 Deliverance from brokenness to wholeness
In the OT, personal salvation is often focused on deliverance from material need or threat to a condition of health and peace. Even before the fall, God saves the first man from a solitary existence by providing the first woman, making the human being whole once again (Gen 2:18–25). Similarly, God saves barren women from childlessness (Gen 21:1–7; 1 Sam 1:4–20). Through the prophets Elijah and Elisha, God heals disease and delivers people from death to life (1 Kgs 17:17–24; 2 Kgs 4:32–37; 5:1–19).
In the NT, salvation is sometimes material, such as when Peter pleads with Jesus to save him from drowning (Matt 14:30). Jesus and his disciples deliver people from illness, disability, and social exclusion and restore them to health and community. Jesus and the disciples even restore the dead to (mortal) life (Luke 7:12–15; John 11:38–44; Acts 9:36–42). More often, however, salvation in the NT is spiritual (salvation from sin, Matt 1:21) or a mixture of material and spiritual, such as Jesus’ healing of the paralyzed man in Mark 2:1–12 or the blind man in Luke 18:42: ‘Receive your sight; your faith has saved you’ (cf. Acts 4:9, 12).
3.3 Deliverance from enemies to peace
Psalmists often call for or celebrate God’s deliverance from personal or national enemies. The paradigmatic example of salvation in the OT is God’s delivery of Israel from slavery in Egypt to a home in the promised land. This overarching narrative contains numerous acts of deliverance, including God’s protection from the death of the firstborn, the rescue from Pharaoh’s army at the Red Sea, the provision of food in the wilderness, and victories over the inhabitants of the land.
Both during the Exodus narrative and later, God delivers Israel from attack and oppression by its enemies to a condition of peace or rest (Exod 2:23–25; Deut 12:10; 25:19; Josh 11:23; Judg 3:30; 8:28). Some of these acts also deliver Israel from God’s own judgment, since the nation’s oppression by foreign nations is often God’s judgment for Israel’s idolatry (Deut 29–30). Following the exile, God delivers a remnant of Israel to a restored presence in the promised land (Ezra 1–2). Prophecies and apocalypses anticipate a final deliverance from the enemies of God, the final judgment, and the fallen creation into a new creation (Isa 11:6, 9; 65:17–25; Mic 4:3–4).
In the NT, despite the anticipation of Mary (Luke 1:51–55) and Zechariah (Luke 1:67–75), God does not deliver the Israelites from their Roman occupiers. Moreover, despite its affirmation of God as deliverer, the NT does not directly oppose the institution of slavery. Instead, the kingdom Jesus brings ‘does not belong to this world’ (John 18:36). Its comprehensive liberation lies in the future (Luke 13:22–30; 17:20–21); in the near term, it brings deliverance from spiritual enemies such as sin and Satan (Matt 1:21; Heb 2:14–15). While Paul declares that the distinction between slave and free has been overcome in Christ (Gal 3:28), he advises enslaved believers, given the social reality, to serve Christ in their present condition (1 Cor 7:21–24; cf. Eph 5:21–6:9; Col 3:18–4:1; 1 Pet 2:13–3:7). Where he does have influence, as with Philemon, he uses it to overturn the social hierarchy, urging Philemon to receive Onesimus not as a slave but as a brother (Phlm 1:10–21).
In the NT, more clearly than in the OT, national deliverance is also world deliverance. NT writers assert that God loves the world and desires its salvation (John 3:16). God’s salvific plan includes both Jews and Gentiles (Romans 9–11). Like the OT, the NT anticipates a final deliverance from all the trials of the fallen world into a new heavens and new earth where peace and righteousness will flourish (2 Pet 3:13; Rev 21:1–22:5).
3.4 The kingdom of God
Deliverance from both brokenness and enemies is included in the theme of the kingdom of God (basileia tou theou), the restoration of God’s reign over the whole creation. While the kingdom of God is not a common expression in the OT, there are references to the kingdom of the Lord (2 Chr 13:8), and the kingdom of Daniel’s God (Dan 6:26). More often, God is acknowledged as king over the earth in general (Ps 97:1–5) and over Israel in particular (1 Sam 12:12). Eichrodt finds the idea of God’s kingdom inherent in the nation established by the Mosaic covenant (Eichrodt 1961: 40). God is the ‘King of glory’ because God is the creator (Ps 24). While most of the OT recognizes God’s everlasting kingship (Exod 15:18), Zech 14:9 prophesies a time when God will become king and bring judgment on Israel’s enemies. Thus in the OT God’s kingship is frequently acknowledged but not always regarded as fully present.
The NT authors depict Jesus as the bringer of the kingdom of God, which is often contrasted with disorder and demonic activity. In fact, the kingdom is the primary way of talking about salvation in the Synoptic Gospels (Colijn 2010: 66–83). For instance, Mark 10 equates entering the kingdom (vv. 23, 25) with inheriting eternal life (v. 17) and being saved (v. 26). The kingdom of God is inaugurated in Jesus’ ministry and is the main theme of his preaching (Mark 1:15). The Gospels include numerous descriptions of Jesus confronting and defeating the demonic to restore God’s reign (Matt 4:1–11 and parallels; 8:28–32; Mark 1:21–27). Jesus’ healings and exorcisms are evidence that the kingdom is present (Matt 12:28), as well as illustrations of the flourishing that accompanies it.
The rest of the NT mentions the kingdom of God less often but assumes it where it is not mentioned. The Gospel of John connects it with a new birth and implies its heavenly origin (John 3:3–5; 18:36). According to Paul, the kingdom brings ‘righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit’ (Rom 14:17). Salvation is even described as a transfer of citizenship from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of Christ, in which people find redemption and forgiveness (Col 1:13–14). Since his ascension, Jesus reigns as king, working to defeat God’s enemies until death itself is destroyed in the general resurrection (1 Cor 15:20–28). While Jesus’ kingdom is not a political kingdom, believers’ confession of Jesus as Lord and Saviour is a direct challenge to imperial claims (Horsley 2003).
4 Salvation from sin: atonement
4.1 Atonement in the Old Testament
In the OT, the sacrificial system delivers individuals from guilt and defilement resulting from inadvertent sins to forgiveness and ritual purity (Milgrom 1991: 228–229, 361–363). Prescribed sacrifices atone for such sins committed by priests, rulers, individuals, and the people as a whole, providing forgiveness (Lev 4:3–31). However, atonement is not simply about guilt, because atonement is also made for objects such as altars in order to consecrate them (Exod 29:36–37; 30:10). The Israelites have to make atonement for their lives whenever they take a census so that no plague will come upon them (Exod 30:11–16). Sacrifices are also required to purify people from uncleanness resulting from childbirth, bodily discharges, and skin diseases (Lev 12–15). Other offerings, such as the grain and wellbeing offerings, are unrelated to atonement (Lev 2–3).
Milgrom argues that the ḥattaʼt, which is usually translated as ‘sin offering’, should more properly be called a purification offering. The blood of the sacrifice is the ‘ritual detergent’ that purifies (Milgrom 1991: 253, 256). Heb 9:22 observes that the law requires blood for purification, such that ‘without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins’. The Day of Atonement rituals annually cleanse both the sanctuary and the nation (Lev 16). However, the law provides no sacrifices or forgiveness for sins committed ‘high-handedly’ (defiantly; see Num 15:29–31).
4.2 Atonement in the New Testament
The NT never describes the mechanics of Christ’s atonement. Instead, the NT writers interpret the work of Christ in pictures drawn from the OT and the culture of their day (Colijn 2023: 57–68). One prominent set of images is drawn from the OT sacrifices. John the Baptist calls Jesus the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, invoking the sacrificial offerings, the Passover lamb, and the scapegoat of the Day of Atonement ritual, which takes away Israel’s sins (John 1:29; Lev 16:20–22). Paul similarly identifies Jesus as the Passover lamb (1 Cor 5:7).
Jesus himself reinterprets the Passover meal in terms of his coming death, which he suggests is the sacrifice that inaugurates the new covenant (Luke 22:15–20 and parallels; cf. Exod 24:8). The new covenant often underlies Paul’s thinking about atonement (Rom 11:27; 1 Cor 11:25; 2 Cor 3:4–18). Acts attributes to Paul the declaration that Christ’s atonement frees (literally, ‘justifies’) people even from sins that could not be forgiven under the Mosaic law (Acts 13:38–39). For an extended discussion of atonement and new covenant, see Gorman (2014).
