Christ the Center of Soteriology

When expressed in terms of the model of a chain of causes and effects, the traditional ordo salutis runs the danger of displacing Christ from the central place in soteriology.  The fruits of his work may be related to one another in the chain of cause-and-effect sequence, rather than viewed fundamentally in relation to the work of the Spirit in bringing us into union and communion with Christ himself.  Thus, election is spoken of as the cause of regeneration, which in turn is the cause of faith, of which sanctification and perseverance are the invariable and inevitable effects.  The relation of each to Christ himself is thus obscured or even minimized.

Sinclair Ferguson, The Holy Spirit (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 99.

photo by Tyler Ingram