Trust and Obey 

Note: This is part five in a blog mini-series on the relationship between our salvation and our daily growth in Christ (sanctification). Read part one How We Grow in Grace, part two How to Disagree in an Agreeable Way, part three How People Change, and part four Applying Our Complete Salvation.

So Far…

What have we said so far?

• The Bible calls us to apply our salvation to our daily life, to our progressive sanctification. Sanctification is our daily, ongoing growth in grace—becoming more and more like Christ so that our inner life increasingly reflects the inner life of Christ.

• Many writers today are describing this connection as Gospel indicatives (who we are in Christ through our salvation) and Gospel imperatives (how we live out our newness in Christ).

And Now

Now I want to add a vital third major point:

• Gospel imperatives are not the Law; they are not legalism. Gospel imperatives are new covenant principles for living that flow from the reality of what God has done for us in Christ.

For examples of where some at times seem to confuse Gospel imperatives with the Law and legalism, read R. W. Glenn Red Meat for the Soul. One such example includes:

“The question is: Where does our power to obey God’s commands come from? Does it come from the gospel—from what God has done for us? Or does it come from the law—from what we must do?”

Glenn then notes:

“Here ‘the law’ refers to ‘God’s commands,’ and ‘what we must do,’ which is distinct from ‘the gospel,’ which refers to ‘what God has done for us.’”

I would add:

• Comparing a new covenant command to “the Law” is unhelpful to the conversation because it is theologically imprecise and incorrect.

• Comparing obedience to a new covenant command to “legalism” and automatically to self-effort is unhelpful to the conversation because it is theologically imprecise and incorrect.

What We Must Do Is Not Law; Obedience Is Not Legalism

The same Apostle Paul who despised legalism in Galatians, also insisted upon obedience. “You, my brothers were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature [sarx, flesh]; rather, serve one another in love” (Galatians 5:13). “Serve one another in love” is a command. It is an imperative.

The same Apostle Paul who despised works-based salvation in Ephesians, also insisted upon the truth that as new creations we are created to do good works. “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).

The same Apostle Paul who despised self-effort, who despised the idea that our power to obey God’s command comes from the flesh, and who insisted that our power to obey comes from the Spirit, also insisted that we obey.

“What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness…. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness” (Romans 6:15-18, 19b).

Clear and Precise

Let me be clear. I don’t think most people who use the Gospel Indicative/Gospel Imperative distinction (I use it) think or mean to imply that obedience = legalism. Nor do I think they believe in a “let go and let God” theology. Nor do I think they deny the importance of obeying new covenant imperatives. I think their emphasis is that we obey Gospel imperatives from a heart of gratitude for grace empowered by the work of the Spirit in our regenerated hearts (Gospel indicatives).

I’m simply saying we must be careful not to appear to be saying that obedience to Gospel imperatives shifts us from “grace” to “law,” from “new covenant living” to “old covenant living,” from “Spirit-dependence” to “self-sufficiency/works.” That would imply the ridiculous idea that somehow the Apostle Paul shifts from grace, Spirit-dependence, and new covenant living in Ephesians 1-3, to law, legalism, self-effort, works, and old covenant living in Ephesians 4-6! It would imply that the Apostle Paul shifts from grace to works right in the middle of Romans 6!

It’s not as if Paul himself shifts from Gospel/grace/Spirit-dependence to Law/works/self-effort when he moves from Ephesians 1-3 to Ephesians 4-6! Instead, Paul says:

• Motivated by gratitude for grace, on the basis of all that God has done for us in Christ (Ephesians 4:1), live a life worthy, obey, make every effort (Ephesians 4:2-3) in the Spirit’s power (Ephesians 5:18; 6:10).

• On the basis of our “old man” already having been put off (regeneration) (Ephesians 4:17-24; Romans 6:1-11; Colossians 3:1-10), daily put off the old ways, daily put to death what is already dead in Christ, daily rid yourselves of whatever belongs to your flesh (Ephesians 4:25-32; Romans 6:12-14; Colossians 3:10-17).

