It’s not at all unusual to hear Christians talk about the time when they were “saved” in the past tense. Perhaps this salvation event occurred when they were a child at Sunday School or at a Christian camp. Or maybe it was later in life after a secular upbringing. Some folks have dramatic stories of coming to faith after suffering lives of wickedness in drug addiction or sexual immorality.
But as we’ve noted in recent blogs, full & final salvation remains in the future for all of us. Unfortunately, many Christians think of salvation as escaping to “heaven” after death. They often imagine themselves standing before the pearly gates, hoping to be granted admission. Many evangelicals insist that heavenly citizenship will be given based only upon “the imputed righteousness of Christ.” By this, they mean that God gives them “credit” for the perfect life lived by Jesus. This credit is given based upon “faith” – defined as mere belief in Jesus. Such faith strictly excludes any effort or energy on our part; our conduct or behavior is not allowed to play any role in salvation.
This framework is deeply flawed. Genuine Biblical salvation is not a matter of escaping to “heaven” after death. Rather, salvation involves the complete rescue of God’s creation from the corruption of sin and death. God’s plan & purpose right from the beginning was to delegate sovereignty over the world to his human creatures. Humans were made to reflect the image of God by offering him proper worship & obedience. When mankind governs the world according to the divine wisdom, the creation will flourish & thrive.
That is the future towards which all creation is moving. And this goal will be achieved through Jesus the Messiah, God’s anointed king. He is the genuine human being & the true reflection of God. As such, King Jesus is the one who is utterly suited to fulfill the role marked out for humanity – the role of exercising dominion over the world. And the loyal followers of Jesus will share in his reign over creation.
This vision of salvation requires people who are fully conformed to the pattern of the Messiah. It’s vital to recognize that this reality cannot be attained simply by people being given “credit” for Jesus’ righteousness. Rather, full salvation requires people who imitate the Messiah in thought, word and deed. Their righteousness must not simply be an abstract status but a concrete reality.
Jesus is the ultimate goal towards which we strive. But evangelicals often boldly state that the standard Jesus sets is totally impossible to achieve. This is certainly not the view of those who wrote the New Testament. When we go to the scriptures, we find that God is far more optimistic about the prospects of the human race than evangelicals care to imagine. Again and again, the Bible affirms that God intends to mold us into beautiful models of Jesus himself: “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”
But how exactly will God accomplish this amazing feat? All Christians to some extent struggle to follow Jesus. They want to imitate their Lord but see in themselves so many flaws & frailties that this goal seems unattainable. For some followers of Jesus, the sheer messiness of life make it much easier to embrace a theology which excludes human effort or energy. Yet it must said that this is not the portrait of salvation presented by the scriptures.
The missing element in evangelical soteriology is the Holy Spirit. If you were to ask how we are saved, the vast majority of evangelical Christians would answer: “By placing my faith in Jesus, who died on the cross so that I might be forgiven of my sins.” Many evangelical pastors frequently warn their congregations not to trust in anything other than “the finished work of Jesus” on the cross. Yet when we turn to the pages of scripture, we find that the life-transforming power of the Holy Spirit is essential for salvation.
Evangelicals happily agree that the Holy Spirit plays a role in convicting people of sin and pointing them towards Jesus. But they fail to acknowledge what the Bible everywhere affirms: the fullness of salvation hinges upon the Spirit’s work in conforming people to the likeness of the Messiah, radically changing our conduct & behavior. The Spirit empowers us to offer God the righteousness which he requires.
In his letter to the church in Colossae, the Apostle Paul succinctly summarizes the mystery of how God will rescue his creation by restoring human beings so that they fully reflect the divine image: “God has chosen to make known among the nations the glorious riches of this mystery, which is the Messiah in you, the hope of glory.”
In prior blogs, we’ve noted that many Christians believe that Jesus obeyed the Torah, thereby accruing merit which can then be dispensed to his people. This flawed approach makes the Torah the enduring standard which governs even Jesus himself. The truth is that Jesus himself is the standard, the genuine human being. The law was merely a temporary signpost, pointing forward to the Messiah.
Other Christians think that “the perfect life” of Jesus is credited to his faithful people. This version is closer to the truth, but still falls short. Full salvation requires restoring humans to the likeness of the Messiah who is himself the image of God. Again, this glorious reality requires people who are righteous, not just in status, but in truth.
If Jesus himself is the true standard, it makes perfect sense that what God gives us is nothing less than the Spirit of Jesus himself. Our hope ultimately rests upon the power of the risen Messiah living within us, transforming our thoughts, words & deeds. The Spirit empowers God’s people to offer him genuine worship and obedience.
This blog has frequently noted that the scriptures repeatedly affirm that all humans will ultimately be judged based upon what they’ve done. And it’s the fruit of the Spirit which will enable Christians to have confidence that on the great day of God’s judgment they will be vindicated and welcomed into God’s eternal kingdom.
The close connection between the Holy Spirit and salvation can be found throughout the New Testament. In John 4 we find the well-known story of Jesus’ encounter with the woman by the well. This Samaritan woman is shocked when Jesus (a Jewish rabbi) asks her for a drink. But it quickly becomes clear that the Lord’s interest in not so much in receiving a drink of literal water, but in giving her “the living water” which only he can provide. “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
The “living water” is a clear reference to the Holy Spirit. This connection is made explicit in John 7, where we find the account of Jesus in Jerusalem for the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths). This festival commemorates the 40 years that the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness before entering the promised land. During the seven days of the feast, the Jewish people live in small tents or huts, imitating the nomadic existence of their forefathers.
One of the great themes of this festival is God’s provision. On one occasion, God miraculously provided water for the Israelites by commanding Moses to strike a rock with his staff. This famous episode was celebrated by the Jewish people during the Feast of Booths. Each day of the festival, priests gathered water from the Pool of Siloam. This water was then carried up to the Temple and poured out beside the alter of sacrifice.
This is the context of Jesus words: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” John immediately explains, “By this [Jesus] meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.”
The message was obvious: just as God had provided water from the rock so that the people of Israel might live, so Jesus would pour out the Holy Spirit upon his faithful followers so that they might live.
Jesus conveyed the same message to the Samaritan woman: “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The direct link between the Holy Spirit and salvation (eternal life) could not be more clear.
Thus, it is quite true that our salvation depends upon the righteousness of Christ. But not in the way most evangelicals think. This righteousness is not merely imputed to us as an abstract status. Rather, it’s a lived reality, whereby the Spirit of Jesus himself comes to dwell within us, producing the righteousness which is pleasing to God.
