Genesis 2:7 English Standard Version (ESV) then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

Genesis 2:7 King James Version (KJV) And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

I reduced the title of this devotional to living because there is a division in interpretation of the Hebrew word nephesh which according to Strong’s H5215 is soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion. The use of creature is all inclusive without distinct of attributes for which the word soul is included within the terms. Nowhere within that definition is the term “breath of life”. Nowhere within that definition is the word spirit.

Because of this we can limit the definition of soul to be contained within the realm of this life of man/woman. The soul is a component part of life and does not exist without life. The death of the body includes the death of the soul, no matter how you choose to define the soul. So what is this saving of the soul that is limited to only a life we live?

Luke 20:36-38 English Standard Version (ESV)

^36 “for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sonsof the resurrection. ³⁷ But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. ³⁸ Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.”

If there is no resurrection there will be no soul to be with God and no eternal salvation. This being the case then the first theology to affect our eternal salvation is that of the resurrection. No resurrection no salvation.

Acts 15:1-2 English Standard Version (ESV)

¹ But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” ² And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question.

The word theology breaks down into two component parts in the Greek; theo which means god and ology which means to study. This has been expanded to the study of religion and articles and books associated with those religions. What distinguishes one religion from another is how the practitioners teach others about the application of their beliefs.

What if your god does not save? What is the point of a religion in which the god has no interest in helping believers directly? Is a religion that says help yourself a religion? There are many self-help gurus out there in the world writing books and selling their ideas.  Is that a religion?

Because I am a Christian and my God saves, I can only address the issues of theology in that particular context. There is no value in my trying to explain a religion I do not practice. I limited my theology to the practices of my religion.

Getting back to theology and the study of the God of salvation, let us look to the opening lines of Acts 15 for an example. Obviously those men coming down from Judea were former Jews for they bring with them requirements from that religion and believe that it must be imposed on new Christian believers.

Paul and Barnabas disagree and are willing to argue the point with those in Jerusalem where these men came from. The main focus of this discussion is not what men specifically believe but rather the assertion made that this issue affected a believer’s salvation. Theology is being tested.

There are many things which can be interpreted in different ways but the most import ones to get right in any salvation religion are ones involving the losing of one’s soul.