Mission and Soteriological Understanding-Salvation as Humanization, Salvation of the whole creation

Introduction

The concept ‘salvation’ is a common phenomenon in all religions. Salvation is neither an act nor an event, but a coherent process, which has a reason, beginning and end. It is a change of whole being and becomes a new creation. Hebrew words of salvation has the following meaning such as deliver, bring to safety, to redeem and the major salvific terms are gaual (redeem, buy back, restore, vindicate, or deliver) and yausua (save, help in time of distress, rescue, deliver, or set free.)  In the New Testament, the word ‘soteria’, occurs 46 times and twice in the letter of Paul and 10 times being written in the epistles. Salvation does not means in the New Testament refers to getting some benefit for flesh like healing. 

Salvation in four dimensions

Within the comprehensive notion of Salvation, we see the saving work in four social dimensions:

1. Salvation works in the struggle for economic justice against the exploitation of people by people.

2. Salvation works in the struggle for human dignity against political oppression of human beings. 

3. Salvation works in the struggle for solidarity against the alienation of person from person.

4. Salvation works in the struggle of hope against despair in personal life.

There is no economic justice without political freedom, no political freedom without political justice. There is no social justice without solidarity, no solidarity without justice. There is no justice, no human dignity, and no solidarity without hope, no hope without justice, dignity and solidarity. In the process of salvation, we must relate those four dimension each other. 

Salvation in the Old Testament

The Old Testament begins with a portrayal of creation at peace. However, after the beginning, the Bible presupposes disharmony and brokenness-and focuses on the struggle for salvation. Salvation results in healed, brokenness, restored health and wholeness. The Bible presents salvation on three levels-

1. Salvation as liberation from powers of brokenness

2. Salvation as restoration of harmony with God

3. Salvation as restoration of harmonious human relationships

The Old Testament story places priority on salvation in the first sense (liberation). The other two follow from and depend upon the first. Because God acts to deliver, people are then freed to respond to God and restore harmony in their relationship with God and to live at harmony with one another. 

Salvation in the New Testament

The NT writers, apparently following the lead of Jesus himself, appropriating this specialized usage of salvation to designate the establishment of God’s end-time Reign. In doing so, they indentify God’s intent to ‘save/rescue’ with the person and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus’ name come the Hebrew root meaning ‘salvation’ and thus God the savior and Jesus savior inextricably link. 

Three things are noteworthy in connection with salvation in the New Testament-

1. Salvation was the purpose of our Lord’s ministry.

2. Salvation was the massage of the Church’s witness.

3. Salvation was the theme of apostolic teaching. 

The writer of Hebrew says many valuable truths about salvation-

1. It’s so great salvation. 

2. Christ is the captain and the author of it. (2:10, 5:9)

3. He is able to save us the uttermost. (7:25)

4. It’s an external salvation.

5. Angels protects the saved one. (1:14) 

Salvation as Humanization

Salvation which Christ brought and in which we participate offers a comprehensive wholeness in this divided life. It may be understood as the newness of life, the unfolding of true humanity in the fullness of God. it is salvation of the soul and the body, of the individual and the society, humanity and the ‘groaning creation’. As evil works both in personal life and in exploitative social structures which humiliate humankind, so God’s justice manifests itself both in the justification of the sinner and in social and political justice.   

Thus humanization was an attempt to ‘understand the gospel in terms of human struggles, an so interpreted mission as an invitation for the emergence out of humanity into new Humanity, and Jesus Christ as the New Man; Salvation was the understood as this state of full or New Humanity, of perfect peace and prosperity as Shalom.  

Salvation as Fullness of Life

An important subscriber of this idea was former Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. He observes: We are called to build up a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation, to create social and economic and political institution which will ensure justice and fullness of life to every man and women.  While Nehru claimed that he purpose of his ministry to a man was ‘fullness of life to every man and women’, we see a similar idea in the teachings of Jesus. “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly (fullness of life). (John 10:10). 

Salvation as human deliverance from the oppress men.

Salvation in the Bible is, first of all, deliverance from the powers that men from enemies, pestilences, storms and disease. The deliverance of Israel from the Egypt and from the Babylonian captivity is supreme examples of God’s saving power at work. The dominant factor is the personal relation to the Lord who is Israel’s Savoir. In the NT, also there is no sharp distinction between ‘secular’ and ‘religious’ interpretation of salvation. The phrase ‘to be saved’ can be said of the curing of illness (James 5:5), deliverance from a storm (Acts 27:20), from drowning (Matt. 14:30), and from blindness (Lk 18:42). The word is constantly used to describe the healing acts of Jesus.   

Salvation means Creation

Salvation through Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit is thus the story of how God is redeeming and transforming his creation. And he calls us into mission with him to bring healing of the creation. The main story line can be summarized in five points:

1. God created the Universe: The world belongs to God, not to private individuals, economics enterprises, or national governments. Therefore we have no right individually or corporately to mistreat it or claim it solely for our own interests. Human beings are stewards of what God has made.

2. God has acted in Jesus Christ to reconcile the creation himself: God is bringing transformation and re-creation through the God-Man. In the biblical version, God acts in Jesus Christ not to save people out of their environment, but with their environment.

3. The created order is in some deep sense diseased because of sin: Although earth’s non-human bio-systems cannot sin, the created order suffer the ‘enmity’ that human rebellion brought into the world. Disorder, disease, disharmony carrying out for healing through the Word of God. 

4. God has given the church a mission for this world and the world to come: The redemption God is bringing promises a new heaven and a new earth. But what does this mean? Biblically, it does not mean two common but extreme views: it does not mean only saving the earth from oppression or ecological collapse. And it does not mean disembodied eternal life in heaven, with the total destruction of the material universe. Rather, it means reconciliation between the earth and heaven, the heavenly city descending to earth; the reign of God that is in some way the reconstitution of the whole creation through God’s work in Jesus Christ.

5. We are called to live our lives, churches, communities, and economies in harmony with biblical principles of justice, mercy, truth, and responsible interrelationship: We thus learn to thinking interdependently in all areas, including in our understanding of the church and our relationship to the earth. Christians have a God-given responsibility to care for the garden (Gen 2:15). 

Conclusion

The concept of salvation means the complete change of the whole being of human beings and it is a coherent and progressive process up to a new creation/new being. The Christianity is not a primarily a doctrine of salvation but the announcement pf the advent of a new creative order in Jesus. The gospel has been understood from the beginning as the message of salvation and as the power of God as salvation.

Bibliography:

Bosch, David J. Transforming Mission: Paradigm shift in Theology of Mission, New York:  Orbis Books, 1991.

E. Thomas Norman. Classical Text in Mission and World Christianity. New York: Orbis                          Book, 1995.

M. Thomas, M. The Acknowledged Christ of the Indian Renaissance. Bangalore: The C.L.S,. 1970.

Neil. Stephen. Concise Dictionary of the Christian World Mission. Edited by Campbell London: Lutterworth Press, 1970.

Sumitra Sunand. “Salvation and Humanisation”, in Salvation: Some Asian Perspective, edited by Ken Gnanakan. Bangalore: Asia Theological association, 1992. 

R. Paulraj. Salvation and Secular Humanists in India. Madras: CLS, 1988.