Paul identifies as of ‘first importance’ that ‘Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures’ (1 Cor 15:3). Christ’s death deals with sin, but not as a mere transaction. Instead, because of his identification with humanity, Christ’s followers can identify with him to the extent of sharing in his death and resurrection (Rom 6:1–14; 2 Cor 5:14–18). The cross ‘condemned sin in the flesh’ (Rom 8:3) – that is, condemned the inherent sinfulness that keeps people from living as the law requires (Rom 7:14–24) – and opened the way for new life to be found in the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:4). That new life is lived ‘in Christ’ (Colijn 2010: 247–263; see section 9.5).
The book of Hebrews describes the cross as Jesus’ offering of his blood to the Father through the Holy Spirit (Heb 9:14). His unique sacrifice deals with sin (9:28) as the OT sacrifices could not, because it brings about the new covenant, with better promises, including the forgiveness of sins (8:6–13). Rather than cleansing the body for ritual purity, the blood of Christ cleanses the conscience; rather than a temporary measure, Christ’s sacrifice is a once-for-all offering that opens the way to God because, as high priest as well as sacrifice, Christ lives forever to intercede for his people (Heb 7:25; 9:11–14, 23–28; 10:10–18). Hebrews makes clear that Christ’s atonement is not restricted to the cross (Moffitt 2022: 135–158).
The NT also regards the cross as Jesus’ victory over sin, death, Satan, and evil cosmic forces (Eph 1:20–21; Phil 2:5–11; Col 2:13–15; Heb 2:14; see Gaventa 2022; Moffitt 2022: 9–28). Jesus achieves this victory by giving himself as a ransom for others; the cross is thus the final expression of the servanthood he models and instructs his disciples to imitate (Mark 10:42–45; cf. Phil 2:1–11). Believers proclaim Christ’s victory when they confess that ‘Jesus is Lord’ (Rom 10:9–10). Christ’s final victory, however, awaits the completion of his reign when the kingdom of God will be fully present and the last enemy, death, will be destroyed in the resurrection (1 Cor 15:24–26).
An adequate understanding of the work of Christ will not separate the cross from the resurrection and the sending of the Spirit. The cross deals with sin; the resurrection overcomes death. The Holy Spirit deals with human corruption, renovating the heart and empowering new life, with the promise of future resurrection. Without Christ’s resurrection, the cross is a tragedy; without the coming of the Spirit, the cross and resurrection are mere history.
4.3 Punishment and wrath
Despite the prominence of the penal substitution theory of atonement in some Christian traditions, especially Reformed and evangelical circles (Berkhof 1990: 373–382; Belousek 2012: 83–93), punishment and wrath are not associated with the cross in the NT. Numerous passages in the NT associate punishment and divine wrath with the final judgment (e.g. Luke 3:7; John 3:36; Romans 2:5; 3:5; 5:9; 12:19; 2 Thess 1:5–10; Rev 11:18), but none associate them with the cross. Notably, the sacrifice with which Jesus is most closely associated is the Passover lamb, which is not punished for anyone’s sins. Instead, the blood of the lamb placed on the doorpost averts the judgment of God on the Egyptians (Exod 12:1–13), just as Jesus’ blood spares believers from God’s final judgment on the wicked (Heb 10:26–31). Both OT and NT contain instances of God forgiving sins without punishment (Jonah; Mark 2:1–12). In fact, punishment and forgiveness are mutually exclusive; one can pardon or punish, but not both at once (Wolterstorff 2011: 193, 257–258). It appears, then, that the cross provides an escape from punishment and wrath, rather than enacting them.
However, it could be said that Jesus does experience God’s wrath in a carefully qualified sense. Paul describes God’s wrath as God’s ‘giving over’ sinful people to experience the consequences of their sin (Rom 1:24, 26, 28). Similarly, God ‘hands over’ Jesus to sinful people to experience the consequences of their sin (Rom 4:25; 8:32). If God’s wrath is understood as exclusion or abandonment (Travis 2008: 60–61), Jesus can be said to experience wrath in that he experiences abandonment by God as he dies the death of a covenant-breaker, even though he himself is always faithful (Matt 27:46; Mark 15:34).
The association of the cross with punishment and wrath is largely based on a particular Christian reading of Isaiah 53 (Calvin 1960: 657), as well as an understanding of OT sacrifices as vicarious punishment (Erickson 1998: 822–823). However, the NT use of Isaiah 53 does not consistently reflect a penal interpretation. For example, Matthew declares that Isa 53:4 is fulfilled in Jesus’ healing ministry, not on the cross (Matt 8:14–17). 1 Peter cites Isa 53:9 as an example to slaves who suffer unjustly; they bear their masters’ sins in their body just as Jesus bears the sinful torture of the Romans in his (1 Pet 2:18–24). The imputation of sin to Christ seems not to be in view here, since slaves cannot emulate it. Furthermore, as noted above, the OT sacrifices are more likely to be about purification than about vicarious punishment (Milgrom 1991: 441 and passim). The vicarious element of the Day of Atonement ritual is the transfer of sins to the scapegoat, which is not killed but driven out, in order to remove the pollution of sin from Israel so that God can continue to dwell with the Israelites (Lev 16:10, 21–22).
6 God’s call to salvation
6.1 God’s salvific will
Throughout the Bible, God expresses a preference for salvation over judgment. The OT emphasizes God’s patience and longsuffering (Exod 34:6–7a; Ps 86:15; 103:8; Joel 2:12–14). Sometimes God responds when Israel cries out for rescue (Exod 2:23–25; 1 Sam 7:7–11), but often God saves Israel so that God’s name will not be dishonoured among the nations (Isa 43:25; 45:11).
The NT consistently expresses God’s universal salvific will (Matt 19:28; John 3:16; Acts 17:30–31; 1 Tim 2:3–4; 2 Pet 3:9; John 2:2; cf. Rev 7:9–10). Rather than bringing judgment, God is patient so that people might repent (2 Pet 3:9). Even some of God’s judgments are meant to lead to repentance (Rev 16, esp. v. 9, 11; Travis 2008: 19; cf. Amos 4:6–13). In the Bible, God’s salvific will extends to the creation itself, promising a new heavens and new earth (Isa 65:17–25; Rom 8: 19–21; Rev 21:1–7) in which death itself would be abolished (Isa 25:7–8; 1 Cor 15: 26; Rev 20:14).
6.2 Agents of salvation
In the OT, God uses many agents to deliver Israel, including kings, judges, prophets, a queen (Esther), the angel of Yahweh, and even non-Israelites (Rahab, Jael, Cyrus). They deliver people from illness, enemies, sin, oppression, death, and God’s own judgment. Whether directly or through agents, however, God is the one who saves (Esth 4:13–14; Isa 59:16). Yahweh is the only saviour (Hos 13:4). Isaiah predicts the coming of a special agent of God who will suffer vicariously for the people so that they may be forgiven and healed (Isa 11:1–9; 42:1–9; 49:1–7; 50:4–11; 52:13–53:12). Isaiah’s prophecies of the Servant of God joined others that came to be understood messianically, such as the prophet like Moses (Deut 18:15–19) and David’s royal descendant with his everlasting kingdom (2 Sam 7:12–16).
The NT presents Jesus as the definitive agent of God’s universal salvific will (John 3:16–17; 1 Cor 15:3–4; 1 Tim 2:3–6; 3:9; 1 John 2:1–2). NT writers apply the title ‘saviour’ to both God and Jesus (Titus 1:3–4) and identify Jesus as the only name by which one is saved (Acts 4:12). Jesus accomplishes salvation once for all (Heb 1:1–4; 10:10–18) – for both Israel and the nations (Rom 1:16–17; Eph 2:1–22).
In his ministry, Jesus delivers people from illness and demonic possession through the power of the Holy Spirit (Matt 12:28). He delivers people from guilt by forgiving their sins (Mark 2:1–12). In his death, Jesus deals with sin completely and finally. In his resurrection, Jesus overcomes death and makes resurrection life available to those who follow him. Upon his ascension, Jesus sends (or asks the Father to send) the Holy Spirit to continue his work (John 14:16; 15:26; 16:7; Acts 2:33). The Holy Spirit then makes salvation available to all who place their trust in Jesus (John 3:3–8; Rom 8:1–11). Jesus’ disciples act as his agents as they proclaim forgiveness of sins (Matt 16:19; 18:15–20; John 20:21–23; Acts 10:42–43). They can also deliver people from illness and death, but only through Jesus’ name (Acts 3:6; 4:8–10, 29–30).
6.3 Divine call and promise
Salvation in the Bible often begins with a divine call and promise. While the immediate impetus of the exodus is God’s response to the cries of the Israelites, the foundation of this event can be traced back to Gen 12:1–3, when God calls Abram and promises him land, descendants, and blessing. When God calls Moses to be his agent in delivering Israel, he identifies himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Exod 3:6). God rescues Israel because he is faithful to the covenant he made with their ancestors and will fulfil his promises to them (Exod 6:2–8). In fact, the Pentateuch can be read as the story of God’s promise given, threatened, renewed, and fulfilled (Clines 1982). Later, the prophets call the Israelites back to their covenant with God, with mixed success, and promise them restoration to land and blessings.
