Salvation and Eschatology

A rescue, and what it leads to

Christianity teaches that something has gone wrong between people and God, and that God has acted to put it right. The word for that rescue is salvation, and it is the heart of this part of the course. It helps to see salvation as a rescue in three parts, because the exam terms are just names for those parts. The problem is sin. Christians teach that everyone falls short of how God intends people to live, and that this separates them from God. The source most often used is Romans 3:23, which teaches that everyone has sinned. The mechanism is atonement. Atonement means being made at one with God again. Christians teach that the death of Jesus is the sacrifice that makes this possible, paying a price that people could not pay for themselves. The gift is grace. Grace means God giving people what they have not earned. Ephesians 2:8-9 is the source most often used, teaching that salvation comes by grace through faith and not by works, so that no one can boast. Keep the three parts apart, because the commonest mistake here is to treat atonement and salvation as the same word. They are not: atonement is how the rescue works, and salvation is the result. Salvation raises a second question: what happens after death? That is eschatology, the study of the last things, and it is where Christians most often disagree. Carry one question through everything that follows: is this the problem, the mechanism, or the outcome, and whose view is it?

Six words for salvation

Six terms, each defined by what it is. Christians use all of them to describe how people are put right with God.

Which are the mechanism

Tap the TWO statements that describe the MECHANISM of salvation, how the rescue works, rather than its outcome.

• The death of Jesus as a sacrifice that pays the price for sin
• Being made at one with God again through that sacrifice
• A person being rescued from sin and restored to God
• Receiving eternal life as a gift from God

Mechanism or outcome

A student writes that atonement and salvation mean the same thing. Why is that a mistake?

• Atonement is the cause and salvation is the effect: one is the sacrifice that makes the rescue possible, the other is being rescued. Calling them synonyms loses that link
• There is no mistake, because the two words are simply synonyms
• Neither word has anything to do with the death of Jesus
• The mistake is that both actually mean keeping the law perfectly

How salvation is received

Christians agree that salvation comes from God rather than from human effort alone, but they place the emphasis differently, and a good answer shows both and attributes each.

Match each salvation word to its meaning

Two things grace means here

Select the TWO statements that follow from the Christian teaching about grace.

• Salvation is received as a gift rather than earned by good deeds
• It is accepted through faith, according to sources such as Ephesians 2:8-9
• A person earns salvation by keeping the law perfectly
• Grace is only available to people who have never sinned

Writing about belief without stating it as fact

A method that works on any question in this topic. Say which part you mean. Be clear whether you are talking about the problem of sin, the mechanism of atonement, or the outcome of salvation. Muddling them is the commonest way to lose marks here. Attribute every belief. Write that Christians believe, or that Catholic teaching holds, or that many Christians hold, rather than stating a belief as though it were a plain fact. This matters most for the afterlife, where write there is a purgatory is wrong but Catholic teaching describes a purgatory is right. Support with a named source. Point to a source such as Romans 3:23 for sin or Ephesians 2:8-9 for grace, and give its sense in your own words rather than copying it out at length. Show the divergence. Christians do not all agree. Some emphasise grace through faith and others faith shown in works; some accept purgatory and others do not; beliefs about the second coming differ. A strong answer gives more than one view and ties each to who holds it. Then judge fairly. In an evaluation, weigh the views you have attributed and reach a conclusion you can defend, without claiming that one belief is simply true for everyone.

Order the logic of salvation

Put the steps of the Christian account of salvation into a sensible order.

• Everyone falls short and sins, as taught in Romans 3:23
• That sin separates people from God
• The death of Jesus is the sacrifice that atones for sin
• Salvation is offered by grace, as an undeserved gift
• It is received through faith, according to Ephesians 2:8-9
• This leads, Christians believe, to eternal life with God

Build the sentence about grace

This is the sentence many Christians would use to sum up salvation. Assemble it.

Salvation and afterlife quick-fire

Five questions on the terms of salvation and beliefs about the afterlife. Three lives.

One belief, written with care

Here is how to write about a belief that Christians disagree on, using the afterlife as the example, because getting the wording right is worth marks. Take purgatory. A weak answer says there is a place where people are purified before heaven. That states it as a fact, and it is not a fact but a belief, and not one all Christians share. A strong answer attributes it. Catholic teaching holds that some people, after death, undergo a purification before they are ready for heaven. Many other Christians, including most Protestants, do not accept purgatory, teaching instead that a person goes to be with God, or is judged, without such a stage. Notice the shape. The belief is named, it is tied to who holds it, and the contrasting view is given and also tied to who holds it. Nobody is told which is correct, because that is not what the question asks. The same care applies to heaven, to hell, and to the second coming: describe what different Christians believe, attribute each view, and let the reasoning do the work. One more habit. When you use a source, name it and give its sense rather than copying it out at length. Saying that a source teaches there is life beyond death, and naming it, is worth more than a long quotation copied from memory.

Complete the salvation facts

Falling short of how God intends people to live, which separates them from God, is _____. Being made at one with God again through the death of Jesus is _____. The undeserved gift of love and help from God, which cannot be earned, is _____. Being rescued from sin and restored to a right relationship with God is _____.

Earned or given

A student writes that people earn their salvation by doing enough good works. Using Ephesians 2:8-9, how would you correct it?

• Ephesians 2:8-9 teaches that salvation comes by grace through faith and not by works, so many Christians hold that it is received as a gift and cannot be earned
• They are right, so they simply need to do even more good works
• Salvation is instead earned by keeping the law perfectly
• Good actions have no place at all in the Christian life

Three answers to handle with care

Three student sentences about salvation and the afterlife. In each case the wording or the reasoning needs care.

• A student writes: after death there is a purgatory where people are purified. What is the problem with the wording?
• A student uses atonement and salvation as if they mean exactly the same thing. How would you sharpen it?
• A student writes that all Christians believe salvation is earned by good works. What is missing?

Explain salvation and what Christians believe follows death

A friend is revising Christian beliefs about salvation and the afterlife but keeps stating beliefs as facts and muddling the key terms. Explain how to write about this topic clearly and fairly.

• Explain what salvation means, and set out its three parts: the problem of sin, the mechanism of atonement, and the gift of grace
• Explain the difference between atonement and salvation, so the two are not treated as the same word
• Explain how Christians differ on how salvation is received, attributing the grace-through-faith emphasis and the faith-and-works emphasis
• Explain what Christians believe happens after death, including judgement and life beyond death
• Explain, with attribution, a belief Christians disagree on, such as purgatory or the second coming
• Finish by showing how to use a named source to support a point without copying it out, and how to attribute a belief rather than state it as a fact