The Foundation

Jesus teaches that a life built on His words stands firm, while a life built on anything else will collapse when storms come. In Matthew 7:24-27, He compares this to a wise builder who lays a solid foundation.

“For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

What Is Soteriology?

Soteriology is the branch of theology that deals with salvation. It asks how God saves sinners, what salvation means, and how Jesus Christ accomplishes redemption for humanity.

Greek Word Meaning

σωτηρία (sōtēria) - “salvation,” “deliverance,” “rescue”

λογία (logia) - “study of”

The study of salvation: So salvation simply means how God saves humanity through the person and work of Jesus Christ.

• Why do humans need salvation?

• What is the problem of sin?

• What did Christ accomplish on the cross?

• How are people saved?

• What is grace?

• What is faith?

• What is repentance?

• What is justification and new life in Christ?

• What is the believer's assurance and final hope?

What is Sin?

Sin can be understood as "to miss the mark," "to fail," or "to go astray."

• Watching porn (sexual immorality and lust)

Matthew 5:27-28 — “You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery'; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

• Smoking weed or vaping

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 — “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”

1 Peter 5:8 — “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

• Getting drunk

Ephesians 5:18 — “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.”

• Test driving/sex before marriage

1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 — “For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God.”

• Cussing people out

Ephesians 4:29 — “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.”

Ephesians 4:29 (AMP) — “Do not let unwholesome (foul, profane, worthless, vulgar) words ever come out of your mouth, but only such speech as is good for building up others, according to the need and the occasion, so that it will be a blessing to those who hear [you speak].”

• Hating people

1 John 4:20 — “If someone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.”

• Refusing to forgive

Matthew 6:14-15 — “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.”

Biblical Definition of Sin

Romans 14:23 NASB1995 — “But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.”

Romans 14:23 AMP — “But the person who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.”

James 4:17 NLT — “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.”

Ecclesiastes 7:29 NASB1995 — “Behold, I have found only this, that God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices.”

Creation and the Fall

Genesis 1:26 — “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image.’”

Genesis 2:15-17 — “The LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was forbidden.”

Genesis 3:4-5 — “You will not surely die… you will be like God.”

Proverbs 14:12 — “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”

Romans 5:12-13 — “Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin.”

God's Desire to Dwell with Humanity

Exodus 25:8 NASB1995 (God desired to be with humanity) — “Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them.”

Romans 6:23 NASB1995 — “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Leviticus 17:11 — “for the life of the body is in its blood. I have given you the blood on the altar to purify you, making you right with the Lord. It is the blood, given in exchange for a life, that makes purification possible.”

The Day of Atonement - Yom Kippur

Atonement means to cover or to make a covering.

Leviticus 16:21 — “Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel…”

Simple takeaway:

• The sacrificed goat shows sin was covered

• The scapegoat shows sins were removed

The Day of Atonement only covered sin, but Christ came to take it away.

Jesus: The Lamb of God

John 1:29 NLT — “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

Colossians 2:13-14 NLT — “You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.”

Jesus fulfilled both pictures:

• He became the perfect sacrifice whose blood paid the penalty for our sins.

• He also removed our sins completely, so they are no longer held against us.

Conclusion

The need for salvation came because man missed the mark and went astray from God's command, which caused separation from God. Since sin separated us from Him, we needed a Savior to reconcile us back to God the Father. Jesus came to remove that separation so we could have a relationship with God again.