Like the OT prophets, Jesus calls Israel to repentance. Unlike them, however, he does so in light of the ‘good news’ of the coming of God’s kingdom and the fulfilment of God’s promises (Mark 1:15). Within his broad call to Israel, Jesus calls individuals to follow him as disciples in order to enter the kingdom God is establishing (Mark 8:34–38; 10:17–22). The Gospel of John describes Jesus’ invitation as a call to be born from above or born of the Spirit (John 3:3–8).
Calling is the primary language Paul uses for God’s invitation to salvation (Rom 1:6; 8:28; 1 Cor 1:9, 24, 26; 1 Thess 2:12). People are called to salvation through the preaching of the gospel (2 Thess 2:14), as the Holy Spirit convicts them of sin and enlightens them about spiritual things (1 Cor 2:6–16; cf. John 16:8–11). Numerous passages in the NT suggest that God’s calling can be resisted (Luke 7:28–30; Acts 7:51; Heb 12:25).
Paul’s central message is that through Christ, Gentiles have come to share in God’s promise (Eph 2:11–22; 3:6; Col 1:27). In Romans 4, Paul reinterprets the promises to Abraham: the promised land becomes the world (kosmos, v. 13), blessing becomes the forgiveness of sins (v. 6–8), and many descendants become the children of the promise – those Jews and Gentiles who share Abraham’s faith (v. 11–17). Similarly, Paul argues in Galatians that Jesus is the true heir of the promise to Abraham, such that those who belong to him become co-heirs with him (Gal 3:16–18, 29). In Gal 3:14, he interprets the promise as the Holy Spirit.
Because it comes with a promise, God’s call is forward-looking. Paul explains that believers are called to hope in Christ for what they do not yet have (Rom 5:1–2; 8:25; Eph 1:18; 4:4). Hebrews interprets the divine promise as a final Sabbath rest for God’s people (Heb 4:4). As in the OT, the promise of salvation is guaranteed from God’s side but conditional upon human faithfulness (Exod 19:5–6; Heb 10:35–39). As a consequence, believers must wait with patient endurance for the fulfilment of the promise (2 Pet 3:1–13) – although their hope is supported by those promises that have already been fulfilled (Rom 8:10–11; 15–17). In the meantime, they have the indwelling Spirit as the ‘first fruits’ and ‘pledge’ of the their coming inheritance (Rom 8:23; Eph 1:13–14).
7 The reception of salvation: conversion
7.1 Response to the call
To experience salvation, people must respond to God’s call and act on God’s promise. In the OT, individuals or nations must repent and turn or return to God. In the paradigmatic exodus event, the Israelites must trust Moses, obey the instructions God gives them through Moses, and commit themselves to God’s covenant (Exod 4:1–9; 19:7–9; 24:1–8). In the NT, there is no single formula for responding to a call to salvation, although repentance, faith, and baptism are often mentioned (Mark 1:15; 8:34–38; Luke 6:46–49; Acts 2:38). Some accounts of conversion mention neither repentance nor faith (Acts 20:44–48), although belief seems to be implied. While both John the Baptist and Jesus address the nation of Israel, the focus of conversion in the NT is more often the individual or the household.
7.2 Repentance/conversion
The main word for both repentance and conversion in the OT is shub (to turn or return). Just as God’s people sin when they turn away from God to serve idols, repentance is turning away from those idols back to God. In the OT, repentance is largely discussed in the context of Israel’s covenant with God. Prophets call Israel back to the exclusive worship of God and back to their covenant obligations. However, the OT does contain accounts of the repentance of other nations. For example, the book of Jonah describes Ninevah’s repentance upon hearing Jonah’s message of impending judgment. Moreover, God’s determination to spare a nation that repents of evil seems to be generalized beyond Israel (Jer 18:7–8).
The main verb for conversion in the NT is epistrephō, which means to turn around. This word is used in the LXX (Septuagint) to translate shub. It usually refers to someone becoming a Christian, whether they are Jewish (Acts 3:19; 2 Cor 3:15–16) or Gentile (Acts 14:15; 1:9–10). However, James also describes the restoration of believers as turning or returning them from going astray (Jas 5:19–20). The main word for repentance in the NT is metanoia, which literally means a change of mind but has the sense of a change in attitude that leads to a change of life. It is a transformation of imagination that leads people to view the world according to God’s values (Green 2003: 116). Early Christian preaching includes a call to universal repentance (Acts 17:30), which is expected to lead to changed behaviour (Luke 3:8; Acts 26:20; Heb 6:1).
7.3 Faith
Faith in the OT is expressed by words with the ’mn root, such as ’emet and ’emuna, which have a range of meaning including firmness, confidence, truth, trust, steadfastness, and dependability. These words are often paired with tzedaqa (righteousness). While words with this root can be used for belief or disbelief in facts (Gen 45:26), they often express belief or trust in someone (Isa 43:10–12) or characterize someone as steadfast and dependable. Two instances that are important for Paul’s discussion of faith are Gen 15:6 (Abraham’s faith is reckoned as righteousness) and Hab 2:4 (the righteous will live by faith). In both cases, the faith in view issues in faithful action.
In the NT, the word pistis can mean belief or conviction, trust, fidelity, or even the content of belief. In the Gospels and Acts, some trust in Jesus seems to be necessary for healing to take place (Matt 8:13; 9:28–29; 15:28; 13:58; Acts 14:9). An adequate faith in Jesus involves the affirmation of his messiahship and the commitment to follow him in discipleship regardless of the cost (Mark 8:27–38). Faith is so important that the early Christians are known as ‘believers’ (literally, ‘the ones believing’, Acts 4:32; 5:14).
Faith in the Pauline literature can mean intellectual assent (Gal 3:2), but more often it means trust in Jesus Christ (Rom 3:21–22), which is expected to issue in appropriate actions (Eph 2:8–10). Paul describes the goal of his ministry as bringing about the ‘obedience of faith’ (or faithful obedience) among the Gentiles (Rom 1:5; 16:26). In discussing individual conversion, Paul describes as necessary both a belief in Jesus’ resurrection and allegiance to Jesus as Lord (Rom 10:9–10). Some instances of pistis in the Pauline literature clearly mean faithfulness rather than mere assent (Rom 3:3). Similarly, in Hebrews, faith is the trust in God’s promises that enables perseverance through trials (Heb 11:1). Faithfulness (or its lack) is likely meant or implied in many passages where pistis is translated as ‘faith’ or its opposite, apistia, is translated as ‘unbelief’ (see Rom 1:17; 11:20; Heb 3:19; see also section 8.5).
Thus faith in the NT can include intellectual assent, trust, and fidelity. The emphasis of any particular instance depends on the context. Faith as cognitive belief, faith as trust, and faith as faithfulness cannot be completely distinguished, since believing certain truths about Christ and trusting in him are faithful responses to what God through Christ has done. What the NT writers reject is the notion that faith in Christ is limited to intellectual assent (see section 8.5).
7.4 Baptism
In the NT, baptism plays an important role in coming to faith. Jesus’ disciples baptize converts, building upon the practise of John the Baptist (John 3:22–24). Baptism was expected even of Jewish converts, representing the radical change associated with faith in Christ. Candidates were baptized in Jesus’ name (likely to distinguish Christian baptism from John’s baptism of repentance) or in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit (Acts 19:5; Matt 28:19).
For Paul, baptism is baptism into Christ (Gal 3:27). It marks one’s entry into the body of Christ, the church (1 Cor 12:13). Through baptism, believers share in the death and resurrection of Christ, which guarantees their future resurrection and grants them a new life of freedom from sin (Rom 6:1–11).
Baptism thus marks the commitment to follow Christ. Some NT passages, such as John 3:5, Acts 2:38, and Titus 3:5, draw a close connection between baptism and regeneration. Whether baptism brings about or simply represents the new birth, it is an expected part of the process of coming to faith in Christ.
8 Blessings of salvation: justification (from unfaithfulness to faithfulness)
8.1 Justification and righteousness
Justification is God’s answer to human guilt and covenant-breaking. Like election, righteousness and justification should be understood in the context of covenant (Green 2003: 56–57). In both OT and NT, justification, righteousness, and justice are closely related concepts. In the OT, righteousness is tzedaqa; in the NT, it is dikaiosynē. Both nouns could be translated as either righteousness or justice, and the related adjectives as either righteous or just. The word tzedaqa is often associated with mishpat (justice). Since righteousness has no verb form in English, translations render the verbs as ‘to justify’. The range of meaning of justify includes make righteous, declare to be righteous, and recognize someone as being in the right (vindicate). These terms have been the focus of much recent scholarship.
