The Reformation brought about in Europe by the Augustinian Catholic monk Martin Luther in the 1500s returned to Western Christianity the bedrock biblical understanding of salvation: it is by grace through faith, and not by works.

While Luther's intention was to simply "reform" the Church and not break from it, his further positions on limiting papal authority, scripture over church tradition in matters of doctrine, the priesthood of all believers, and ending the mandatory celibacy of priests, were viewed by the Pope as direct challenges to Catholic magisterial authority.

The Reformation movement, founded by Luther on the doctrine of justification by faith alone, not of works, was soon separated entirely from Roman Catholicism, and eventually branched into the various traditional Protestant denominations known today.

In light of the controversy that led to the division of Western Christianity into so many divergent groups, it may be valuable to examine the core issue of the Reformation: what are the basis and implications of salvation. For Martin Luther, the doctrine of salvation was understood through the five solae [Latin, sola - alone]: salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone, as revealed by Scripture alone, to the glory of God alone.

In keeping with those fundamentals, still valid as a foundation for approaching biblical truth today, this study searches the Scriptures to determine what has been revealed about the nature and mechanism of salvation; beginning with the question, from what are we being saved, and how did we get in this predicament in the first place?

In the same way Calvinism has its Five Points and Arminianism has its Five Articles of Remonstrance, so this study is structured on five points, remembered by the acrostic ROSES. But unlike Timothy George's ROSES, which is merely a redux of the Calvinist TULIP in a less harsh tone, ROSES is a third, and distinct, understanding of salvation. 

Neither Arminian nor Calvinist, this ROSES Theology avoids the shackles already set in 16th century dogma and looks afresh at the bible for understanding directly from the Apostles and Prophets.

What we discover is that there is one gospel, and that all who are saved from the Garden to the End are saved the same way, as the Prophets Isaiah and Joel proclaimed, and as John, Jesus and Paul repeated, "whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved."

Through this study the following fundamental truths are recognized from the whole counsel of Scripture --

R – Redeemed on condition of faith (“By grace you are saved through faith” Eph 2:8)

O – Open to all (“God… is the Savior of all men, especially of believers” 1 Tim 4:10)

S – Separated by sin (“Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God” Is 59:2)

E – Elect to good works (“We are… created in Christ Jesus for good works” Eph 2:10)

S – Sealed by the Spirit (“Having… believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit” Eph 1:13)

Neither Calvinist nor Arminian, this is the biblical way.