In Summary

We could summarize the truth about Gospel indicatives and Gospel imperatives this way:

• God’s commands, Gospel imperatives, new covenant principles for living are not the Law.

• We can twist and distort God’s commands and Gospel imperatives so that we obey motivated by gaining God’s approval rather than motivated by gratitude for God’s gracious approval in Christ (Romans 8:1-2; 12:1-2). That distortion results in legalism/works.

• We can twist and distort God’s new covenant principles for living so that we attempt to obey in the power of the flesh rather than in the power of the Spirit (Romans 8:3-17). That distortion results in self-effort/works.

• Gospel imperatives, just like Gospel indicatives, are grace-oriented and Spirit-dependent.

• Gospel imperatives, unlike Gospel indicatives, require grace-motivated, Spirit-dependent “effort” (as Paul says, “make every effort”—Ephesians 4:2-3). Salvation (Gospel indicative) is 100% solely the work of God. Sanctification (Gospel imperative) involves our grace-motivated and Spirit-dependent response to God in which we actively obey by cooperating with the work of the Spirit in our new heart.

Join the Conversation

What do you agree with in this post? What do you disagree with? Why is it important to see both the indicatives of the new covenant and the imperatives of the new covenant as Gospel indicatives and Gospel imperatives?

Tags: Christian Living, Gospel Imperatives, Gospel Indicatives, Sanctification

Applying Our Complete Salvation

Note: This is part four in a mini-series on the relationship between our salvation and our daily growth in Christ (sanctification). Read part one How We Grow in Grace, part two How to Disagree in an Agreeable Way, and part three How People Change.

Both/And/And/And

No, that’s not a typo. In How People Change, I emphasized the need for a both/and perspective where we highlight Gospel Indicatives (our salvation) and Gospel Imperatives (our sanctification). In today’s post, I will be emphasizing several aspects of our salvation.

I think some people who emphasize Gospel Indicatives seem to talk almost exclusively about justification. As amazing as the grace of justification is, it does not express the fullness of the Bible’s teaching on our salvation in Christ.

So in this post I want to express something of that fullness. I say “something” because no one blog post, no one book, not the entire ocean, could express the fullness of our glorious salvation. Still, I want to expand our thinking when we talk about Gospel Indicatives.

For a much fuller development of the following material, please see Soul Physicians where I devote eight chapters to these vital issues.

Our Complete Salvation and Our Daily Sanctification

The Bible calls us to apply our salvation to our daily life, to our progressive sanctification. Sanctification is our daily, ongoing growth in grace—becoming more and more like Christ so that our inner life increasingly reflects the inner life of Christ.

At times we mistakenly view ourselves only through the lens of depravity. This would be like a heart surgeon transplanting a perfectly healthy new heart into her patient, but then treating her patient as if he still has his old heart in his chest. To avoid this, let’s understand the comprehensive nature of biblical salvation and the implications for our daily growth in Christ.

Justification: New Pardon/Not Guilty—God the Forgiving Judge

Imagine the vilest offender. As cruel as Hitler, as depraved as Manson, as corrupt as Jack the Ripper. Desperately wicked. Self-deceived. Anti-social. Amoral. Mr. Mass Murderer. The day his trial begins, every major news network, cable news station, news magazine, and newspaper in the country, and hundreds around the world, join the coverage.

Shocking every reporter, every spectator, every member of the jury, and even his own legal team, Mr. Mass Murderer pleads guilty. Begs forgiveness. Asks for mercy.

Imagine the worldwide outrage as the judge responds, “Not guilty!”

“What a charade! Fool! He just said he was guilty. What is wrong with you? Have you gone mad? Retrial! Ethics probe! He must pay for his crimes.”

“His crimes have been paid for,” the judge retorts. “By my son. I have judged my son in place of Mr. Mass Murderer. They’ve exchanged places. My guiltless son, charged with nothing—his good standing I now transfer to Mr. Mass Murderer who is now free to go.”

You’ve not been watching The Twilight Zone. Not The Outer Limits. Not even reality TV. But reality. Spiritual reality. New Testament reality!