Theologians differ about whether human righteousness is primarily legal (declared to be not guilty of sin through the imputed righteousness of Christ); moral (made to be actually righteous through the infused righteousness of Christ); relational (brought into covenant relationship with God through Christ); or participatory (sharing in the righteousness of Christ through union with him). Some scholars have argued that justification in Paul is both legal and participatory (Kärkkäinen 2004; Prothro 2023). The language of justification and righteousness comes from a legal context, but not a modern Western one. In the OT, the law consists of the obligations inherent in Israel’s covenant relationship with God. Given the covenantal context, there is considerable overlap between legal, moral, and relational understandings of righteousness. Righteous behaviour honours the covenant relationship, conforms to covenant law, and is understood to be right or just rather than wrong or unjust. This covenantal context for righteousness and justification is carried on in the NT, which introduces the idea that one may be righteous through participation in Christ.
Righteousness can be predicated of things as well as persons. For example, accurate weights and measures are righteous or just (Lev 19:36), as are fair judgments by judges (Lev 19:15; Heb 11:33) and honest dealing generally (Gen 30:33). God’s laws are righteous or just (Ps 119:7, 62, 105–106; Rom 7:12). In a legal dispute, the one who wins is declared to be righteous – that is, in the right (Deut 25:1). When people try to justify themselves, they are attempting to establish that they are in the right – that is, to vindicate themselves (Job 13:18; Luke 10:29; 16:15).
8.2 The righteousness of God
Righteousness as an attribute of God is affirmed throughout the Bible. God is the sovereign who has defined and established justice and righteousness, especially in regard to the covenant people (Ps 99:1–4; John 17:25). God is the righteous judge of the whole earth (Gen 18:25) who saves the righteous and takes revenge on the wicked (Ps 7:9–11; 9:7–8). God is also righteous in the sense of being faithful to covenants and promises (Ps 119:89–90; Heb 10:23). In this sense, God’s righteousness brings about salvation for the people (Ps 71:15–16; 85:9–11; 119:41; Isa 46:13). Psalmists frequently call on God’s righteousness for rescue (Ps 31:1), sometimes asserting that God’s own faithfulness to the covenant should move God to help regardless of the righteousness of the psalmist (Ps 143:1–2, 11–12). Israel experiences the righteousness of God as an element of God’s covenant love; it is ‘a loyalty manifested in the concrete relationships of community’ (Eichrodt 1961: 239, 249). Understood more broadly, God’s righteousness is God’s governance of the world toward peace, prosperity, and comprehensive wellbeing: ‘Yahweh in righteousness wills good for creation’ (Brueggemann 1997: 303).
In the writings of Paul, the expression ‘righteousness of God’ (dikaiosynē theou) has become a topic of much scholarly debate because of its relationship to justification by faith. Paul declares that the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel (Rom 3:21–22). The debate concerns whether the righteousness of God in view is a reference to God’s own character (DeSilva 2004: 609–611; Wright 2009: 164, 178–179) or to a status of not-guilty that God grants to humans (Strecker 2000: 16, 19, 151–154; Schreiner 2010: 99–104). The latter view is rooted in Luther’s theology (McGrath 1986: 7 [vol. 1]).
Earlier in Romans 3, Paul parallels God’s righteousness (v. 5) with God’s faithfulness (v. 3) and God’s truth (in the sense of integrity and trustworthiness, v. 4). These verses suggest that the righteousness Paul has in mind in this chapter is God’s own quality of covenant faithfulness. Rom 3:3–5 resembles Deut 32:4, where the righteousness of God is associated with God’s justice, truthfulness, and faithfulness. Furthermore, the word dikaiosynē is used several times in the LXX to translate ḥesed, the word for God’s covenant love (for example, Gen 24:27; 32:11; Exod 15:13; 34:7; 3:6), providing more support for understanding dikaiosynē theou in Romans 3 as God’s covenant faithfulness.
8.3 The righteousness of Christ
Jeremiah predicts the coming of a righteous descendant of David who will execute justice and righteousness and will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness’ (Jer 23:6). Similarly, Isaiah’s Servant will be called ‘the righteous one’ and will make many righteous (Isa 53:11). The NT writers identify Jesus as this righteous one (Acts 3:14; 1 John 2:1). Paul declares that Jesus ‘became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption’ (1 Cor 1:30).
As the verse above implies, Jesus embodies the covenant faithfulness of God in his faithfulness to his mission as Messiah. Some scholars believe that Jesus’ faithfulness is expressed by the phrase pistis Christou (Hays 2002; cf. Bird and Sprinkle 2010). Assuming that all instances of pistis in the NT must refer to human faith, many translations render this phrase ‘faith in Christ’, even though the Greek literally says ‘faith (or faithfulness) of Christ’. Paul sometimes uses this phrase in statements where human faith is also mentioned. For example, Rom 3:22 reads, ‘the righteousness of God through pisteōs Iēsou Christou for all who believe’. If pistis Christou means faith in Christ, the statement is redundant: the righteousness of God is revealed through faith in Christ for those who have faith in Christ.
However, a literal reading of pistis Christou in Rom 3:22 fits well with the understanding of God’s righteousness as covenant faithfulness: God’s faithfulness is revealed in the faithfulness of Jesus the Messiah for all who have faith – or perhaps all who have a faithfulness like Jesus’ (see NRSV, CEB, NIV mg). Gal 3:22 is similar: what was promised through faith in Christ (or the faithfulness of Christ) is given to those who have faith in Christ. Understanding pistis Christou as the faithfulness of Christ illuminates Rom 1:17, which states that the righteousness of God is revealed from faith (that is, the faithfulness of Christ) for faith (the faith or faithfulness of those who follow Christ; see also Wright 2009: 181; DeSilva 2004: 612–613).
Like Jesus, believers can embody God’s righteousness through their faithfulness. At the conclusion of his discussion of the ministry of reconciliation, Paul declares: ‘For our sake God made the one who knew no sin to be sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God’ (2 Cor 5:21). Those who believe that the righteousness of God is the status God grants to believers argue that this verse describes an exchange in which Christ’s righteousness is credited to believers as their sin is credited to Christ (Calvin 1960: 510; Strecker 2000: 154; Schreiner 2010: 102). However, this interpretation disregards both the wording of the verse and its context. Christ is made to be sin, not to be credited with others’ sins, and believers become the righteousness of God, not are credited with the righteousness of Christ. Christ embodies the desolation of sin as he dies the death of a covenant breaker, abandoned and apparently cursed by God. Believers embody the saving faithfulness of God as they take up the ministry of reconciliation and act as channels of God’s reconciling grace (Wright 2013: 881, although he limits the ‘we’ to Paul).
8.4 The righteousness of God’s people
Protestant scholars have debated whether the justification of human beings in the NT concerns how individuals are saved (the traditional view) or how Gentiles can be included in the people of God (the New Perspective on Paul). The former perspective, based on Luther’s interpretation, holds that justification is God’s declaration that someone is righteous, even though that person is actually a sinner and remains so (McGrath 1986: 80–86 [vol. 2]; Erickson 1998: 969–971). The latter perspective, represented by scholars such as N. T. Wright (2009; 2013) and James Dunn (2006; 2008), argues that justification is God’s judgment that all those who believe in Christ, both Jews and Gentiles, are God’s people. This approach attempts to restore the Jewish context of righteousness and justification. The New Perspective has found growing but not universal acceptance among biblical scholars. While Catholic scholars have been less involved in the debate, some have adopted elements of the New Perspective view (e.g. Matera 2007: 158 note 8, 167, 169, 171).
In the OT, Israel’s righteousness consists of worshiping Yahweh exclusively and keeping the covenant laws Yahweh established. The covenantal character of righteousness is evident in the story of Judah and Tamar. Judah recognizes that his daughter-in-law Tamar is more righteous than he (Gen 38:26), even though she tricked him into impregnating her, because she is attempting to fulfil her covenant obligation to raise up children for her deceased husband, while Judah has been preventing her from doing so.
Some OT witnesses suggest that righteousness should not be difficult to achieve, since the law is not difficult to keep (Deut 30:11–14). In fact, people call on God to vindicate them against their adversaries because they believe they are in the right (1 Sam 24:15). Some psalmists actually express confidence in their own righteousness (Ps 7:1–8; 18:20–24). In the NT, Paul expresses a similar confidence when he declares that he is faultless according to righteousness under the law (Phil 3:6; cf. 1 Cor 4:4).
