Systematic Theology, by Louis Berkhof - New Leaven

PART FOUR:
THE DOCTRINE OF THE
APPLICATION
OF THE WORK OF
REDEMPTION
I. Soteriology in General
A. CONNECTION BETWEEN SOTERIOLOGY AND THE PRECEDING
LOCI.
SOTERIOLOGY deals with the communication of the blessings of salvation to the
sinner and his restoration to divine favor and to a life in intimate communion with God.
It presupposes knowledge of God as the all-sufficient source of the life, the strength,
and the happiness of mankind, and of man’s utter dependence on Him for the present
and the future. Since it deals with restoration, redemption, and renewal, it can only be
understood properly in the light of the original condition of man as created in the image
of God, and of the subsequent disturbance of the proper relationship between man and
his God by the entrance of sin into the world. Moreover, since it treats of the salvation of
the sinner wholly as a work of God, known to Him from all eternity, it naturally carries
our thoughts back to the eternal counsel of peace and the covenant of grace, in which
provision was made for the redemption of fallen men. It proceeds on the assumption of
the completed work of Christ as the Mediator of redemption. There is the closest
possible connection between Christology and Soteriology. Some, as, for instance,
Hodge, treat of both under the common heading “Soteriology.” Christology then
becomes objective, as distinguished from subjective, Soteriology. In defining the
contents of Soteriology, it is better to say that it deals with the application of the work of
redemption than to say that it treats of the appropriation of salvation. The matter should be
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