Eternal Salvation: Christ Dying for Us, Vol. III/3 (An Evangelical Introduction to Reformational Theology, Part III: Redemption: The Christ-Centered Heart of Theology)

From the Author’s Preface

This is the seventh volume in a series on the “unseen, eternal” things of God (cf. 2 Cor. 4:18). This seventh and the planned eighth volume deal with soteriology, the Christian doctrine of God’s redemption or salvation. Volume III/4, Eternal Life, will focus upon the more subjective aspects of salvation (conversion, regeneration, eternal life, and so on); justification and sanctification were already with in Volume III/2, Eternal Righteousness. The present volume deals with the objective aspects of salvation: the redemptive work of Christ. That is, this present volume speaks of what Christ did for his people, and the next will speak of what Christ did and does with and in his people.

The present volume deals largely with the sacrifice of Christ, which is explicitly an atoning sacrifice. That is, it is a sacrifice that is a propitiation for people’s sins and that reconciles people with God. Even on the strictest conservative standpoint, atonement is not at all an easy subject. It often seems as if the most essential and fundamental Christian subjects are also the most complicated ones. Our investigation is further bothered by the fact that the doctrine of atonement is being attacked from many different sides. Thus, the subject will demand a lot from both the author and the readers. Moreover, more than in most previous volumes, the Old Testament will have to play a considerable role in our investigations. Itmis my thesis that the New Testament doctrine of propitiation and reconciliation cannot be understood apart a thorough study of the Sinaitic sacrificial laws.

This volume is a re-working and expansion of volume 5 of my Evangelisch-Dogmatische Reeks (Evangelical Dogmatic Series, published in Dutch by Medema (Heerenveen), consisting of twelve volumes in total).

Bible quotations in this book are usually from the English Standard Version. However, any italics used within Bible quotations are added by the author.

About the Series

The set to which this volume belongs is informally entitled “The Eternal Series,” because each volume of the set unfolds an aspect of the reality of God’s relationship with humanity that reaches from eternity past to eternity future. The formal title of the series is “An Evangelical Introduction to Reformational Theology.” Here are the volume titles:

Part I: Scripture: The Revealed Source For Theology

I/1 The Eternal Word: God Speaking To Us

I/2 The Eternal Torah: Living Under God

Part II: God: The Personal Source Behind Theology

II/1 The Eternal God: God Revealing Himself To Us

II/2 The Eternal Christ: God With Us

II/3 The Eternal Spirit: God Living In Us

Part III: Redemption: The Christ-Centered Heart of Theology

III/1 The Eternal Purpose: Living In Christ

III/2 Eternal Righteousness: Living Before God

III/3 Eternal Salvation: Christ Dying For Us

III/4 Eternal Life: Christ Living In Us

Part IV: Consummation: The Lived Shape of Theology

IV/1 The Eternal People: God in Relation To Israel

IV/2 The Eternal Covenant: Living With God

IV/3 The Eternal Kingdom: Living Under Christ

These volumes have been written for the informed Christian who is somewhat familiar with both the Bible and Christian theology. As you will learn in these volumes, that order-first Bible and then theology-is crucially important. So too is the distinction (but not the separation!) between these two: the Bible is not theology, and theology is not the Bible. Both following that order and honoring that distinction are prerequisites for healthy, charitable, and enduring Christianity.

Dr. Willem J. Ouweneel is a Dutch author whose three doctorates-one each in biology, philosophy, and theology-rank him among the premier Bible scholars of this generation, and equip him with breadth of vision and depth of insight.

When these volumes are read alongside an open Bible, the patient reader will acknowledge the authority of the claims being defended. The reader’s certitude will ultimately come to rest, not in any particular theological system or model, but in the inspired, infallible Word of God, and more importantly, in the God of that Word. As such, this entire series and these volumes are fresh and faithful reformulations of the essence of biblical faith and life as that was transmitted throughout the centuries, was rediscovered in the Reformation, and has come to be known as Reformational theology: sola Scriptura, sola gratia, sola fide, solus Christus, soli Deo gloria.