However, other OT witnesses condemn Israel for forsaking Yahweh and ignoring the law. Psalms declare that no one is righteous, referring sometimes to Israelites (Ps 143:2) and sometimes to Israel’s enemies (Ps 14:1–7; 53:1–6). Paul applies the latter indictment to everyone, both Jews and Gentiles (Rom 3:9–18). In an important passage for Paul’s theology, God declares to Habakkuk that the righteous person will live by his faith (or faithfulness, Hab 2:4). In the context, ’emuna seems to mean faithfulness, as opposed to the idolatry and wickedness of others.
The NT maintains the covenantal character of righteousness, although the covenant in view is the new covenant established by Christ and administered by the Holy Spirit. For Jesus’ followers, righteousness consists of the proper response to his inauguration of God’s kingdom. Jesus urges them to seek God’s kingdom and righteousness above all else (Matt 6:33). In Romans, Paul discusses justification in parallel with reconciliation with God (Rom 5:8–9), suggesting its relational character.
8.5 The justification of God’s people (NT)
God is the one who justifies human beings (Rom 8:30, 33; 1 Cor 4:4). In the NT, people are justified freely by God’s grace as a gift (Rom 3:24; 5:17; Tit 3:7) on the basis of the death of Christ (Rom 5:9) and his resurrection (Rom 4:25). They are justified in the name of Christ and in (or by) the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:11).
Justification has both a past and a future sense. The future sense refers to God’s verdict at the final judgment and usually has the sense of vindication. Jesus says that people’s own words will justify or condemn them at that time (Matt 12:37), while Paul declares that doers of the law, not hearers, will be justified (Rom 2:13; cf. Matt 7:24–27). The eschaton will bring a new heavens and earth where righteousness is at home (2 Pet 3:13). Believers in Christ wait for the hope of righteousness (Gal 5:5), either vindication at the final judgment or life in the new creation.
However, God’s final judgment can be anticipated in the present as people come to faith in Christ. Paul has this sense in mind when he talks about justification as a past punctiliar event. Justification in this sense is paralleled with reconciliation with God (Rom 5:1–11) and seems to happen at the same time as consecration, baptism, and receiving the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:11). When people place their faith in Christ, they are declared to be ‘in the right’ in God’s sight as members of God’s covenant people.
Besides its legal or covenantal sense, righteousness is also described as a character quality people grow into. It is the fruit or harvest of a disciplined moral life (Heb 12:11; Jas 3:18). In order to reap this fruit, people must become slaves of obedience or slaves of righteousness so that they increase in holiness (Rom 6:16–19). This process is enabled by the Holy Spirit, who will complete it by transforming believers’ bodies in the resurrection (Rom 8:10–11).
Whether in the past or the future, people are justified by faith, not by works of the law (Rom 3:20, 28; 4:13; 10:6, 10; Gal 2:16; Phil 3:9; Tit 3:5; Heb 11:7). Paul draws on Hab 2:4 for support (Rom 1:17; Gal 3:11). He argues that those who share the faith(fulness) of Abraham, whether Jew or Gentile, are justified (Rom 4:1–12; Gal 3:6–9). Christ died in order to make this way of righteousness possible (Gal 2:21). Such righteousness cannot come by the law, because the law cannot bring people to life (Gal 3:21) as the Holy Spirit can. But the new covenant, powered by the Spirit, brings both justification and life (2 Cor 3:6–11).
In a very influential essay, Krister Stendahl has argued that Paul is contrasting faith in Christ with works of the Mosaic law, not with works in general (1976). A way of righteousness that does not depend on the Mosaic law is critical to Paul’s Gentile mission, because if righteousness in God’s sight depends upon the law, no Gentiles can be saved (unless, of course, they become Jews). For Paul, people are not justified by faith alone, in the sense of a mere intellectual assent divorced from actions. Paul believes that saving faith issues in works (Eph 2:8–10). The only NT writer to refer to ‘faith alone’, meaning mere assent, is James, who strongly rejects it (Jas 2:24). James declares that faith that fails to express itself in works is dead (Jas 2:17–19). Faith is, in fact, brought to completion in works (Jas 2:22).
This completion of faith in works likely explains the numerous passages in which people are said to be judged by God on the basis of their works (Jer 17:10; 32:19; Matt 16:27; 25:31–46; Rom 2:6–11; 2 Cor 5:10; John 5:26–29; Jas 2:20–26; Rev 20:12–13; see Travis 2008: 325; Wright 2009: 183–193, 251). Justified in these passages probably refers to vindication at the final judgment. Thus the works of believers contribute to their final justification as expressions of their faith in Christ (Byrne 2021: 6–7). However, those who do good works in Christ’s name without knowing him will not be justified (Matt 7:21–23).
8.6 The justification of the ungodly
The scandal of salvation in the NT is that God justifies the ungodly (Rom 4:5): God would be expected to vindicate the righteous (1 Kgs 8:32), but how could a righteous judge justify the ungodly? This question is especially critical for Paul, who argues that God is justifying Gentiles without requiring them to keep the law (Rom 3:28–30).
For the traditional Protestant view that originated with Luther, God justifies the ungodly by declaring them righteous – that is, legally faultless – despite their sin. The OT would regard someone who did this as an unjust judge. Giving instructions to judges to judge fairly, God declares, ‘I will not acquit the guilty’ (Exod 23:7). The traditional view argues that God can acquit the guilty because of an exchange in which believers’ sin is credited to Christ and Christ’s righteousness is credited to believers (Calvin 1960: 727, 1362; Strecker 2000: 154; Schreiner 2010: 102).
However, if righteousness is understood in a covenantal context, God justifies the ungodly – those who are ‘strangers to the covenants’ and ‘without God’ (Eph 2:12) – by bringing them into the covenant people to begin a relationship of trust and fidelity. In this view, justification is not God’s declaration that individuals are innocent even though they are guilty; it is God’s declaration that believing Gentiles are members of God’s people because God has made them so (Wright 2013: 1004).
From this perspective, when God justifies Gentiles, God considers their faith in Christ to be righteousness, despite their lack of circumcision (Rom 4:11–12), because they are doing the right thing – trusting in God’s promised Messiah – just as Israel should have done. They have taken the first faithful step in a relationship that will require ongoing fidelity. Paul hints at this possibility earlier in Romans when he states that Gentiles might do what the law requires without actually having the law (Rom 2:13–16).
With the coming of Christ, righteousness no longer depends on having the law. Christ is the end of the law, both its fulfilment and its termination, so that righteousness can come to both Jews and Gentiles who believe in him (Rom 10:3–4). To be in the right with God now requires believing in God’s Son. Israel did not obtain that righteousness because they clung to the works of the law rather than believing in Christ (Rom 9:30–33) – even though the law and the prophets had prepared them for his coming (Rom 3:21–22).
Through Jesus and the Spirit, God has accomplished what the law could not – that is, deal with human sin decisively and make possible a transformation that enables people to fulfil the intention of the law (Rom 8:3–4). In other words, God has established a way to justify the ungodly by making them godly. In doing so, God does not merely honour the moral order by balancing the scales through retributive justice; instead, God restores the moral order through transformation.
8.7 The justification of God
The words for righteousness and justification sometimes mean vindication (Job 13:18; Matt 11:19). This is the sense in which God is said to be justified. The psalmist acknowledges that God is justified in condemning his sin (Ps 51:4). When Jesus praises John the Baptist, the crowds who had been baptized by John ‘acknowledged the justice of God’ (literally, ‘justified God’, Luke 7:29). God’s judgments will be proven to be true (Rom 3:4).
One of Paul’s concerns in Romans is to justify God, in the sense of vindicating God’s justice and faithfulness (Wright 2013: 499–500 and passim). He focuses on this task in chapters 9–11, but he states his position in chapter 3: the gospel shows that God is both righteous and the one who justifies those who have faith in Christ (or the faithfulness of Christ; the phrase is pisteōs Iēsou; Rom 3:25–26). The traditional Protestant view interprets these verses as Paul’s declaration that God is just in spite of God’s failure to punish the guilty. The NIV reflects this interpretation, saying that God left their sins ‘unpunished’ rather than passing over them as the Greek says (see NRSV). However, given Paul’s concern throughout Romans with God’s covenant promises (3:3–4; 4:13–25; 9:6–8), it seems more likely that he is defending God from the charge of being unfaithful to the covenant with Israel in order to redeem Gentiles.