God our Judge justifies us, declaring us not guilty, forgiving us our trespasses, and reckoning His Son’s righteousness to our account, and our sin and guilt to His Son’s account. This is the amazing grace of justification.

How do people change? We must understand and apply our acceptance by God through grace by faith. For example, when Satan whispers his condemning lies into our ears, we need to remember the truth of Romans 8:1: “Therefore there is now no more condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” We are forgiven and accepted by God by grace through faith. Applying this one truth alone would cure so many spiritual struggles.

But here’s the problem, sometimes that’s exactly what we do. We apply the truth of justification alone. We say, “I’m not perfect, just forgiven.” But we are not just forgiven. To justification, God adds reconciliation.

Reconciliation: New Peace/Family—God Our Loving Father

Imagine that the spectators in the courtroom were to yell, “But he’s still evil through and through. A man like him can never change. He’s a danger to society. He must be locked up. Looked after.”

“He will live with me,” the judge replies. “Enjoying all the privileges my son enjoyed. I’ve adopted Mr. Mass Murderer into my family. He’s my adult son.”

God the Judge could have stopped at justification—forgiving us and then leaving us on our own. Left to our same old nurture we would return to our same old haunts—the world, the flesh, and the Devil. We would continue our maddening quest for relationship apart from God.

But God the Judge takes His legal robes off, replacing them with relaxed family attire and comfy slippers, inviting us into His home, into His family—reconciliation. Forgiveness (justification) as great as it is, would have been hollow had we remained separated from Father. The Judge becomes our adoptive Father, granting us access to His home and all the privileges of adult children—sons and daughters of God. This is the amazing grace of reconciliation.

How do people change? By applying the truth that God has already changed our relationship to Him from one of enemies to family!

Regeneration: New Person/Purity—Our All-Powerful Creator

The still insistent crowd in the gallery hollers, “That guarantees nothing. All your good intentions, all the love in the world, all the good nurture and best environment in the world does not guarantee that Mr. Mass Murderer will not continue his rampage.”

“I’m not finished. Hear me out,” the judge insists. “I’ve consulted the best medical, psychiatric, and psychological experts on the planet. Mr. Mass Murderer will receive a heart, brain, and soul transplant along with a DNA graft infusing into his very being my very nature.”

As the story of Mr. Mass Murderer correctly indicates, new nurture without new nature is insufficient to change us. What changes us? How do people change? God changes us. As new creations in Christ, we are already changed internally and we need to help one another to live out the new life already implanted within as we put off the old and put on the new.

The Judge of the criminal and the Father of the adult son becomes the Creator, Parent, Progenitor, Begetter, Life-giver of a newborn infant—regeneration. Like Father, like son. We are born again of incorruptible seed. Born from above to reflect the image of our Creator. We are reborn with a new nature—new soul, mind, will, spirit, emotions. Reborn with a renewed ability to relate (to God, others, and our self), think, choose, and feel in Christlike ways. We are reborn with a new heart—new capacities, disposition, inclinations, purity. The old dies. The new lives. This is the amazing grace of regeneration.

Redemption: New Power/Victory—God Our Invincible Champion

The shrill crowd is momentarily silenced. Totally stunned. Then a hand shoots up. “But that only means that he has a clean start. What about all his old acquaintances, his old habits? They will still come around clamoring for his attention, demanding his loyalty and affection.”

“Fair question,” the judge agrees. “We’ve thought of everything. I’ve jailed all his old acquaintances. His foes are defeated. Plus, we’ve infused his new heart, brain, soul, and DNA complex with core power to remain free from and victorious over these past tempters.”

This is the salvation grace of redemption. Freedom from the power of sin. Freedom from bondage and slavery to sin. We need victory. Resurrection power. The Judge of the criminal, the Father of the adult son, the Creator of the newborn infant, is also the Champion, Victor, Warrior, General, and King of the overcomer, of the empowered, freed, victorious soldier.

How do people change? Not through our own power but through tapping into Christ’ resurrection power.

