The lectures in this fifth module on the Doctrine of Salvation are, like the others, introductory, not exhaustive, and they’re intended to furnish you with a foundation that you can build upon in your further studies. As you’ll recall from the first module, theology, broadly defined, has to do with the study of the knowledge of God, and all that he has revealed for us to believe and do. We noted that it is the doctrine of living unto God through Christ, thus addressing both our thinking and our living. The Doctrine of Salvation, therefore, is an indispensible component to Systematic Theology.
Which is worth more: a container of water, or a container full of gold coins? I suspect that you’ll say the latter—the gold coins. Water is inexpensive or free, because there’s lots of it, and it’s easy to obtain, whereas gold is rare and more valuable to most people. But what we value can change with our context. For example, what if you were stranded in the desert without any water for two days, and you came across someone with a container of water. Well, you have no other ac- cess to water, and your life depends on getting it. In such circumstances, most people would gladly exchange all their gold for that container of water.