ORDO SALUTIS

PRELIMINARIES
Definition
Salvation: the application of the work of redemption in the individual by God
Time
When is it? Past, present, or future?
Decrees
Draw Foreordination, Predestination, election, reprobation diagram
TULIP

T:
U:
L:
I:
P:

Extent of Salvation
Exclusivist: only Christians are saved
Inclusivist: some outside of the Christian pale can be saved by extracting the
basic Christian essence from their religion.
Pluralist: many roads; if one obeys hers God will accept her
Universalist: all saved somehow
Also hybrids of the above!!!
NEED FOR ORDO SALUTIS
Ordo Salutis Defined
Ordo Salutis: the way of salvation
Emphasis:
NOT on what man does in appropriating the grace
IS on what God does in applying it.

Reasoning
Reasoning for Ordo Salutis:
Appl of red in definite and reasonable order
Not one act
Biblical order
(Although never completed one)
Closest is Rom 8:29-30 (most) & Acts 26:17-18 (some Lutherans)
The Bible & The Ordo Salutis
How Bible helps us:
Gives us enumeration of the operations of the HS
Indicates the relationships of the movements
Examples:
Justified by faith and not works (Rom 3:30; 5:1; Gal 2:16-20
Being justified gives us peace with God and access to him (Rom
5:1,2)
Set free to become servants of righteousness and be sanctified
(Rom 6:18-22)
Adoptionassurance & co-heirs (Rom 8:15-17; Gal. 4:4,5, 6)
Faith comes by proclamation (Rom. 10:17)
Historical Reasoning for Protestant Emphasis on OS
Scholastics like Aquinas and Lombard spent little time on it
Start of reformation was criticism of the churchs conception of faith, repentance
and good works
EXPLANATION OF THE ORDO SALUTIS
Diagram

ORDO SALUTIS
Union

Conversion
Sanctification
Election

Outward Call/
Proclamation

Effectual
Calling
Regeneration

Repentance:
Contrition

Justification

Death or
Rapture

Adoption

Faith
Perseverance

Knowledge

Assent

Trust

Intermediate
State (if preRapture)

Glorification

Elements
Election: an act of God before creation in which he chooses some people to be
saved, not on account of any foreseen merit in them, but only because of his
sovereign good pleasure (Rom. 8:28-30; 9:11-13; 11:7; Ephesians 1:4-6, 12; 1
Peter 1:1; 2:9; Rev. 13:7-8; et. al).
Outward Call: proclamation and invitation of the Gospel.
1) Explanation of the Facts Concerning Salvation*
All people have sinned (Rom 3:23)
The penalty for sin is death (Rom 6:23)
Christ died to pay the penalty for our sins (Rom 5:8)
2) Invitation to Respond to Christ Personally in Repentance and Faith
(Matt 11:28-30; Rom. 9:9-10)
3) A promise of forgiveness and eternal life (John 3:16; Acts 3:19; John
6:37)
*Brief Gospel presentations: Peter (Acts 10:34-43); Paul (Acts 13:26-41)
Effectual Call: act of God the Father, speaking through the human proclamations
of the gospel, in which he summons people to himself in such a way that they
respond in saving faith (Rom. 8:30; 1 Cor. 1:9; 2 Thess. 2:14; John 6:44; 1 Pet.
2:9)
Regeneration: secret act of God in which he imparts new spiritual life to us, and
the governing disposition of the soul is made holy (John 3:3-8; 1:13; James 1:18;
1 Peter 1:3; Ezek. 36;26-27)
Instantaneous
Affects whole: intellect (1 Cor. 2:14-15; II Cor. 4:6; Eph. 1:18; Col. 3:10);
will (Ps. 110:3; Phil. 2:13; II Thess. 3:5; Heb 13:21; feelings and emotions
(Ps. 42:1, 2; Matt. 5:4; 1 Pet. 1:8).
Subconscious
Effective Calling & Regeneration
Grudem: Effective calling is thus God the Father speaking powerfully to
us, and regeneration is God the Father and God the Holy Spirit working
powerfully in us, to make us alive (700).
They happen at the same moment (1 Peter 1:23, 25; James 1:18)
These two enable us to respond in faith
Conversion: Faith and Repentance: our willing response to the gospel call, in
which we sincerely repent of our sins and place our trust in Christ for salvation.
3

