{
  "catalog_entry": {
    "title": "Salvation by Grace",
    "description": "Understanding God's gift of salvation",
    "slug": "salvation",
    "verses": [
      "Ephesians 2:8-9",
      "Romans 3:23",
      "Romans 6:23",
      "Titus 3:5"
    ]
  },
  "content": {
    "title": "Salvation by Grace",
    "description": "Understanding how God saves us through His grace alone",
    "sections": [
      {
        "title": "The Universal Problem of Sin",
        "verses": [
          "Romans 3:10-12",
          "Romans 3:23",
          "Ecclesiastes 7:20",
          "1 John 1:8"
        ],
        "content": "Scripture declares the universal reality of human sinfulness—'there is none righteous, no, not one.' All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. This is not a matter of degree but of kind; even one sin separates us from the holy God.<br><br>Sin is not merely moral failure but rebellion against our Creator, transgression of His law, and falling short of His perfect standard. The carnal mind is enmity against God, not subject to His law, neither indeed can be.<br><br>Every imagination of man's heart is only evil continually. This diagnosis, though devastating to human pride, is essential for understanding our desperate need for divine intervention."
      },
      {
        "title": "The Just Penalty for Sin",
        "verses": [
          "Romans 6:23",
          "Ezekiel 18:4",
          "Hebrews 9:27",
          "Revelation 20:15"
        ],
        "content": "God's holiness demands justice—'the wages of sin is death.' This death encompasses physical mortality, spiritual separation from God, and ultimately eternal punishment in the lake of fire. 'The soul that sinneth, it shall die,' declares the Lord.<br><br>It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. Divine justice cannot simply overlook sin or pretend it never occurred.<br><br>God's righteousness requires that sin be punished, His law satisfied, and His holiness vindicated. The seriousness of sin is measured not merely by the act itself but by the infinite dignity of the One against whom it is committed.<br><br>Understanding this penalty magnifies the wonder of God's salvation."
      },
      {
        "title": "The Impossibility of Self-Salvation",
        "verses": [
          "Ephesians 2:8-9",
          "Titus 3:5",
          "Isaiah 64:6",
          "Galatians 2:16"
        ],
        "content": "Salvation cannot be earned through human effort, religious observance, or moral reformation. 'Not by works of righteousness which we have done,' Scripture declares emphatically.<br><br>Our best efforts are as filthy rags in God's sight. No man is justified by the works of the law, for by the deeds of the law no flesh shall be justified.<br><br>If righteousness came by the law, then Christ died in vain. This truth demolishes human pride and self-righteousness.<br><br>We cannot save ourselves any more than a drowning man can pull himself up by his own hair. Recognizing our utter inability to save ourselves prepares us to receive God's gracious provision."
      },
      {
        "title": "The Glorious Gift of Grace",
        "verses": [
          "Ephesians 2:4-5",
          "Romans 5:8",
          "Titus 2:11",
          "2 Corinthians 8:9"
        ],
        "content": "Grace is God's unmerited favor toward those who deserve His wrath. 'By grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.' While we were yet sinners, dead in trespasses and sins, God demonstrated His love toward us in that Christ died for us.<br><br>The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. This grace is not God's response to human goodness but His sovereign initiative toward the undeserving.<br><br>For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich. Grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life."
      },
      {
        "title": "Christ's Substitutionary Atonement",
        "verses": [
          "Isaiah 53:5-6",
          "2 Corinthians 5:21",
          "1 Peter 2:24",
          "1 Peter 3:18"
        ],
        "content": "God's salvation centers upon Christ's substitutionary death on the cross. 'He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed.' God made Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.<br><br>Our sins were imputed to Christ; His righteousness is imputed to us. He bore our sins in His own body on the tree, suffering the just for the unjust to bring us to God.<br><br>This exchange—our sin for His righteousness—constitutes the heart of the gospel. Christ satisfied divine justice, propitiated God's wrath, and purchased our redemption."
      },
      {
        "title": "Salvation Through Faith Alone",
        "verses": [
          "Romans 10:9-10",
          "Acts 16:31",
          "John 3:16",
          "Ephesians 2:8"
        ],
        "content": "God's requirement for salvation is faith in Jesus Christ. 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.' If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.<br><br>Whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. This faith is not mere intellectual assent but wholehearted trust in Christ's person and work.<br><br>It involves repentance from sin, acknowledgment of Christ as Lord, and reliance upon His finished work rather than your own efforts. Faith is the empty hand that receives God's gift, the channel through which grace flows, the means by which Christ's righteousness becomes ours."
      },
      {
        "title": "The Eternal Security of the Believer",
        "verses": [
          "John 10:28-29",
          "Romans 8:38-39",
          "Philippians 1:6",
          "Jude 1:24"
        ],
        "content": "Those whom God saves, He keeps eternally secure. 'I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.' Nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.<br><br>He who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. God is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before His presence with exceeding joy.<br><br>Your salvation rests not upon your faithfulness but upon God's. You are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.<br><br>This assurance flows not from presumption but from confidence in God's promises and Christ's completed work."
      },
      {
        "title": "Grace Produces Godly Living",
        "verses": [
          "Titus 2:11-14",
          "Ephesians 2:10",
          "James 2:17-18",
          "1 John 3:9"
        ],
        "content": "Though salvation is by grace alone through faith alone, genuine faith produces transformed living. The grace of God teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.<br><br>We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Faith without works is dead, being alone.<br><br>True conversion results in a new nature that cannot continue in sin as a practice. This is not legalism but liberty—freedom from sin's dominion to serve righteousness.<br><br>Good works do not produce salvation but provide evidence of it. Where the Spirit regenerates, holiness inevitably follows, not as condition but as consequence of saving grace."
      }
    ],
    "slug": "salvation"
  },
  "category": "Foundational Studies"
}