The purpose of the doctrine of soteriology is to show how the Holy Spirit applies to the individual sinner the blessed salvation which Christ has secured for all mankind by His vicarious atonement. The subject is treated under various heads: The Appropriation of Salvation, Applicatio Balutis a Christo.Acquisitae; The Appropriating Grace of the Holy Spirit, Gratia Spiritus Sancti Applicatrix; The Way of Salvation, Via Balutis, Ratio Oonsequendi Salutem; The Order of Salvation, Ordo Balutis, etc. In German the following terminology is used: Die Heilsaneignung; Der Heilsweg; Die Heilsordnung; Die aneignende Gnade des Heiligen Geistes, etc.
A general survey of the doctrine of soteriology embraces the following truths. The salvation, or forgiveness of sins, which Christ has procured for all men by His vicarious atonement, Luke 1, 77; Rom. 5, 10; 2 Cor. 5, 19, is offered to the sinner in the means of grace, that is to say, in the Gospel and the Sacraments, 2 Cor. 5, 19; Luke 24, 47. Through this most gracious and efficacious offer of forgiveness, faith is wrought in the heart of the sinner, Rom. 10, 17, which accepts, or appropriates, the merits of Christ proffered in the means of grace.
The means of grace thus perform a twofold function: they offer and confer forgiveness (media oblativa sive dativa), and they produce faith (media operativa sive effectiva). Media dativa ex parte Dei gignunt fidem sive medium ληπτικόν ex parte hominis.
By creating faith in the heart of the sinner through His almighty power, 1 Cor. 2, 14; Eph. 1, 19. 20, the Holy Spirit converts and justifies him, Acts 16, 31; Rom. 5, 1 f. Now the sinner no longer flees from God, but turns to Him as to His reconciled,. gracious Lord, Acts 11, 21.
As soon as the sinner by faith accepts God's general pardon, or the objective justification, the pardon becomes effective in his case, and he is personally justified (subjective justification). By accepting Christ's righteousness, he has made it his own and is therefore regarded as righteous before God, Rom. 4, 3; Ps. 32, 1. 2.
Justification (a forensic, not a medical act) is thus by grace alone, without works, Rom. 3, 28. It puts the believer in possession of all the merits or blessings secured by Christ's perfect obedience. The justified sinner has entered into the state of grace and peace (status gratiae, status pacis), in which he is assured of his present and final salvation, Rom. 5, 1-6, his final salvation being guaranteed by God's grace and truth, Rom. 5, 1-11 ; 8, 38. 39; 1 Cor. 1, 8. 9. Imtificatio est res gratis promissa propter Ohristum, quare sola fide semper coram Deo accipitur. (Apology, Art. III, 96.)
Justification effects the mystical union (unio mystica), by which the Holy Trinity, in particular the Holy Spirit, dwells in the believer, Gal. 3, 2; Eph. 3, 17; John 14, 23; 1 Cor. 3, 16; 6, 19. The unio mystica. is a peculiar indwelling, which is distinct from God's general presence with all creatures (unio generalis), since God dwells essentially in the believer. Yet it is not a pantheistic transformation of the essence of the believer into the essence of God. It is the result of justification, not the cause of it, Gal. 3, 2; Eph. 3, 17.
Justification produces sanctification. To teach that sanctification produces justification means to champion the basic papistic error of justification by works, Rom. 7, 5. 6; 2 Cor. 3, 6; Gal. 2, 20; 3, 2. 3; Rom. 3, 28.
Justification makes the sinner a member in the Christian Church (regnum gratiae), Eph. 1, 17-23; Acts 4, 4; 2, 41, and in the Kingdom of Glory (regnum gloriae), Luke 23, 43; John 11, 25.
In this connection Holy Scripture also teaches that we owe the possession and enjoyment of all these blessings to the eternal election of grace, Eph. 1, 3 ff.; Rom. 8, 28-30; 2 Tim. 1, 9; Acts 13, 48.
In the ordo salutis the relation of the various articles to one another must be rightly observed. Christ's vicarious satisfaction and the reconciliation of God with the world form the basis of all soteriological teachings, while the article of the sinner's justification by faith is the central and chief article of the Christian religion. Sanctification follows justification as its effect. To justification sola fide all other doctrines of Scripture stand in relation of cause and effect, of antecedens et consequens. Right here lies the fundamental difference between the Christian religion and all manmade religions. Christianity teaches sanctification as the effect of justification by grace through faith; all man-made religions reverse the process and teach justification by works, or by sanctification.
Luther says: "In corde meo iste unm regnat articulm, scilicet fides Christi, ex quo, per quem et in quem omnes meae diu. noctuque fluunt et refluunt theologiae cogitationes." (Erl. Ed., I, 3. Cf. Christl. Dogmatik, II, 473-503; also Dr. Engelder, Dogmatical Notes.)