We have been set free from the power of sin and death and united with the resurrection power of Christ. We have Christ’s resurrection power to be victorious over the world, the flesh, the Devil, sin, and death. We are new creations with a new nature: regeneration and redemption. God has implanted a new heart into the core of our being with new power to live godly lives.

These four salvation realities (justification, reconciliation, regeneration, and redemption) about our newness in Christ are the foundation for our sanctification. How do people change? By applying justification, reconciliation, regeneration, and redemption to our daily lives and relationships.

Join the Conversation

How would applying justification, reconciliation, regeneration, and redemption change how we approach our sanctification?

Tags: Christian Living, Gospel Imperatives, Gospel Indicatives, Salvation, Sanctification

Suicide, Salvation, and Eternal Security 

Ever since the publication of my book God’s Healing for Life’s Losses: How to Find Hope When You’re Hurting, I receive many emails, phone calls, and questions about grief. One of the most difficult questions I hear is from family members who have lost a loved one to suicide. 

The question often sounds something like this.

“We are confident that our mother (or father, brother, sister, daughter, son) was a Christian by faith in Christ. Yet we have heard some say that if a believer commits suicide they lose their salvation. What does the Bible say?”

Shared Sorrow Is Endurable Sorrow

Any response to this question must first, of course, address the grief and agony of the surviving family members. The loss of a loved one is always a legitimate cause for great grief. Loss by suicide heaps even more grief and pain upon a family.

Christians, in particular, seem to struggle with “permission to grieve.” That was one reason I wrote God’s Healing for Life’s Losses: to help Christians struggling with any life loss to understand that the Bible encourages grief and provides a way toward growth and healing hope.

Any response must also include the encouragement for the family to cling to Christ and to the Body of Christ. No one should suffer grief alone. As I say in the book, “shared sorrow is endurable sorrow.”

Salvation and Eternal Security

Regarding the specific question concerning a loved one’s eternal security, my response, in summary, usually sounds something like the following.

There is nothing in the Bible to indicate that a believer in Christ can ever lose their salvation, their eternal security. The Apostle Paul is clear that there is now therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). Paul continues in that chapter to state that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ, including death—by any means (Romans 8:28-39).

Jesus Himself guarantees us: “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (John 10:28-30). Jesus died to save us from our sins—every sin, including suicide.

Doubt and Faith

Further, even doubt and loss of hope is not an evidence of loss of faith. In Mark 9:24, we read of the father of a sick child who said to Jesus, “I believe, help me overcome my unbelief.” The rest of the passage indicates that this father had faith, though like all of us, he struggled to overcome his doubts.

The Apostle Thomas doubted, yet his doubt was mingled with faith—saving faith, belief in Christ (John 21:24-29). The Apostle Paul himself honestly admitted that he despaired of life and felt the sentence of death (2 Corinthians 1:8-9), yet no one would question his saving faith and eternal security in Christ.

The “Unpardonable Sin”

Some ask whether suicide might be the “unpardonable sin.” The only unpardonable sin is to willfully and permanently reject God’s offer of salvation through Jesus Christ (John 3:36).

Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death atones for all the sins of his people—past, present, and future (Romans 3:25). Believers in Christ enjoy God’s enduring and complete forgiveness for all their sins (2 Corinthians 5:18-19).

Join the Conversation

What additional biblical hope do you share with people concerning a Christian’s eternal security in Christ?

Tags: Eternal Security, God's Healing for Life's Losses, Grief, Salvation, Suicide

Extreme Makeover

Note: You can find the following spiritual parable, which is reproduced here with permission, in Soul Physicians.

Once upon a time there lived a beautiful Swan. Swan reflected the Creator, related lovingly, ruled humbly over Swandom, and rested contentedly. 

Until Swan ate poisoned Swan food. Then everything changed. Swan’s beauty was corrupted, love became a chasm of distance, rule turned to captivity, and rest disintegrated into shameful condemnation.

Until the Great Swan Prince restored order. Then Swan changed again. A new creation. Re-created. Regenerated. Reconciled. Redeemed. Justified.

Only Swan still swam like an ugly Duckling. Thought like an ugly Duckling. Quacked like an off-key Duckling.

