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Unlock This CourseThe lesson What Is Life For? Meaning, Purpose, Salvation and Liberation showed that many religions teach a goal beyond this life. This lesson looks at the Christian answer. The lesson Heaven, Hell, Judgment and Resurrection covered what comes after death, so here we focus on what Christians say life is for and how they believe a person is saved.
Key terms:
The key text is John 3:16: God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. Notice that eternal life is offered as a gift from God's love. In John 17:3, Jesus says eternal life is to know God. So for Christians it is not only "life that goes on and on". It is a relationship with God that has no end.
The Kingdom of God was the main theme of Jesus' preaching. In Mark 1:15 he says the time has come and the Kingdom of God has come near. It does not mean a country with borders. It means God's rule, where God's will is done and people live in love, justice and peace.
Jesus taught that the Kingdom is already at work. In Luke 17:21 he says it is "in your midst". Christians see it when people forgive, heal and care for the poor. Jesus compared it to a tiny mustard seed that grows into a large plant (Mark 4:30-32).
Christians also believe the Kingdom is not yet complete. In the Lord's Prayer they pray, "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). They believe God will finally put everything right.
This shapes Christian lives. Believers try to live by the values of the Kingdom now and to work for a fairer world, while trusting God to finish what humans cannot.
Christians believe humans cannot repair their relationship with God by themselves. As the lesson Sin and Human Wrongdoing: Christian Teaching explained, sin damages that relationship. Christians believe Jesus makes salvation possible.
Christians agree that salvation begins with God, but they stress different things.
Christians believe salvation is a gift that nobody can earn. God offers it out of love. Every Christian tradition starts here.
Faith is the response to God's gift. A person trusts Jesus and accepts him as Lord and Saviour.
Worship keeps faith alive. Christians pray, sing, hear the Bible and take part in sacraments, special rites such as baptism and Holy Communion that many believe carry God's grace and bring them closer to God.
Jesus said the greatest commandments are to love God and to love your neighbour (Matthew 22:37-39). Love for others is how faith shows itself.
Do Christians earn salvation by good actions, or receive it through faith? Two passages seem to pull in different directions.
Many Christians say the two fit together. Works cannot earn salvation, but real faith will produce good works. The emphasis still differs between traditions.
As the lesson What Is Life For? explained, humanists and others find meaning in relationships, learning and helping others. Christians respond in different ways. Many accept that non-religious people can live good and meaningful lives, and that Christians can learn from them. They would add that the deepest meaning comes from knowing God, and point to Jesus' words in John 10:10 that he came so people might have life "to the full". Other Christians argue that without God life lacks a lasting purpose. Either way, Christians say meaning does not come only from achievement, but from a relationship with the God who made them.
(a) Identify three Christian beliefs about salvation. [3 marks, AO1]
(b) Choose one religion. Outline two ways in which salvation may be achieved in this religion. [4 marks, AO1]
(c) Explain why there are different attitudes to salvation among Christians. [6 marks, AO1 and AO2]
(d) "Life can only have meaning if a person has religious faith." Evaluate this statement, showing you have considered different points of view. In your answer you should refer to at least one religion. [12 marks, AO1 and AO2]
(a) 1. Salvation is a gift of God's grace (1). 2. Jesus is the Saviour (1). 3. Salvation is received through faith (1).
(b) Christianity. Salvation is achieved through the grace of God (1), because Christians believe it is a gift that cannot be earned (1). It is also achieved through faith in Jesus as Lord and Saviour (1), as Romans 10:9 says those who declare "Jesus is Lord" and believe God raised him will be saved (1).
(c) Christians agree that salvation comes from God's grace, but they stress different things. Protestants emphasise salvation through faith alone, using Ephesians 2:8-9, which says it is not by works. They believe good actions follow from being saved. Catholics also teach that salvation is a gift, but stress that faith must be shown in love and good actions, and that the sacraments carry God's grace. Both can point to scripture, as James 2:17 says faith without action is dead. So attitudes differ because Christians read the passages in different ways. (Level 2: terms used well, contrasting views, developed reasons.)
(d) Plan. Agree: Christians say the deepest meaning is a relationship with God (John 17:3); without God, some argue, life has no lasting purpose. Disagree: humanists find meaning in relationships, learning and helping others; many Christians accept that non-religious people live good lives. Other views: some Christians say faith gives the fullest meaning but not the only meaning. Possible conclusion: the word "only" is hard to defend, since many people find real meaning without faith, but a Christian could argue that faith gives meaning that lasts beyond death.
In part (d), underline the word "only" in the statement and test it: ask whether a non-religious person could find meaning, then judge.