Paul declares that God has not rejected Israel (Rom 11:1–2), and God’s word or promise has not failed (Rom 9:6). He observes in 3:28–29 that justifying people on the basis of faith rather than works of the law is appropriate because God is the God of Gentiles as well as Jews. God demonstrates faithfulness to Israel by providing the definitive solution to sin as the new covenant prophecies had promised. By providing Jesus as a new mercy seat (the name given to the covering of the ark of the covenant; hilastērion, v. 25; cf. Heb 9:5; CSB, LEB, cf. NIV mg, CEB), accessible to everyone, God has made that solution available to both Jews and Gentiles. Thus God is vindicated by forgiving sins in a way that is faithful to Israel yet offers mercy to all (Rom 11:32).
9 Blessings of salvation: reconciliation, redemption, regeneration, sanctification, participation
Because the existential problem is multifaceted, the blessings of salvation must be multifaceted also. Various images describe the blessings of salvation from different perspectives, expressing different views of the problem and the solution. While most of these images are found in the OT, they come to the fore in the NT, especially in the Pauline letters, as descriptions of the benefits of Christ’s work. Like justification, they are eschatological blessings that can be partly experienced in the present, beginning at conversion. They extend from the individual sphere to the corporate and the cosmic. For Paul, ‘[c]osmology and soteriology are inextricably connected to one another’ (Gaventa 2011: 265).
9.1 Reconciliation (from alienation to kinship)
Reconciliation (Hebrew kāpar; Greek katallassō and apokatallassō) is the solution to the problem of alienation from God, others, and creation. The OT uses marital imagery to depict Israel’s alienation from God (Jer 31:32). Israel is God’s unfaithful wife who has been cast off by God because of her idolatry (Hos 2:2–13), but God intends to woo her back and restore her (Hos 2:14–20). According to Isaiah, God plans to forgive Israel’s sins and deliver Israel from exile not because they have returned to God but so that they can return (Isa 44:21–22). Their reconciliation is thus an act of divine grace.
Although the words for reconciliation are relatively rare in the NT, the concept is central, especially for Paul (Martin 1997), who sometimes talks about reconciliation with God as making peace (eirēneuō). The result of reconciliation is a familial relationship with God, expressed as adoption or ‘sonship’ (huiosethia), and with other believers, who become one’s brothers and sisters. God reconciles ‘all things’ to himself through the death of Christ, choosing not to count people’s sins against them (Col 1:20; 2:13–14; 2 Cor 5:18–19; cf. Rom 5:6–11). In other words, God forgives sin, bearing its cost, in order to invite others into restored relationship. Notably, God is always the subject of reconciliation, never its object. This would seem to rule out the notion that God must be propitiated before forgiveness can occur (contra Morris 1965: 210–212, 248–249, and passim). Jesus embodies reconciliation in himself, bringing Gentiles near to God and breaking down the barrier between Jews and Gentiles (Eph 2:11–22).
As reconciled people, living at peace with God, believers are called to be reconcilers (Rom 5:1, 10–11; 12:18; 2 Cor 5:18–21). Thanks to the indwelling ‘spirit of adoption’, they can call God ‘Abba’, and they experience God’s love, although they await their final adoption, the resurrection of their bodies (Rom 5:5; 8:10–11, 15–16, 23). As adopted ‘sons’ of God, both men and women are co-heirs with Christ to God’s promises (Rom 8:17; 2 Cor 6:18; Gal 4:1–7). However, if they fail to remain steadfast in the faith and turn aside from their hope, they will forfeit the reconciliation they have received (Col 1:22–23).
9.2 Redemption (from bondage to freedom)
Redemption (Hebrew ga‘al; Greek lytrōsis and apolytrōsis) refers to the liberation of those who have been made captive or enslaved. The related word ransom (lytron or antilytron) refers to releasing someone from captivity, usually by paying a price. Other relevant terms include lyō (to loose or release) and the words agorazō and exagorazō (to purchase). The point of purchase language is that the redeemed belong to God.
In the OT, the two most important events of redemption are the exodus and the return from exile. God redeems Israel from slavery in Egypt by divine power so that they will be free to worship and serve God as God’s people (Exod 6:6–8; 7:16). Similarly, Isaiah prophesies that God will ransom Israel from exile, whether by giving the nations in exchange for them (Isa 43:3–4) or simply by divine power (Isa 52:3).
The NT is still concerned with the redemption of Israel (Luke 2:38; 24:21; Rom 9–11), but it focuses more than the OT on personal redemption from sin (John 8:32–36; Eph 1:7; Col 1:14; Rev 1:5). Jesus declares that he fulfils Isaiah’s prophecy of the one who would release the captives and set free the oppressed (Luke 4:18–21, citing Isa 61:1–2). He offers himself as a ransom for ‘many’ or ‘all’ (Matt 20:28; Mark 10:45; 1 Tim 2:5–6). The language of ransom and redemption emphasizes Jesus’ self-giving and demonstrates the costliness of salvation (cf. Gal 1:4; 2:20). Jesus himself is the redemption of his people (1 Cor 1:30; cf. Eph 1:7).
Christ accomplishes redemption by his death and resurrection, while the Spirit makes it a reality in the lives of individual believers. According to Paul, Jesus’ death redeems Jews from the curse of the law (Gal 3:13), while the Holy Spirit breaks the bondage of the inherent sin that kept people from fulfilling the law’s intention (Rom 7:22–23; 8:1–4). The Spirit, who brings freedom, then transform believers into Christ-likeness (2 Cor 3:17–18).
Like Israel in the OT, believers in Christ have been set free from their various captivities in order to serve God (Rom 6:20–22). Those who have been set free from sin must forgive others as they have been forgiven (Matt 18:21–35; Lk 6:36–37; Eph 4:32; Col 3:13). Some dimensions of redemption, such as the resurrection and the liberation of creation, still await a future ‘day of redemption’ (Eph 4:30; cf. Rom 8:19–23). The Holy Spirit’s liberating work in the present is believers’ downpayment on this future redemption (Eph 1:13–14). However, those who misuse their freedom to deny the one who bought them will not be among the finally redeemed (2 Pet 2:1).
9.3 Regeneration (from death to new life)
Regeneration addresses the new reality brought about by Jesus and the Spirit, a new condition with new possibilities for transformation. The two instances of the noun palingenesia (regeneration) describe both a universal regeneration at the end of history (Matt 19:28) and an individual regeneration that takes place ‘through the water of rebirth [palingenesia] and renewal [anakainōsis] by the Holy Spirit’ (Tit 3:5). The word apokathistanō (restore) describes physical healing (Matt 12:13; Mark 8:25), but it also refers to the restoration of all things (Matt 17:11; Mark 9:12). The only instance of the noun form (apokatastasis) refers to the latter (Acts 3:21).
The radical renewal implied by these terms is also expressed by the themes of new birth in the Gospel of John and new creation in Paul’s letters. In John 3, Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be born again or from above (gennēthē anōthen) in order to see the kingdom of God (John 3:3). This new birth is brought about by the Holy Spirit (John 3:5; cf. ‘born of God’ in John 1:13). Jesus may be expecting Nicodemus, as a teacher of Israel (v. 10), to think of God giving breath to the dry bones in Ezekiel 37 (cf. Jer 31:31–34; Ezek 19:19–20; 36:25–27). To be born of the Spirit, one must believe in Jesus and his words (John 3:11–12, 16; cf. 1 John 5:1–5; Jas 1:18; 1 Pet 1:23–25). The new birth results in new life – that is, eternal life (zōē aiōnios), God’s answer to the death caused by sin (John 3:14–17). Jesus’ impartation of the Holy Spirit to his disciples by breathing on them (John 20:22) suggests that regeneration is the spiritual analogue of the animating breath of life in Gen 2:7.
Similarly, the new creation (kainē ktisis) is an eschatological event that can be experienced in part in the present through the transformation brought about by Christ and the Holy Spirit. The new heavens and new earth will arrive at the end of history (Isa 65:17–25; 66:22–23; Rev 21:1–5). However, the present experience of individuals who are ‘in Christ’ is evidence that God’s new creation project is underway (2 Cor 5:17). In the new age inaugurated by Christ (Rom 3:21–31; 5:12–21; 8:1–4; Gal 3:23–29), God makes believers who were dead in sin alive together with Christ (Eph 2:4; Col 2:13). The indwelling Spirit then renews believers’ inner nature, even as their outer nature is wasting away (2 Cor 4:16). Believers cooperate with the Spirit’s work in them by offering themselves to God, putting on their ‘new selves’, and following the Spirit’s leading (Rom 12:1–2; Gal 5:16–25; 6:8; Eph 4:22–24, 30). According to Paul, the new creation renders irrelevant the old distinctions between Jew and Gentile, because ‘a new creation is everything’ (Gal 6:15).
