Human Need for Salvation

• God's help comes to us in Christ whose teachings guides and whose grace sustains us.
• Grace is the favor, the free, and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to His call to become children of God and sharers in His eternal life and love (cf. CCC 1996)
• Graces can refer to the blessings or charisms (spiritual gifts) of an individual.
• Salvation is being delivered or freed from evil that threatens us or has afflicted us.
• Design

  • “for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son”
  • the design of salvation was always for God’s son to redeem humanity
• Duty

  • “so that everyone who believes in him”
  • salvation was already given to us by design so our duty is to believe, have faith, and make something good of this faith
• Danger

  • “might not perish”
  • talks of the danger one may fall under during one’s life, which is the slavery of sins (which will then lead to punishment)
• Destiny

  • “but might have eternal life”
  • we are destined for goodness so as long as we live in faith and do good with our lives, we will be saved
• 3 Dimensions of Human Salvation

  1. Saving from cosmic evil
  2. Saving from socio-political oppression
  3. Saving from life’s meaninglessness
• Saving from cosmic evil

  • Jesus saves by making it possible for us to work throughout our lives against sin, the spiritual root of all the evils which we experience
  • he calls us to embrace and exercise his liberating grace in all our moral actions
  • simply put, saving us from sin
• Saving from socio-political oppression

  • Jesus liberates us in this area by exposing the:

  1. corrupting forces of riches that enslave
  2. self-seeking ambition that knows no bounds
  3. social prejudices that oppress and exploit others
  4. a legalistic attitude toward law that makes even God’s commandments oppressive and exploitative

  • Christ saves through word and example by inspiring us with the ideal of loving service
• Saving from life's meaninglessness

  • Christ saved by being the revelation of the Father
  • to his followers, Jesus promised: if you live according to my teaching, you are truly my disciples. then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
• What are the 4Ds of John 3:16?

  1. Design
  2. Duty
  3. Danger
  4. Destiny