Keeping in mind that “contemplation of the grand sweep of salvation ought to lift our hearts to praise the triune God whose saving activity arises out of his immense love for us” (Stan Grenz), this four-part series will explore salvation as something much richer and much deeper than “having our sins forgiven so that we can go to heaven when we die.” Christian discipleship changes when we come to describe salvation as “union with God.” (What the Eastern churches call theosis and an increasing number of Western theologians and biblical scholars call “participation theology.”) Because the end point of salvation is a life lived in God and God living in us, the framework for our journey from sinner to saint needs to be comprehensively relational – a story of God’s love from start to completion.
Some of the topics explored include, What are we saved from? What picture of God are we working with? Who are the saved? Who can be saved? How are we saved? (Atonement Theory) Are there conditions to being saved or to remaining saved? What does being saved entail? How is salvation linked to wholeness and well-being? How are we to understand heaven and hell?