This document summarizes Norman Geisler's chapter on "The Nature of Salvation". It discusses the various aspects and stages of salvation according to Geisler, including pre-salvation acts of God like election, prevenient grace, and effectual grace. It also describes the key concepts in salvation like regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. Justification declares the sinner righteous, while sanctification refers to salvation from sin's power in a process that is either instantaneous or involves a second definite act of grace.

1. TH 513 Systematic Theology
PPt by Mark E. Hardgrove, PhD, DMin

2. Systematic Theology II
Geisler, Norman
Chapter 61
“The Nature of Salvation”

3. The process of salvation begins before a sinner
makes a confession of faith. It is God who takes
the initiative in salvation, not the sinner.
Geisler call this pre-salvation acts of God. He
includes: election, chosen (or chose), predestined,
foreknowledge, calling, conviction, and prevenient
grace.

4. Effectual Grace: efficacious in producing
salvation.
Sealing: As salvific act that guarantees our
ultimate salvation (~Geisler).
A Wesleyan view is that being sealed by the Holy
Spirit means one is marked as the possession of
God and therefore has entered into the saving
covenant with God.

5. Salvation (or save): From the Greek soteria and
soterion, meaning, “deliverance,”
“preservation,” or “salvation.” Used of both
physical and spiritual savation.
Redemption: meaning “to ransom,” “to deliver,”
“to buy back,” “purchasing.”
Mediation: Hebrew, yakach, is used in Job 9:33.
The Greek, mesitas is used to refer to Jesus as
our mediator—prophet, priest, and king.

6. Regeneration: from the Greek paliggenesia, which
means “regeneration,” “rebirth,” or “spiritual
renovation.” It is the impartation of spiritual
life, by God, to the souls of those who were
dead in trespasses and sins.
Born Again: is parallel to regeneration. Rebith is
the point at which a person “dead in trespasses
and sins” (Eph. 2:1) receives spiritual life.

7. Adoption: means, “placing as a son.” Adoption is
the term of position whereby one becomes a
son by the new birth.
Reconciliation: from the Greek katallasso, which
means ‘to reconcile,” or “to bring together.”
Forgiveness: from the Greek aphesis, which means
“to forgive” or “to remit” one’s sins. “Through
Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to
you” (Acts 13:38).

8. Justification: The act of God by which we who
are unrighteous in ourselves are nevertheless
declared righteous before God. It is a judicial
(legal) ace of pronouncing one to be right in
God’s sight. The Greek word dikaios means
“just” or “right(eous),” while the Greek dikaioo
means “justify” or “justified.” God declares a
sinner righteous before Himself on the basis of
faith alone.

9. Propitiation (or Expiation): From the Greek
hilasmos, meaning “to satisfy God on behalf of
the sinner.” Also, hilasterion, which refers to
the mercy seat in the OT tabernacle (Heb. 9:5)
and of Jesus (Rom. 3:25). The third Greek word
translated propitiation is the Greek hilaskomai,
which means “to propitiate,” “to satisfy,” or
“to expiate.”

10. Atonement: From the Hebrew kaphar, which
literally means “to cover,” but also carries the
broader meaning of “expiation,” or
“condoining,” “wiping away,” “placating,” or
“cancelling.”
The Greek term is hiloskomai, meaning “to
propitiate,” “to expiate,” or “to conciliate.”

11. Sacrificial (Substituationary) Atonement: The
Bible indicates that Christ died in our place,
punished for our sins that we might be set free.
Arguments in favor of substitutionary atonement:
First, God’s justice demands it.
Second, our total depravity demands it.
Third, the OT sacrifices imply it.
Fourth, Isaiah 53:5-6 speak about it.

12. Arguments in favor of substitutionary atonement:
Fifth, Jesus was presented as the Passover Lamb,
which was substitutionary in nature.
Sixth, Jesus claimed to be a fulfillment of Isaiah 53.
Seventh, Jesus presented His death as a ransom,
which usually meant, in the Greek OT, a
deliverance from bondage in exchange for the
payment of compensation for offering a
substitute.

13. Arguments in favor of substitutionary atonement:
Eighth, Christ presented Himself as a consecrated
priest and sacrifice.
Ninth, Christ’s death was “for,” that is, on
another’s behalf.
Tenth, In Christ’s death “for” (Gk. anti, meaning
“instead of) us, substitution is explicit (Mk.
10:45; Matt. 20:28).

14. Arguments in favor of substitutionary atonement:
Eleven, “Expiation” is used of Christ’s death, this
implies a substitution.
Twelfth, Appeasing God’s wrath by Christ’s death
implies a substitutionary death (Rom. 2:25).

15. First, is justification, an instantaneous, past act of
God by which one is saved from the guilt of
sin—his record is cleared and he is guiltless
before the Judge (Rom. 8:1).
Second, is sanctification, which refers to salvation
from the power of sin. In Calvinist teaching
this grace is instantaneous at salvation, but is
also progressive as one matures and is made
righteous before God.

16. Second, is sanctification, (cont.) which refers to
salvation from the power of sin. In Wesleyan
Theology sanctification is a second definite act
of grace. It may occur at salvation, or it may
occur later as one is “sanctified.” In some views
it is complete at the moment the second definite
act of grace is applied in response to faith, in
others it is progressive.

17. Sanctification: There are three areas of victory
over the power of sin:
1.) Victory over the world (1 John 5:4);
2.) Victory over the flesh (Rom. 7:24-25);
3.) Victory over the devil (James 4:7).
Third Stage, is glorification. This is the future act
that will save us from the very presence of sin.