How do Christians believe a person reaches salvation and eternal life with God?
The means of reaching the goal in Christianity, including the death and resurrection of Jesus (atonement), grace, faith, repentance, prayer and worship, the sacraments, and following the teaching and example of Jesus.
An SQA National 5 RMPS answer on World Religion, using Christianity. Covers the means of reaching the goal: the death and resurrection of Jesus (atonement), grace, faith, repentance, prayer, worship and the sacraments, and following the teaching and example of Jesus.
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What this dot point is asking
The World Religion component studies one religion (your centre chooses from Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism or Sikhism) through four questions: human nature, the human condition, the goal, and the means. This page, using Christianity as the worked example, covers the last one: the means, that is, how a person actually reaches the goal of salvation and eternal life with God.
You need to describe and explain the Christian means, which include the death and resurrection of Jesus (atonement), grace, faith, repentance, prayer, worship and the sacraments, and following the teaching and example of Jesus.
The death and resurrection of Jesus (atonement)
Christians explain atonement in different ways. A common one is that Jesus took the punishment for sin in humans' place, so the barrier of sin can be removed. Others stress that the cross shows God's self-giving love, or that it is a victory over the powers of evil and death. The resurrection is essential: it is the event Christians believe proves that death is not the end and that the goal of eternal life is real.
Everything else in this dot point depends on this. The other means are the ways a person receives and lives out what Christians believe God has already done in Jesus.
Grace and faith
The relationship between grace and faith is at the heart of how Christians understand the means. Salvation is God's gift (grace), and humans receive that gift by faith, by trusting God rather than by trying to be good enough. The Apostle Paul writes that people are saved "by grace through faith", and this idea was especially emphasised at the Reformation.
This matters because it shapes the whole Christian view: humans cannot rescue themselves from the human condition, so the means is to rely on God. Good actions then follow as a response of gratitude, not as a way of buying salvation.
Repentance, prayer, worship and the sacraments
A key way Christians mark and receive God's grace is through the sacraments, outward signs of an inward grace. The two recognised across almost all Christian traditions are:
- Baptism, using water as a sign of being washed from sin and joined to Christ and the Church, and
- Holy Communion (also called the Eucharist, Mass or the Lord's Supper), sharing bread and wine in remembrance of Jesus' death and resurrection.
Christians disagree about how the sacraments work, for example whether the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ or are a symbolic memorial. A strong answer can note this range of belief accurately and respectfully.
Following the teaching and example of Jesus
This links the means directly to the Morality and Belief component: a Christian's response to moral issues, including crime and punishment, flows from trying to follow Jesus, who taught forgiveness, mercy and care for the poor and the outcast. So the means is not only about belief; it is about a way of life.
Examples in context
Example 1. Why Easter is central. Christians celebrate Good Friday and Easter Sunday because the death and resurrection of Jesus are the central means of salvation. Easter shows how the means shapes the most important festival in the Christian year.
Example 2. A baptism service. At a baptism, water is used as a sign of being washed from sin and joined to Christ. This shows how a sacrament acts as a visible means of receiving God's grace.
Try this
Q1. State what Christians mean by grace. [1 mark]
- Cue. God's free, undeserved gift of love and salvation, which cannot be earned.
Q2. Name the two sacraments recognised across almost all Christian traditions. [1 mark]
- Cue. Baptism and Holy Communion (the Eucharist).
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of SQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
SQA N5 style4 marksDescribe two means Christians use to reach the goal of human existence.Show worked answer →
A 4-mark describe question wants two developed means, so make two points and add a piece of detail to each.
First means: the death and resurrection of Jesus. Christians believe Jesus died on the cross and rose again, and that this opened the way to salvation by dealing with sin. This belief is often called atonement, being made at one with God.
Second means: faith. Christians believe that salvation is received by trusting in God and in Jesus. Faith is the way a person accepts the salvation God offers, rather than trying to earn it.
Markers reward accurate, developed means. Other valid answers include grace, repentance, prayer and worship, the sacraments such as baptism and Communion, and following the teaching and example of Jesus. The command word is describe.
SQA N5 style6 marksExplain why the death and resurrection of Jesus is important for Christians reaching the goal.Show worked answer →
A 6-mark explain answer needs reasons with their consequences, so develop three linked points.
Point one: the death of Jesus deals with sin. Many Christians teach that Jesus took the punishment for human sin on the cross (atonement), so the consequence is that the barrier of sin between people and God can be removed.
Point two: the resurrection shows the goal is real. Christians believe Jesus rose from the dead, which they see as proof that death has been defeated, so the consequence is that eternal life with God becomes possible for believers.
Point three: it is received by grace and faith. The death and resurrection are God's gift (grace), accepted through faith, so the consequence is that humans reach the goal by trusting God rather than by earning it.
Markers reward each reason explained with its consequence, and credit links to atonement, to eternal life, and to grace and faith.
Related dot points
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