Once Swan saw Swan’s reflection mirrored in Swan Lake. Startled, Swan was confused. The reflection seemed to reflect a titanic change—change for the good, for the best, forever.

“No. Can’t be,” Swan reflected. “I’m just an ugly Duckling saved by grace. I’m not perfect, just forgiven. Changes are occurring, but no drastic inner change has already occurred. Must be something wrong with this water reflecting a distorted image of me. Must be something wrong with how I see myself. Too arrogant.”

So Swan returned to Duckyville. Yielded again to Ugly-Duckling Theology, to Worm Theology. Living as if still corrupt.

Swan actually felt quite smug in Duckyville. “I know who I am. Sinner Swan. No arrogance in me. Forget about myself. Don’t think highly of myself. Wretched Swan that I am.”

That is, until Ambassador Swan arrived to represent Creator. “Hear ye! Hear ye! I have come to preach the good news of regeneration and redemption.”

Ambassador’s message struck a chord with Swan. Reminded Swan of that silly second when his reflection seemed to indicate that real change had already occurred.

Preaching regeneration, Ambassador said, “You’re a new creation. Created in my image. You have a new nature. A saint you are—Saint Swan. A new you exists. New purity. New capacities. New righteous gowns. New life. Restoration. New nature.”

“But, but, but,” sputtered Swan. “Saint? Thought I was a sinner.”

“Was is right,” Ambassador concurred. “But you are a saint now.”

“Not only that,” Ambassador continued, “you’re also salt, light, wise, righteous, noble, good, holy, blameless, without spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. You are dead to sin, buried with Christ, your old Swan crucified with Christ. United with Christ, raised with Christ, and alive to Creator.”

Preaching redemption, Ambassador shared, “You’re free from sin. You have victory over sin. New power to live holy because you are holy. New inclination to love because you have been renewed in the image of the One who is Love.”

“But, but, but,” stammered Swan. “Free? Thought I was a slave.”

“Was is right,” Ambassador concurred. “But you are a free Swan now. Free to fly. Free to shepherd. Free to rule. Free to empower. Free to enjoy victory over sin. Freed from sin’s power. Emancipated.”

Join the Conversation

In Christ, are you still an ugly duckling, or are you a beautiful swan?

Tags: Christian Living, Regeneration, Salvaton, Soul Physicians, Ugly Duckling

Our Father’s Full Provision

Too much Christian living is old covenant living. We consume ourselves with trying to become what we already are, when our present task is to be who we already are.

Too much Christian ministry is old covenant ministry. We minister to Christians as if they are still non-Christians. We counsel saints as if they are still unsaved. We disciple one another as if we are still under the old covenant of law and not the new covenant of grace through which we enjoy our new nurture and our new nature.

Our new covenant salvation in Christ implants within us a new nature and a new nurture. We are cleansed (new purity) and invited in (new family). Sanctification does not involve making myself a saint, but living out my sainthood. It does not involve making myself a child of God, but enjoying my new sonship. The key to our victory is our faith in our new identity. The following narrative speaks to the new you in Christ.

The Vilest Offender

Imagine the vilest offender. As cruel as Hitler, as depraved as Manson, as corrupt as Jack the Ripper. Desperately wicked. Self-deceived. Anti-social. Amoral. Mr. Mass Murderer. The day his trial begins, every major news network, cable news station, news magazine, and newspaper in the country, and hundreds around the world, join the coverage.

Shocking every reporter, every spectator, every member of the jury, and even his own legal team, Mr. Mass Murderer pleads guilty. Begs forgiveness. Asks for mercy.

The Amazing Grace of Justification

Imagine the worldwide outrage as the judge responds, “Not guilty!”

“What a charade! Fool! He just said he was guilty. What is wrong with you? Have you gone mad? Retrial! Ethics probe! He must pay for his crimes.”

“His crimes have been paid for,” the judge retorts. “By my son. I have judged my son in place of Mr. Mass Murderer. They’ve exchanged places. My guiltless son, charged with nothing—his good standing I now transfer to Mr. Mass Murderer who is now free to go.”

