Salvation Part 2
- Isaac Bisbee
- Mar 14
- 10 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
Restoration and Obedience
Introduction
This article is Part 2 of a two-part series on salvation. In Part 1, I examined Penal Substitution, the predominant Protestant model. For many years, I believed this was the correct understanding of salvation, and it became one of the biggest barriers for me in entering the Catholic Church. But as I studied Scripture and Church history, I realized something crucial: Salvation is not just about avoiding God's punishment—it is about being transformed.
One of the main reasons Protestants struggle to understand Catholic soteriology (the study of faith and salvation) is that we often use the same words—grace, faith, justification, salvation—but use different meanings. These terms may sound identical across traditions, yet they carry distinct theological implications. Because of this, Catholicism can appear to Protestants as though it teaches salvation through works when in reality, the difference lies in how salvation is understood and applied. This confusion only adds to the assumption that one side is simply being "more biblical" than the other. Many Protestants believe their view of salvation comes directly from Scripture, while Catholic theology is weighed down by tradition. Yet when someone claims, "The Bible says..." or "Scripture teaches...", what they really mean is, "My interpretation of Scripture says..." or "My denomination interprets the Bible as..." This applies to all Christians, regardless of tradition.
Because of this, Christians across the world, believing their understanding of salvation is Biblical, often reduce salvation to simply “going to Heaven.” But this distorts what it truly means to be saved. Salvation is just as much about this life as it is about the next—it is about being transformed into perfect image-bearers.
Review of Part 1
In Part 1, we explored the true purpose of salvation—not as a mere escape from punishment, but as the restoration of humanity’s original role as God’s image-bearers (Genesis 1:26). This is not just about possessing certain attributes, like intelligence or free will. Rather, God created us to be His representatives on Earth.
To illustrate this, imagine the great polished mirrors used in Ancient Egypt. These mirrors could not produce light on their own, but they reflected the brilliance of the sun, illuminating dark places that would otherwise remain in shadow. In the same way, humanity was created to reflect God’s holiness. But sin shattered that mirror. Instead of reflecting God’s perfect image, humanity became distorted, fractured, and incapable of fully representing Him.
This is what salvation is about. It is not simply about avoiding Hell or securing a place in Heaven—it is about being restored so that we can once again reflect God as we were meant to. This is precisely where Penal Substitution falls short.
Rather than restoring us, Penal Substitution merely covers us—claiming that God sees us as righteous while we remain unchanged. Yet believers continue to sin, even though Christ and His Apostles repeatedly command us to "sin no more" (John 8:11). Continually, the Protestant view of salvation fails to explain Christ’s sacrifice without creating a logical paradox where God pours wrath upon Himself. Ultimately salvation becomes a legal transaction, pardoning humanity, rather than true restoration and transformation.
Part 1 left us with two ultimate questions:
How does Christ's death actually restore us to image-bearers?
How do we reconcile this transformation with the reality that believers still sin?
Restoration requires participation
In Part 1, I highlighted how many Protestants have an emotional incentive to believe in Penal Substitution. For those who recognize and hate their sin, the assurance that salvation is already secured can feel deeply comforting. I also examined how Protestant theology often shifts the concept of transformation away from justification, treating it instead as part of sanctification—despite the person already being considered saved.
The problem here is that, as I’ve established, salvation is transformation. What many Protestants call sanctification is not incorrect, in itself, but they misunderstand its significance.
Protestants rightly observe that sanctification brings real transformation to a believer—because it’s logical: When a person truly follows Christ, they will naturally choose to live a life that imitates Him. Put another way, a person who follows Christ naturally images God. What Protestants fail to recognize is That this isn’t a secondary effect of already being declared saved—it is what being saved actually is. Think about it, if salvation is about restoration, then a person fully restored will necessarily be someone who lives obediently.
As I've stated throughout this series, it can be easy for Protestants to view Catholic soteriology as "works-based salvation," but they're misunderstanding what works truly is: Participation in God's transformative process.
