Tim Challies' Ordo Salutis

Tim Challies' recently produced this chart of the Ordo Salutis, which is somewhat useful because it reminds the viewer that salvation has a linear pattern but not so useful in communicating the relationships between the different doctrines. For example, Regeneration is a through-theme that intersects several other doctrines. Another example where the chart doesn't communicate the shape of the doctrine is Adoption, which when you look at the biblical evidence isn't a distinct stage between Justification and Sanctification, as the chart below suggests. It's also interesting to see which doctrines got chopped. Union with Christ, Faith, Redemption, Reconciliation and Mortification all seem like important aspects of salvation that don't get mentioned.

I've been and continue to be a longstanding fan of Challies' blog but I think this chart (or a causal google search) shows a lack of thinking visually, coherently and comprehensively about the Doctrines of Grace. Charts like this are useful in conveying a general sense of how Salvation works but we need a diagram that represents the relationships between the various doctrines in a way the traditional numerical list failed to do.

The Epistle to the Romans

At SOUL church we'll be doing a massive series in 2012 working our way through the book of Romans. (Broken up by Easter and a mini-series between chapters 8 and 9 on Ecclesiastes.) It's ambitious and I'm worried about keeping the momentum up. So I thought breaking it down into five sub-series', each with their own focus would help sustain our interest:

• 1 The Gospel
• 1-5 The Bad news and then the Good news
• 6-8 Living as a Christian
• 9-11 God's big plan
• 12-16 Living with One-Another

 

This is a slightly more detailed breakup of Romans into themes and sections with proof-texts showing roughly why I think it should be broken down into those sections.

Romans Layout

What's the purpose of Romans?

It is this total reorientation in the religious relationship which Paul, in the Philippian passage cited above [3:4-9], formulated with such definitive clarity, "not by my own righteousness which comes by the law, but by the righteousness which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God." 

In that expression, “the righteousness from God,” the very foundation thought of the Epistle to the Romans is encompassed. That is affirmed by Paul himself when in 1:17 he states the theme for his letter. He does so with the following word, "The righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, 'He who through faith is righteous shall live.'" And the whole epistle, as it proceeds, is nothing but a clarification of the contents of this "righteousness from God," and the consequences for the Christian life of the new righteousness of God which was revealed through Christ, and which is shared by him who believes in Christ. 

(Anders Nygren, Commentary on Romans. SCM: London 1952, p 15.)

Carson recommends Nygren for understanding the big picture of Romans and even though Nygren's commentary is over half a century old and originally translated from Swedish (!), it still presents the main ideas and structure of Romans in a lucid and careful style. I think Nygren's right, the overall purpose of the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans is to explain this righteousness that is from God.