Book 4 of Musings Dynamic, Not Static
Several passages of the New Testament are being applied as though salvation were a one-time event.
"Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life." It is true, rather, that we have eternal life only as long as we keep on hearing His Word and keep on believing God.
This is a renewed attempt to explain that salvation is not as set of words and beliefs we accept at some point in time, thereby gaining everlasting righteousness in the sight of God.
I'll tell you what started me on this renewed effort. A man wrote me, informing me the thesis of the Book of Hebrews is that righteousness is gained by belief in Christ rather than by the Law of Moses. I believe this man is a sincere, godly individual. However, the purpose of the arguments in the Book of Hebrews is to remind Christians of the dangers of settling back before they are fully in the rest of God. There are several verses that express this warning.
The Book of Hebrews is not like the Book of Galatians-a refutation of the demands of the Judaizers that Christians be circumcised and obey the Law of Moses.
The Book of Hebrews warns us of the danger of not pressing forward until we arrive at the rest of God, the center God's Person and will.
Again, in this fine man's letter, I was coming up against the traditional error of salvation through words and beliefs. It reminds me of the scholar who wrote that the thesis of the Book of First John is the assurance of the believer. If American believers had any more assurance our nation would be in worse trouble than it is.
Actually, First John is a reaction to Gnosticism, emphasizing that whoever does what is sinful is of the devil. Quite a different conclusion, wouldn't you say?
The conventional view of the Christian salvation as a philosophy that we adopt, and once having adopted it we are assured that in the Day of Christ we will be enjoying a picnic lunch with the angels in Paradise, is incorrect. This is not what the Old Testament and the New Testament teach.
The truth is, salvation is a moment by moment interaction with the Lord Jesus Christ that keeps changing us from our natural, adamic state to a life-giving spirit made perfect in righteousness by the operation of the Spirit of God.
Can you see how dynamic this is? It is not a philosophy. It is not a ticket. It is not an orthodox theological position. It is not a mental assent to the truth concerning the Lord Jesus Christ and His redemption. It is a continual give and take, an interplay, a dance in which Christ does the leading and we do the following.
It is point and counterpoint. Christ acts, and we respond. Christ acts, and we respond. Christ acts, and we respond. It is death, and life. Death, and life. Death, and life.
We follow the Lamb everywhere He goes, carrying our personal cross of self-denial. From time to time we behold His Glory: in the Word; in the gifts and ministries of the Spirit; in the circumstances of life; in answers to prayer; in the personality of someone who has gone on before us.
As we behold, and then reflect, the Glory of God, we are transformed into the image we are beholding. It is a continual changing into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The process is totally dynamic. It is a learning curve moving straight up into eternity. There is no end to it. God is living and probably growing (if that is possible). In any case, we are eternally alive and eternally growing into the image of our Father.
The moment we stop pressing forward in Christ, decay sets in. This is because the pressure of evil is on us continually. The current moves us downward toward corruption. To cease to struggle, to swim, is to move back into the adamic, animal nature.
It is not an anxious struggle but one of rest in Christ. Yet, as Paul told us, it is a straining forward toward the goal of the resurrection unto life.
Satan and death surround us. We are in the valley of the shadow of death. But if we keep our eyes turned toward the Lord, He sets a table before us in the very presence of our enemies.
But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. (II Corinthians 3:18-NASB)
Continual transformation into His Glory!
We can see how opposed current teaching is to the actual program of redemption. The traditional viewpoint is that we are saved by expressing our consent to theological truth. The actual salvation, however, is one of a dynamic wrestling with God as He invites us to leave our old nature and enter Christ.
Christians speak often of imputed righteousness. This means the righteousness of Christ is ascribed to us on the basis of our belief in Him. Christian are using this to prove moral transformation is not an essential aspect of redemption.
The setting for this doctrine of the Apostle Paul, the doctrine of imputed righteousness, is that of turning from the Law of Moses to faith in Christ. The idea is that we turn from the scroll of the Law of Moses and place our faith in Jesus Christ as our source of righteousness.
Paul has been interpreted to mean if we believe Jesus is the Christ and died for our sins, we now have righteousness ascribed to us no matter how we behave.
This is a very incomplete understanding of Paul.
What Paul actually is saying is: we cannot gain righteousness by keeping the Law of Moses. The Lord Jesus Christ kept the Law of Moses perfectly. He is willing to assign to us the righteousness of One who kept the Law of Moses perfectly if we will cease living according to our sinful nature and obey the Spirit of God.
Imputed righteousness is conditional, keeping us righteous as long as we continue to live in the Spirit of God rather than in the sinful nature.
In order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. (John 5:24)
Can you see what a tremendous difference there is between what currently is being taught, and what the Apostle Paul taught us?
We preach today that if we profess belief in Jesus Christ, righteousness is ascribed to us independently of our behavior. We can continue as an adamic individual and be just as righteous as if we had kept the Law of Moses perfectly.
Paul taught, on the other hand, that if we will cease obeying our sinful nature and begin to follow the Spirit of God, the righteous requirements of the Law of Moses will be fully met in us.
The current doctrine is static, consisting of a belief in theological facts-facts the demons understand better than we do.
The actual new covenant is a day by day, step by step, walk in the Spirit of God. Walking in the Spirit of God means our adamic nature is being crucified and in its place is being created eternal, incorruptible resurrection life. This is a totally dynamic experience.
Here is something to ponder: Paul said he was crucified with Christ. He said he was living, nevertheless; but it was not he who was living but Christ who was living in him.
Then Paul stated he was living by faith in the Son of God.
This is what faith is. Faith is being crucified and living by the Life of Christ. Faith is not a profession of belief in theological facts.
The "Statement of Faith" of a denomination is nothing more than a recitation of theological facts-facts that, as I said previously, the demons understand better than we. Yet, the demons are not saved because there is no salvation in a recitation of theological facts.
Salvation is a Person. It is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Kingdom of God is a Person. It is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Resurrection is a Person. It is the Lord Jesus Christ. Eternal life is a Person. It is the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ Himself is the Way. Christ Himself is the Life. Christ Himself is the Truth. The Way, the Truth, and the Life, are a Person. That Person is the only Way to the Father.
I am afraid we of today have made salvation a philosophy to which we must subscribe if we are to go to Heaven when we die. The truth is, salvation is a Person with whom we must interact continually if we are to live in resurrection life.
He who is possessed by and possess the Lord Jesus Christ has everything of value in the creation of God. He how subscribes to the Christian Gospel as to a philosophy, not living in daily interaction with the Lord of Life, is dead spiritually. His knowledge is powerless to save him.
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; And whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26)