This article is not an argument centered on Sola Fide, but it is a recognition that if someone wants to be restored to perfect image-bearing status, they must live obediently. One cannot simultaneously be "restored" if they are actively living a life of sin. In other words: Restoration requires Participation.
The Passover as a blueprint
Participation being a necessary part of salvation brings us to the most important topic of this entire article: The Passover. Most Christians are aware that Christ is referred to as our "Passover Lamb" (John 1:29 & 1 Corinthians 5:7). However, the rest of this article will reveal why the Passover is a true blueprint for understanding our salvation.
First, the parallels between the Passover and Christ's redemptive mission are stark:
God's people cried out for deliverance
God sent His representative to free His people
In a final act of deliverance, God requires a sacrificial lamb
To be saved, God's people must participate in His plan
Don't miss the importance: When it came time to save God's people, He offered a path to deliverance, but it was the Hebrews' choice to receive it.
We know from the Book of Exodus that the Hebrews already knew and worshipped Yahweh (Exodus 4:29-31). Yet, when it came time for their deliverance, their belief alone did not save them—God still required active participation in the redemptive process. He could have snapped His figurative fingers, and the Hebrews would have walked out of Egypt. Instead, His plan necessarily involved the free choice to receive it. Any one of the Hebrew families could have chosen to ignore one of the instructions God gave them, they too would have lost a firstborn, like the Egyptians.
God's redemptive plan includes man's participation
Even if one already believes, participation is necessary
This will certainly ruffle feathers, but it becomes even clearer throughout all of Scripture: God offers deliverance to Noah, but Noah must build the ark, God offers to make a nation out of Abram, but he must leave his family and home. God will protect the Israelites, but they must obey His commandments. Good works never earned anyone salvation, rather they have been and are the sign of true faith.
God's salvation which is transformation, necessarily involves man's participation in the process. This naturally brings us to the big question: What must sinners do, to be transformed?
The sacraments transform believers
The word 'sacrament' is a loaded term—some Protestants embrace certain sacraments, while others have never even heard of them—Luther, himself, couldn't seem to decide whether there are two or three, while Catholicism, Anglicanism, and Orthodoxy recognize 7 sacraments. Defined simply:
A sacrament is a visible sign of God's grace, that transforms and enables believers to live obediently. (The primary ones being Baptism and the Lord's Supper)
At this point, my Evangelical friends may feel uneasy—this likely sounds unfamiliar or entirely new. However, sacramental theology has been a core teaching of nearly all major branches of historic Christianity. It is primarily modern, non-traditional churches that have moved away from this understanding.
The concept is straightforward: Christ died to save all sinners—a truth we all affirm. But as previously stated, the key question remains: How do we receive transformation? Catholicism teaches that Christ’s sacrifice was final and complete, yet belief alone does not accomplish transformation. Rather, it is loving obedience that allows us to be remade in His image. The sacraments are the primary means by which God imparts His grace, enabling us to live in faithful obedience. This faithful obedience is what restores us to perfect image-bearing status.
This does not mean that God's grace is absent from Christians who do not practice sacramental theology. Rather, the sacraments are the ordinary means through which God grants transformation. Yet, God is merciful and loving, and for those who sincerely follow Him without recognizing the sacraments, He understands and can still strengthen them by His grace.
Whether you recognize the sacraments or not, I hope you can begin to see that God's salvation is real and tangible. Like the Passover, He calls for us to respond in obedience as a sign of our trust.
The Problem of Sin
This finally brings us to the second question: How do we reconcile this transformation with the reality that believers still sin? Within the Penal Substitution model, this is a problem. As addressed in Part 1, if believers are merely "declared righteous," how can they truly enter Heaven? If sin is a rejection of God, how can someone still tainted by sin enter into full communion with Him? Furthermore, under the sacramental model, once believers are transformed through faith, what happens if they sin again?
The idea of losing one's salvation is deeply unsettling. Most Christians take comfort in the belief that once they are "saved," their salvation is permanently secured, no matter what. However, this assumption does not logically follow. If salvation is truly about being restored into the image of God, then a life of continual sin contradicts that very restoration. At some point, if we persist in sin, we break ourselves off from God.