 Single action: turning from sin and turning to Christ (Isa. 55:6-7; Acts 20:21; Heb.
6:1; sometimes one used for both (Luke 24:46-47; John 3:16; Acts 16:31; Rom.
10:9; Eph. 2:8-9; et al.)
Saving Faith: trust in Jesus Christ as a living person for forgiveness of sins and
for eternal life with God (John 3:16; 1:12; et al)
Consists: knowledge, assent, trust
Repentance: heartfelt sorrow for sin, a renouncing of it, and a sincere
commitment to forsake it and walk in obedience to Christ (2 Cor. 7:9-10; Acts.
20:21).
Repentance
Attrition: false or spurious type of repentance, not a true turning away.
They want a get out of jail free card and not interested in a relationship
with Christ.
Contrition: true and godly repentance, openly and fully confesses his sin
with no attempt to excuse or justify it
Continual throughout our life.
Justification: is a judicial act of God, in which He declares, on the basis of the
righteousness of Jesus Christ, that all the claims of the law are satisfied with
respect to the sinner. (See notes on Justification)
Adoption: act of God whereby he makes us members of his family (John 1:12;
8:41-44; Rom. 8:14-17; Gal. 3:23-26; 4:4-7; Ps. 103:13; Isa. 43:6-7; Mal. 1:6;
2:10; et al)
Follows conversion (Gal. 3:23-26; John 1:12)
Adoption Privileges
Speak to God and relate to him as a good Father (Matt. 6:9; Rom. 8:15-16
Loves us (1 John 3:1), understands us (Ps. 103:13), takes care of our needs
(Matt. 6:32; 7:11)
Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13) & being led by Him (Rom. 8:14)
Inheritance in heaven (Gal. 4:7; Rom 8:17; 1 Peter 1:4; Rev. 2:26-27;
3:21)
Forgive our sins and heal relationship (Matt. 6:9-12)
Disciplines (Heb 12:5-10)
Walking in Christs path of suffering and glory (Luke 24:26; Rom 8:17)
Relate to one another as family (e.g., 1 Tim. 5:1-2)
Union: union of Christ and believers in broad sense (John 15:5; 1 Pet. 2:4, 5; Eph.
5:23-32; Eph. 4:15, 16)
Ideal union: prior to creation
Objective union: through the work of redemption
4

 Subjective union: regeneration & beyond

Sanctification: progressive work of God and man that makes us more and more
free from sin and like Christ in our actual lives.
Three stages of Sanctification:
Regeneration (Titus 3:5; 1 John 3:9; 1 Cor. 6:11; Acts 20:32)
Thru lives (Rom. 6:19; 2 Cor. 3:19; Phil. 3:13-15; 9-12; Col. 3:10; Heb
12:1, 14).
Completed at death (for souls) (Heb. 12:23; Rev. 21:27) and when Lord
returns (for our bodies) (Phil. 3:21; 1 Cor. 15:23, 49

Perfect in
Holiness
4) Death

3) Christian life

2) Conversion

Slaves to Sin
1) Non-regen.

Perseverance: all those who are truly born again will be kept by Gods power and
will persevere as Christians until the end of their lives, and that only those who
persevere until the end have been truly born again (John 6:38-40; 10:27-29; Rom.
8:30 11:29; Phil. 1:6; believers have eternal life: John 3:36; 5:24; 6:47; 10:28; 1
John 5:13)
Death: physical death
What?
Not punishment (Rom. 8:1)
Final outcome of living in fallen world (1 Cor. 15:26, 54-55)
Completes our sanctification (Rom. 8:28; Heb. 12:6, 10-11; Heb. 2:10;
5:8; Phil. 1:20; 3:10)

 Completes (or significant step) in union (Rom. 8:17; 1 Pet. 4:13; Phil.
3:10; 1 Pet. 2:21)
Obedience greater than preserving our lives (Acts. 21:13; 20:14; 2 Cor.
11:23-27; Heb. 11:35; Rev. 2:10; 12:11)
Rapture: the taking up or snatching up of believers to be with Christ when he
returns to the earth, which includes their resurrection (John 14:3; 1 Thess. 4:1617; 1 Cor. 15:51-52)
This is according to Post-tributlation Premillennialism.
Intermediate state: heaven, paradise, or the conscious disembodied state
spent with God between death and resurrection/glorification (2 Cor. 5:8; Phil.
1:23; Luke 23:43; Heb. 12:23)
Glorification: final step in the application of redemption at Christs return where
the dead saints and living saints will obtain their perfect resurrection bodies like
their Saviors (Rom. 8:11, 17, 23-24, 30; 1 Cor. 15:12-58; 1 Thess. 4:14-17; John
5:28-29; 6:39-40)

ORDO SALUTIS
Union

Conversion
Sanctification
Election

Outward Call/
Proclamation

Effectual
Calling
Regeneration

Repentance:
Contrition

Justification

Death or
Rapture

Adoption

Faith
Perseverance

Knowledge

Assent

Trust

Intermediate
State (if preRapture)

Glorification