The Amazing Grace of Reconciliation

“But he’s still evil through and through. A man like him can never change. He’s a danger to society. He must be locked up. Looked after.”

“He will live with me,” the judge replies. “Enjoying all the privileges my son enjoyed. I’ve adopted Mr. Mass Murderer into my family. He’s my adult son.”

The Amazing Grace of Regeneration

“That guarantees nothing. All your good intentions, all the love in the world, all the good nurture and best environment in the world does not guarantee that Mr. Mass Murderer will not continue his rampage.”

“I’m not finished. Hear me out,” the judge insists. “I’ve consulted the best medical, psychiatric, and psychological experts on the planet. Mr. Mass Murderer will receive a heart, brain, and soul transplant along with a DNA graft infusing into his very being my very nature.”

The Amazing Grace of Redemption

Momentarily silenced. Totally stunned. Then a hand shoots up. “But that only means that he has a clean start. What about all his old acquaintances, his old habits? They will still come around clamoring for his attention, demanding his loyalty and affection.”

“Fair question,” the judge agrees. “We’ve thought of everything. I’ve jailed all his old acquaintances. His foes are defeated. Plus, we’ve infused his new heart, brain, soul, and DNA complex with core power to remain free from and victorious over these past tempters.”

Living Out Our Complete Salvation

You’ve not been watching The Twilight Zone. Not The Outer Limits. Not even reality TV. But reality. Spiritual reality.

God our Judge justifies us, declaring us not guilty, forgiving us our trespasses, and reckoning his Son’s righteousness to our account. The amazing grace of justification.

However, God the Judge could have stopped here—forgiving us and then leaving us on our own. Left to our same old nurture we would return to our old haunts—the world, the flesh, and the Devil. We would continue our maddening quest for relationship apart from God.

But God the Judge takes his legal robes off, replacing them with relaxed family attire and comfy slippers, inviting us into his home, into his family—reconciliation. Forgiveness (justification) as great as it is, would have been hollow had we remained separated from Father. The Judge becomes our adoptive Father, granting us access to his home and all the privileges of adult children. The amazing grace of reconciliation.

Justification and reconciliation combine to form the first perfection of the new covenant—our new nurture. However, as the story of Mr. Mass Murderer correctly indicates, new nurture without new nature is insufficient to change us.

The Judge of the criminal and the Father of the adult son becomes the Creator, Parent, Progenitor, Begetter, Life-giver of a newborn infant—regeneration. Like Father, like son. Born again of incorruptible seed. Born from above to reflect the image of the Creator. Born with a new nature—new soul, mind, will, spirit, emotions. Born with a new heart—new capacities, disposition, inclinations, purity. The old dies. The new lives. The amazing grace of regeneration.

As amazing as all this is, we still need one more salvation grace—redemption. Freedom from the power of sin. Freedom from bondage and slavery to sin. We need victory. Resurrection power. The Judge of the criminal, the Father of the adult son, the Creator of the newborn infant, is also the Champion, Victor, Warrior, General, and King of the overcomer, of the empowered, freed, victorious soldier. Set free from the power of sin and death, united with the resurrection power of Christ. Victorious over the world, the flesh, the Devil, sin, and death. The amazing grace of redemption.

Join the Conversation

In your life and ministry, are you living out the amazing grace of our complete salvation in Christ: justification, reconciliation, regeneration, and redemption?

Note: This post is excerpted from Soul Physicians.

Tags: Gospel, Salvation, Sanctification, Soul Physicians

A Conversation about Brian McLaren’s A New Kind of Christianity

Responding to Brian McLaren’s Question # 5: The Gospel Question

Welcome: You’re reading Part 7 of my blog series responding to Brian McLaren’s book A New Kind of Christianity (read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6). Many have engaged Brian’s thinking by focusing on a systematic theology response (visit here for a boatload of links). My focus is on pastoral theology or practical theology. As a pastor, counselor, and professor who equips the church for biblical counseling and spiritual formation, I’m asking: “What difference does our response to each question make for how we care like Christ (biblical counseling) and for how we live like Christ (spiritual formation)?”