To illustrate this, imagine a person's soul as a glass filled with thick, pitch-black oil—representing sin. On our own, nothing we do can cleanse or purify the glass. But through God's grace, this dark liquid is completely transformed into pure, clear water. This is justification—the initial moment of restoration. However, what happens when a justified person sins again? Every sinful action is like adding a drop of oil back into the water. A few drops may not seem significant, but over time, if left unchecked, the oil begins to displace the water entirely.
This is why God, in His infinite mercy, gave us the sacraments. If salvation is truly about restoration, then transformation must be an ongoing process, not a one-time event. The sacraments, particularly Confession and the Eucharist (Lord's Supper), serve as the means by which God continually cleanses and sustains us. A single drop of oil—the daily faults we commit—can be easily washed away through God's grace in the sacraments. Without sacraments, however, sin accumulates, eventually pushing out the grace that once filled the soul.
Thus, salvation is not merely a past event or a legal declaration but an ongoing process of being conformed to Christ. This is why Scripture warns us to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). The sacraments do not replace Christ’s work; rather, they are the means through which His work is applied to us throughout our lives. Just as we were initially restored through God's grace, we must continue in grace—participating in the transformative process that makes us into true image-bearers of God.
Living in Christ is Image bearing
I want to close Part 2 by reinforcing the Catholic transformative model of salvation. Throughout this article, we have established that salvation is not merely about avoiding punishment but about being restored—restored to once again reflect God's image. We have also seen that this restoration is not passive; it requires our participation and response to God's grace. Through the sacraments, this transformation is made a lived reality, not just an abstract belief. Yet, some may still argue that this emphasis on participation sounds like a defense of works-based salvation. To address this concern, we must turn to Scripture itself and examine how the Bible describes salvation.
"For as by one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience the many will be made righteous." (Romans 5:19)
Obedience is the key to salvation because disobedience is what led to humanity’s fall. To bear God's image is to live in perfect obedience to Him—yet, because of sin, we are incapable of this on our own. This is why Christ, the perfect image-bearer, is at the center of our salvation. Unlike us, He lived in complete and unbroken obedience to the Father, His entire life was a perfect act of submission that culminated in His sacrificial death on the cross. Through this, He reversed Adam’s disobedience, restoring what was lost. But Christ does not simply restore us from a distance—He calls us to participate in His very life so that through Him, we too can reflect the obedience that was lost in the Fall.
This is why Paul and the New Testament authors repeatedly describe salvation as living in Christ:
"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." (Galatians 2:20) "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." (2 Corinthians 5:17 "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ." (1 Corinthians 11:1)
Paul does not present salvation as a mere declaration but as a transformation—one that requires abiding in Christ daily. He doesn’t say, "attempt to be like Christ," but rather, "live in Christ." This is an ongoing, active participation in the life of grace, made possible because Christ Himself has already lived the perfect obedience we could not. Salvation is a lived reality, one that brings us into a deeper relationship with God.
Conclusion
For much of my life, I saw salvation as belief—an assurance of Heaven rather than a process of transformation. But Scripture never presents salvation as a mere declaration; it calls us to be righteous, not just to be seen as righteous. Part 1 exposed the failure of Penal Substitution, showing that it reduces salvation to a legal transaction rather than true restoration.
Part 2 answered how salvation actually restores us—through participation in God's grace. The Passover revealed that salvation is not passive; it requires a response. Through Christ’s obedience, we are called to live in Him, not simply acknowledge Him.
This series only scratched the surface of many doctrines: Sola Fide, the Sacraments, and the Eucharist. These topics will receive future articles, dedicated to exploring the complexities surrounding them. For, now I wanted to keep the focus on faith and salvation.
Regardless of where you stand, I hope this has challenged you to see salvation not as a status or a label, but as restoration—a life of transformation into the image of God. If you have any questions, feel free to visit the contact page, and I will do my best to address them civilly and honestly. Thanks for reading!