9.4 Sanctification (from profane to sacred)
The concept of sanctification or holiness (Hebrew qodesh; Greek hagiasmos) comes from the context of worship. While in systematic theology, sanctification is often understood as the ongoing growth in holiness that follows from justification, the Bible uses sanctification language most often for an event of consecration. People – and in the OT, also places and things – must be consecrated and set apart from ordinary life in order to serve God (Exod 29:36–37; Lev 20:26). They are moved from the sphere of the profane to the sphere of the sacred (cf. Lev 10:10).
The need for consecration is stipulated in the law and is a particular requirement for priests, because they approach God on behalf of the people (Exod 29:1; Lev 21:8; Num 18:1–7). Consecration takes place through the application of anointing oil and sacrificial blood (Exod 29:7, 20–21; Lev 8:10–12, 22–24). In Leviticus 17–26, often called the Holiness Code, the requirement of consecration is applied to all of Israel, which is set apart to be a people holy to the Lord (Lev 19:2; cf. Deut 7:6). In a metaphorical sense, Israel is a kingdom of priests because of their calling to serve God and make God known (Exod 19:6). However, the Israelites as individuals are not called saints.
The NT applies this language of consecration and priesthood to the church (1 Pet 2:4–5, 9–10; Rev 1:6; 5:10). Believers in Christ have been consecrated by his blood through faith (Acts 26:18; Heb 9:11–14). Both the church corporately and believers individually are a temple in which the Holy Spirit dwells (1 Cor 3:16–17; 6:19; Eph 2:21–22). Because of their consecrated state, maintained by the indwelling Spirit, believers can be called saints (hagioi; 1 Cor 6:2; Phil 4:22).
For Paul, sanctification as consecration is a past-tense event accomplished by Christ and applied to the believer by the Spirit (Rom 15:16; 1 Cor 1:2; 6:11). However, sanctification is also a vocation, as believers are called to a holy life (1 Thess 4:7). As they follow their vocation, Paul prays that their sanctification will be complete (1 Thess 5:23–24).
Hebrews has a similar picture of sanctification as both an event of consecration and an ongoing vocation. As high priest, Jesus sanctified believers once for all by his death, qualifying them to approach God at any time (Heb 10:10, 19–25). Believers themselves act as priests, offering to God an acceptable worship, as well as sacrifices of praise and good works (Heb 12:28; 13:15–16). They must pursue holiness as a way of life (Heb 12:14). However, if they ‘[profane] the blood of the covenant by which they were sanctified’ by wilfully persisting in sin, they will face divine judgment (Heb 10:26–27, 29).
9.5 Participation (from corruption to glory)
Participation in Christ is a NT doctrine, although it aligns with the corporate sense of election in both OT and NT (see section 5.1–5.2). As individuals in the OT experience salvation through participation in God’s covenant with Israel, individuals in the NT experience it through participation in Christ, who represents Israel and fulfils the prophecy of Isaiah’s Servant who will be a covenant to the nations (Isa 42:1–7).
2 Peter declares that, through Christ, believers can become participants (koinōnoi) in the divine nature (2 Pet 1:4). This is the central passage for the Orthodox doctrine of theosis: believers are transformed as they share in the life of God through participation in the divine energies (Meyendorff 1979: 163–164). The context in 2 Peter suggests that believers’ intimate personal knowledge of Christ enables them to escape from worldly corruption, share the life of Christ, and develop his character (2 Pet 1:3–11). This transformation is not automatic, however; believers must ‘confirm [their] call and election’ by cultivating Christian virtues (v. 5–10). Because participation in the divine nature is associated with the promises of Christ (v. 4), its consummation appears to lie in the future.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus describes a reciprocal indwelling between God and himself and prays that his disciples will participate in this union. He will be in them, and they will be in him (John 17:21, 23), presumably by means of the Holy Spirit who will indwell them (John 14:17). The spiritual unity of Jesus’ present and future disciples will be established by their common participation in Christ (John 17:20–23). In John 15:1–11, Jesus describes participation with the allegory of the vine and the branches. While the indwelling is mutual (v. 4), the emphasis is on the believer’s need to abide or remain in Christ (menō) in order to bear fruit – that is, in order to have a productive faith. Branches that do not abide in Christ will be thrown away and burned (v. 6).
Participation in Christ appears throughout Paul’s writings in his use of the phrase ‘in Christ’ (en Christō). Some scholars believe participation is a central, if not the central, theme of Paul’s soteriology (Sanders 1977: 502, 508; cf. Kärkkäinen 2004; Gorman 2018; 2009). In regard to salvation, it expresses the new era brought about by Christ (2 Cor 5:17), which the believer experiences in a real spiritual union with Christ that is mediated by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:17; 2 Cor 13:13; Gal 2:20; Phil 2:1). For Paul, believers receive Christ’s blessings through their participation in Christ’s death and resurrection, represented by baptism (Rom 6:3–10; cf. Eph 1:3–14).
The union between Christ and believers is reciprocal, although Paul usually says that believers are in Christ while the Holy Spirit is in believers (Phil 3:7–11; Rom 8:9–10; Gal 2:19–20). This union is as real as a sexual union, and it determines the legitimacy of all other unions. Believers who are ‘one spirit’ with Christ may not become ‘one body’ with a prostitute (1 Cor 6:15–17), and they may not participate in the demonic by worshiping idols (1 Cor 10:19–22).
In the Eucharist, believers share in the body and blood of Christ and celebrate that they are one body in him (1 Cor 10:16–17). Although the Holy Spirit creates and maintains the union, believers must ‘put on’ Christ, which they do first at baptism (Gal 3:27) but must continue to do throughout their lives (Rom 13:14). Through their participation in Christ, they can boast in their hope of glorification, their reflection of the divine glory that was lost because of sin (Rom 3:23; 5:2; 8:18–21). Ephesians and Colossians expand participation in Chris to the cosmic level. Ephesians asserts that God’s ultimate plan is to sum up all things in Christ (Eph 1:9–10). Colossians declares that Christ is the ground, goal, and sustaining power of creation itself (Col 1:15–18).
10 The shape of salvation: covenant
10.1 A covenant-making God
The God of the Bible is ‘a covenant-making, covenant-keeping God’ (Brueggemann 2001a: 35). In the grand biblical narrative, a relational God who desires to be known forms a people to belong to God by covenant (Hebrew berit; Greek diathēkē). The blessings of salvation come by way of this covenant relationship. This relationship begins in the OT with God’s promises to Abraham (Gen 12:1–3), is formalized with the requirement of circumcision (Gen 17:1–14), comes to full expression in the Mosaic covenant, and is recreated or renewed in the new covenant. It is marked by variations of the covenant formula ‘I will be their God and they will be my people’, which recurs throughout the Bible (e.g. Gen 17:7–8; Exod 6:7; Deut 7:6–11; 26:17–18; Jer 31:31–34; Ezek 11:17–20; Zech 8:6–8; Rom 9:22–26; 1 Pet 2:9–10; Rev 21:1–7).
God’s covenants are reciprocal relationships established by divine grace. God promises protection and provision, while people promise exclusive loyalty and obedience (Deut 6:1–9; 30:1–20). God’s covenant with Abraham requires circumcision and blameless behaviour, while God’s covenant with the nation of Israel requires them to follow the law (Gen 17:1, 10; Deut 8:1–20). The new covenant requires allegiance to Jesus and obedience to his commands (Matt 28:20; Mark 8:38; Luke 6:46–49; Rom 10:9–10; 2 Cor 10:3–6; 2 Thess 1:8; Heb 5:9; 10:26–31). Believers’ confession that ‘Jesus is Lord’ is a pledge of allegiance (Rom 10:9–10).
10.2 Grace and gratitude
In both OT and NT, obedience to God is a grateful response to God’s salvation. In the ancient world, gratitude and honouring one’s patron were the expected responses of a client for benefits received (DeSilva 2004: 334–337; Barclay 2020). The Mosaic law fleshes out the covenant established by God’s gracious deliverance of Israel from Egypt (Exod 20:1–3); it regulates but does not establish Israel’s relationship with God. The Israelites are saved by God’s election, deliverance, and covenant, while the law shapes how they live out their salvation. Both covenant and law are God’s gracious gifts (Sanders 1977: 85–87, 93, 99, 101, 422–423, 426–428).
Similarly, in the NT, obedience to Jesus’ commands issues from believers’ love for Jesus and is empowered by the Holy Spirit (John 14:15–17.). The Spirit takes over the function of the law in forming the people of God and guiding their behaviour (Rom 7:14–8:17; Gal 5:16–26). In the OT, God’s people keep the law to live in covenant with Yahweh; in the NT, God’s people walk by the Spirit to follow the new covenant way of Jesus.
