A Case for (My) Soteriology: Overview
I will start by giving a general summation of a case for my soteriology and then color it up with scripture. I asked Grok, the AI for X and this is how it summarized my view of soteriology based on articles I have written which I fed to Grok. This is what it (eventually) spit out.
Premise 1: God selectively chooses individuals for divine revelation and roles based on their alignment with His will, as demonstrated by figures like Abraham, Moses, and Paul. Premise 2: These chosen individuals typically embody the virtues of the Beatitudes, indicating they are blessed by God to receive and appropriately handle divine revelation. Premise 3: Within the church, the authority to spread the gospel is structured around this divine selection, where apostles and prophets, due to their direct revelation, hold a higher position, reflecting both predestination and the necessity of humble service. Conclusion: Therefore, God's method of choosing individuals for divine revelation and leadership within the church is deliberate, based on foreknowledge and moral virtue, creating a hierarchical yet servant-hearted model for the spread of the gospel, which integrates elements of divine election and the call to humility.
I will now start to give evidence for my view (this will be a crash course; feel free to ask questions).
In Ephesians 1:13, Paul changes the group he is talking about when he says "In Him you also," contrasting with what he said earlier, "made known the mystery to us," which cannot be the Ephesians since they were not some of the "first to believe." Paul tells us who the us, Ephesians 2:20 when he says, "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets," which Paul then says, "In Him you also," in relation to the Ephesians again. Paul then says,
"When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit."
Looking elsewhere for this pattern we can see this:
"these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God."
Noteworthy about this is that before this verse, Paul was using the pronoun “you” speaking to the Corinthians, as seen in, 1 Cor. 1:3–15, 30; 2:1–3. But in 1 Corinthians 2:10, Paul is speaking of another group, namely, the apostles and prophets, when it says of “we” or “us,” seen in, 1 Corinthians 1:18, 23, 30; 2:6–7. This all culminates with Paul saying,
"And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,"
Further,
Romans 1:5, 8; 6:1 , 11
"through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus."
You only have to notice the noun usage of apostleship and pronoun usage of me, I, you, your, we, us, and our in these texts.
And,
"Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this."
Also,
For my defense that These called ones, or specially anointed ones, or apostles and prophets, if you want to call it that, I point to:
"“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
Here, Christ is saying that the prophets of old embodied the characteristics of the Beatitudes, as such, they were a persecuted people but were blessed with God's favor. Without going into detail, I could make a case for how all the patriarchs, prophets, and whatnot all had a very good disposition of character and responded positively to the revelation they received. However, some people receive revelation and reject it, such as Balaam, who is condemned throughout the Bible, especially 2 Peter 2:15-22.
And this is all why the Great Commission is so important. It is those who Christ revealed Himself to people that are to spread the message of Christ, as seen here,
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”"
There is more to say, such as that each person has a nature that determines how they will respond to the Gospel, but I think I have given you all enough work to fact-check me at this point.
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