The Gospel of Brian

Brian’s trek toward his new kind of Christianity began fifteen years ago when he repented of his belief that the Gospel was about justification by grace through faith (p. 138). He now proclaims that the Gospel is not about solving the problem of the Fall and original sin (p. 139), or about avoiding hell and ascending to heaven after death (p. 139). It is the “good news” of the liberating king who sets God’s people free from oppression (p. 138). The Gospel is helping the poor and the downtrodden, healing the planet, and stopping war (p. 140). The Gospel is the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of God is the “peace revolution, new love economy, sacred ecosystem, beloved community or society, dream, dance, and movement” (p. 277).

Mike Witter summarizes these two chapters well in his post What Is the Gospel?

“How does Brian think salvation happens? He dismisses penal substitution and justification by grace through faith, but doesn’t offer anything in their place. All that’s left, although he doesn’t spell this out, is that we are saved by following the example of Jesus the liberator, who came to show us how to love our neighbor. Brian’s understanding of sin is insufficiently developed, which leads to a corresponding weakness in his explanation of salvation. He needs to clearly explain what sin is, why everyone has it, and how Jesus saves us from that sin.”

The Gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Paul—The Gospel of Jesus

The biblical Gospel can be summarized by four vital components—each central to salvation and to sanctification: justification, reconciliation, regeneration, and redemption.

*Justification offers us forgiveness and cleansing for our sin—Christ’s solution for the penalty of sin—new pardon.

*Reconciliation offers us the way back to God from our state of rebellious relational alienation—Christ’s solution for the partition caused by sin—new peace.

*Regeneration offers us a new nature (as new creations) from our state of total depravity—Christ’s solution for the pollution of sin—new purity.

*Redemption offers us new freedom from enslavement to sin—Christ’s solution to sin’s prison—new power.

For all of Brian’s talk of hope and peace, if there was no original sin, then there’s no need for salvation. Omitting original sin doesn’t bring hope; it results in despair.

Biblical counseling and spiritual formation are Christ-centered and Gospel-Centered. They seek to anwser the age-old question, “How can we change?” I’m unclear what Brian’s answer to that question is. Perhaps it’s that Christ’s example so motivates us that we naturally change.

As any sinner (i.e., all of us) can tell you, change is not natural. It is supernatural. How do people change? We change because we have already been changed—by Christ, through salvation.

Perhaps Brian mistakenly concludes that “the old kind of Christianity” sees salvation as only focused on justification. As vital and absolutely essential as justification is, our complete salvation through Christ equally involves reconciliation, regeneration, and redemption. Without these four “gowns of salvation” we are powerless to change (see Soul Physicians, pages 337-424 for practical teaching on our salvation in Christ).

Brian believes that we can’t get a coherent doctrine of anthropology, sin, and sanctification from Romans (p. 276). Think about those three categories—they’re Creation, Fall, and Redemption. They’re the categories of people, problems, and solutions. To use the systematic theology concepts, they’re anthropology, hamartiology, and soteriology.

They’re each central to biblical counseling and spiritual formation. True biblical psychology is the study of the soul—the nature of human nature (people), the study of what went wrong with the soul—sin (problems), and the study of how God in Christ conquers our spiritual problem—salvation/sanctification (solutions). (See Soul Physicians, 425-499 for how to apply our salvation to our progressive sanctification—growth in grace). Brian’s gospel robs biblical counseling and spiritual formation—robs us blind and leaves us blind.

In the spirit of conversation, I’d ask, Brian, how do people change? Without justification, reconciliation, regeneration, and redemption, Brian, how do you help people to follow Christ’s example? Where do people find the power to live Christlike lives? What is your model of growth in grace? What is your process for progressive sanctification?

The Rest of the Story

In our next blog post, we respond to Brian’s answer to the church question. “What do we do about the church?”

Join the Conversation

How do people change?

Tags: A New Kind of Christianity, Brian McLaren, Gospel, Salvation, Sanctification