10.3 A distinctive people
Belonging to God means that God’s people must be distinct from the world. They are set apart and consecrated by the blood of the sacrifices (OT) and by the blood of Christ (NT). In the OT, Israel is a separated people marked by circumcision and the law, but especially by the presence of God in their midst (Gen 17:9–14; Exod 33:12–16; Lev 20:22–26). In the NT, the church’s distinctiveness is more complex: it is to be in the world but not of it (John 17:14–18). The church is marked by baptism (Matt 28; 19), faith in Christ (Gal 2:15–16), the indwelling of the Spirit (Rom 8:9), love (John 13:34–35), and unity (John 17:20–21). While distinct from the world, the people of God are to be open to the world in hospitality, witness, and service (see section 10.5).
10.4 A new (or renewed) covenant
The OT prophets predict a new covenant that will bring God’s people forgiveness of sins; a new heart; a new spirit (even God’s own Spirit); and a universal and deeper knowledge of God, as the law will be written on their hearts (Jer 31:31–34; Ezek 11:17–20; Joel 2:28–29). At the Last Supper, Jesus declares that his coming death will be the ratification of that new covenant (Luke 22:20; cf. Matt 26:28). The book of Hebrews insists that this new covenant fulfils and surpasses the Mosaic covenant, such that the prior covenant is no longer in force (Heb 8:13).
The NT applies to the church some of the language the OT uses for Israel. For example, God calls Israel a kingdom of priests – language echoed by 1 Peter’s description of the church (Exod 19:5–6; 1 Pet 2:9–10). Like Israel, God’s treasured possession, the church has been bought to belong to God (1 Cor 6:20; 7:23; 2 Pet 2:1). The change in covenant is not the same as the replacement of Israel by the church, however, since the faithful remnant of Israel is the nucleus of the church (Rom 11:5). The new covenant creates a new humanity composed of both Jews and Gentiles (Eph 2:11–22). God’s people are now a temple built on the foundation of both apostles and prophets, with Jesus as the cornerstone (Eph 2:20; cf. Mark 12:10). Moreover, Paul still expresses hope for the salvation of ethnic Israel (Rom 11:1, 25–32).
10.5 Covenant faithfulness
The most fundamental obligation of a covenant is loyalty (Martens 1998: 81–82). In their covenants with God, human beings express their loyalty by obeying God’s commands, reflecting God’s character, and engaging in God’s mission (Gorman 2014: 77–237; cf. Hafemann 2015; 2019). Both Israelites and Christians are exhorted to model their character on the character of God (Lev 11:44–45; 20:26; Matt 5:48). The NT specifies that maturing in this character is a matter of being conformed to Christ by the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:9–11, 29; 2 Cor 3:17–18).
In both OT and NT, God’s people are called to be agents of God’s redemptive purpose through witness and service. God intends to bless all families through Abraham’s family (Gen 12:3), and Israel is to be a light to the nations (Isa 49:1–6; cf. Isa 2:1–4). The explicit witness of Israel is largely to its own children (Deut 6:4–9), although it maintains a living witness to other nations through its separated life. The church has a living witness also (Matt 5:13–16; Rom 12:14–21), but more than Israel it reaches out evangelistically to the world (Matt 28:19–20; John 15:26–27; 1 Pet 2:10). Jesus’ disciples carry on his ministry of teaching and healing. Jesus tells them that they will do greater deeds than his because of the power he makes available to them (John 14:12).
The concept of covenant illuminates the question of whether perseverance in salvation is guaranteed. God’s fidelity to covenants is guaranteed by God’s character. However, Israel’s status as God’s treasured possession is dependent on their obedience (Exod 19:5–6). The law stipulates that individuals who violate the law defiantly will be cut off from the covenant (Num 15:29–31). In the NT, similarly, attaining final salvation depends upon continued faithfulness (John 15:6; 1 Cor 15:1–2; Col 1:22–23; 1Tim 4:16). Numerous passages warn believers against falling away (Rom 11:17–24; Gal 5:4; Heb 6:4–8; 10:26–31; 2Pet. 2:20–22). However, believers can rely on the Holy Spirit for the strength to persevere (Rom 8:9–11, 26–27; Gal 5:22).
11 A community of memory and hope
11.1 Memory
The covenant community is a community of memory and hope. Remembering God’s acts of salvation plays a critical role in the moral and spiritual formation of God’s people. Biblical theology, especially in the OT, is largely a recital of the acts of God (Wright 1964: 38–46 and passim). Calling to mind God’s deliverance is a reminder to live in light of it.
The patriarchs remember the acts of God by building altars and naming significant places (Gen 28:10–22; 32:22–32; 33:20). Later, Israel remembers Yahweh by reading the law annually (Deut 31:9–13), passing on the traditions to their children (11:18–21), and reciting the Shema (Deut 6:4–9). Remembrance is encoded in Israel’s worship life, including the sacrifices and the annual feasts. The central example of the latter is the Passover, which shapes the community in light of God’s deliverance in the Exodus (Exod 12:24–27). The OT prophets warn of the danger of forgetting God in times of prosperity (Deut 8:11–20; 31:20; Hos 13:6).
NT writers remember the OT narrative and add to it the story of Jesus. They exhort believers to remember the commands of the prophets, the apostles, and the Lord (2 Pet 3:1–2). Believers pass on the Jesus tradition, sometimes in proto-creedal statements (1 Cor 15:1–11; 2 Tim 1:5; 3:14–17), trusting the Holy Spirit to remind them of Jesus’ teachings (John 14:26). Rituals, such as worship on the first day of the week (Luke 24:1–12; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor 16:2), baptism (Rom 6:1–14), and especially the Lord’s Supper (Luke 22:19; 1 Cor 11:25), ground the church in God’s redemptive act in Christ.
11.2 Hope
The remembrance of past salvation and the experience of present salvation create hope for the future. Hope is needed because God’s people often must live between the giving of God’s promise and its fulfilment. In the OT, not all of God’s promises were fulfilled even when the remnant of Judah returned from exile. But Micah 4:3–4 envisions a day when nations will ‘beat their swords into ploughshares and […] neither shall they learn war any more’. Individuals will ‘all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid’. Isaiah similarly looks forward to a peaceable kingdom in which ‘[t]he wolf shall live with the lamb; the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the lion will feed together, and a little child shall lead them’, and ‘the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea’ (Isa 11:6, 9).
In the NT, the kingdom of God is described as present in Jesus’ ministry (Mark 1:15; Luke 17:21) but also to be inherited in the future (Matt 25:34). Similarly, in John’s Gospel, eternal life is both a present possession and a future hope (John 3:36). Jesus gives spiritual life in the present, but resurrection life awaits a future day (John 5:25–29). Paul declares that believers have been saved ‘in hope’ of a full salvation they do not yet have; the Holy Spirit sustains them until that day (Rom 8:24–27). The book of Hebrews points out that many OT believers died without receiving the promises and advises its audience that they will need patient endurance to receive those promises themselves (Heb 11:13–16; 10:32–39).
The great majority of NT affirmations about salvation are future-oriented (Colijn 2010: 124–137). The NT writers carry over the eschatological framework from the OT, anticipating a future intervention by God and a new creation (Isa 65:17–25). However, they believe that the critical event of redemptive history has already occurred in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ (Cullmann 1964: 19–21, 23–26, and passim). Salvation from sin has already been achieved through Jesus Christ, but salvation from death awaits Jesus’ return.
At Christ’s return, believers will be raised from the dead in immortal, incorruptible bodies (John 6:39–40, 53–55; 1 Cor 15:20–38, 35–37; 1 Thess 4:13–18). The resurrection of the body completes the Holy Spirit’s work of transformation (Rom 8:10–11, 23). Until then, believers who die will be ‘at home with the Lord’, apparently in a disembodied state (2 Cor 4:13–5:10). At the end, creation itself will participate in the freedom and renewal of the redeemed (Rom 8:18–25). Revelation 20 describes God’s judgment and the final salvation of those whose names are written in the book of life (Rev 20:12, 15). Revelation 21–22 present a vision of the new creation, as the separation between heaven and earth is overcome, and God dwells once again with human beings. This existence, depicted as the New Jerusalem, provides abundant life and blessing for God’s people and healing for the nations (Rev 21:3–7; 22:1–5).
Whether for individuals or for God’s people as a whole, salvation is not a single event (conversion or justification or entering into covenant) but an ongoing journey that looks forward to a future consummation. Until that day, God’s people are to live as citizens of God’s kingdom, clinging to God’s promises and trusting in God’s proven faithfulness. While only God can realize the kingdom, believers can live by its principles and point the way to it through their individual and corporate witness.