Is it correct to say that the Biblical ordo salutis and the Biblical plan of salvation are essentially the same?
question about ordo salutis
Discussion in 'General Baptist Discussions' started by nunatak, May 6, 2008.
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Ordo Salutis Question
The Plan of Salvation has more to do with leading a lost person to Christ. There are many methods to lead a sinner to Christ: the Roman's Road, the 4 Spiritual Laws, ABC's of Salvation, FAITH, etc. It is simply the Gospel message that one is saved by grace through faith.
The Ordo Salutis [Order of Salvation], on the other hand, is the theological explanation of WHAT happens in salvation, and HOW it happens.
In short, the plan is the means by which one is led to salvation; the "ordo salutis" describes what happens, how it happens, and in what order in the salvation of a soul. -
Thanks Jdale. I have a little trouble with some of this having come out of heresy, where I could easily list the plan of salvation, repent, be baptized, receive the holy ghost.
Now when I think of the plan of salvation, I think of Christ and him crucified. I have some trouble with the terminology. -
I must say that I have never heard or read the phrase "plan of salvation" to mean the method by which a Christian leads a non-Christian to the Saviour. I just did a Google search for "plan of salvation", and it brought up 572,000 hits, so I have not looked at them all :laugh: , but it seems that many, if not most, of the sites refer to it as God's plan of salvation. At least one actually gives the two phrases as alternatives for the same thing. The page is headed:The Order of Salvation or The Ordo Salutis. That is at http://www.tulip.org/acc/sco/sco3.htm
I am unsure how you can tell the gospel message without telling what happens in salvation, and how it happens. "Belive on the Lord Jesus Christ" is the "HOW"; "and you will be saved" is the "WHAT HAPPENS". I am not saying that I would use the term "Order Salutis" (or any other Latin words) when preaching/witnessing, but I think it is wrong to say that God's plan of Salvation and His order of Salvation are different things. -
See, the plan of salvation or gospel by no means mentions the pre-salvation regeneration of the elect. Nor does the gospel inform us about our pre-creation election. There's none of that in the gospel of Jesus Christ "whereby ye must be saved." That is something that Calvinism informs us of after we are supposedlly saved. "Ordo salutis" is merely a "post game wrap-up" of what a particular "announcer" in a "skybox" hundreds of feet (Oops, "metres" to you.) away from the "action" thinks about the "game." :laugh:
skypair -
By the way, we still use feet here, (and miles, yards, inches, ounces, pounds, stones, hundredweights.....). Some metric units have started replacing the imperial ones - petrol ("gas") is sold by the litre, not by the gallon, and cloth by the metre, not the yard. -
The ordo salutis (or order of salvation) is a chronological list of the different aspects of the process of salvation as they are experiences by someone being saved.
An ordo salutis doesn't necessarily tell someone how to be saved. For instance, Romans 8:29-30 contains an ordo salutis, but those verses don't tell you how to be saved, since, for one thing, they don't mention faith.
I've heard plan of salvation used to refer to two different things:- I've heard it used to mean the steps a person must take to be saved, like repent, believe, pray this prayer, etc.
- I've heard it used to refer to the plan God formed in eternity past to save people. In this case, the plan of salvation would certainly include Christ dying for sinners.
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I don't know how Calvinists use the ordo salutis. However, the heresy I used to be a part of would have put Justification at the end. IOW, you are not justified until you stand before Christ after death, and hear him say, "Well done."
I realize now that is false. -