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Three Tenses of Salvation

October 1, 2010 By Randy Olds 2 Comments

Portions of Ben Witherington III’s book The Indelible Image that I am currently reading are very reminiscent of N.T. Wrights book After You Believe: Why Christian  Character Matters that I read early last Spring. In particular is the emphasis on the positions that Paul really believed that our ultimate salvation was not necessarily dependent upon our initial salvation.

While neither author takes a Pelagian view with any hint toward a works-based salvation and both insist that salvation is “by grace through faith”, both insist that Paul really believed that we could make a shipwreck of our faith and eventually be lost through apostasy. While I can’t remember off the top of my head exactly what Wright wrote and my copy of his book is not readily at hand, I do have Witherington’s book handy and one quote stands out.

There is, of course, a soteriological reason why Paul speaks as he does about righteousness. It is because for Paul, salvation has three tenses to it: I have been saved, I am being saved, and I will be saved to the uttermost when Christ returns and I am fully conformed to His image. Although initial salvation certainly comes on the basis of grace through faith and without doing works of any kind (which explains how God can set right the ungodly’ the sinner, even his enemy without them doing anything to merit this), there can be no doubt that working out ones salvation involves deeds, not just beliefs or trust in God. Ben Witherington III, The Indelible Image, p. 227

It seems to me that both Witherington and Wright are attempting to put more and more distance between themselves and the Augustinian model of soteriology, which in my mind is greatly flawed (along with a lot of other Augustinian theology).

I am not asserting that either Witherington or Wright are getting ready to move over to the Easter Orthodox Church, but what they are saying about Paul’s soteriology reminds me somewhat of what I have studied on Eastern Orthodox soteriology. The following is from an Eastern Orthodox study Bible that I found sometime back and made note of:

“Justification by faith is dynamic, not static. For Orthodox Christians faith is living, dynamic, continuous–never static or merely point-in-time. Faith is not something a Christian exercises only at one critical moment, expecting it to cover all of the rest of his life. True faith is not just a decision, it’s a way of life.

This is why the modern evangelical Protestant question, “Are you saved?” gives pause to an Orthodox believer. As the subject of salvation is addressed in Scripture the Orthodox Christian would see it in at least three aspects: (a) I have been saved,being joined to Christ in baptism; ( b) I am being saved, growing in the sacramental life of the Church; and (c) I will be saved, by the mercy of God at the Last Judgment.”

I find myself wondering if perhaps we aren’t starting to gain back some of Paul’s thoughts about salvation and ethics that were skewered by Augustine and then lost in the East-West Schism of 1054. And although I have no plans to go out and join the Eastern Orthodox Church (I think that the whole iconoclasm thing would weird me out), I think that their soteriological views are much more in line with Pauline thought than what a good deal of Western Christianity is. I also like the Eastern Orthodox views on Theosis, which, although not quite the same as Wesley’s Entire Sanctification, are very close.

Filed Under: Conversion, Entire Sanctification, John Wesley, Justification, N.T. Wright, Salvation, sanctification, soteriology, The Church, theology

Damascus or Emmaus – Two Models of Conversion

July 8, 2010 By Randy Olds Leave a Comment

There are two roads that figure prominently in New Testament accounts of conversion. The most well known is the Road to Damascus where the Apostle Paul was famously met by the risen Christ and left temporarily blinded but completely convinced and transformed. In reading the accounts of Paul’s conversion on the Damascus Road in the book of Acts, it would appear that his was an immediate and indeed miraculous transformation from the Saul who had recently participated in the stoning of Stephen to the great Paul who penned nearly a third of the New Testament.

A lesser-known road is the Road to Emmaus where Jesus met two disheartened disciples on the evening of His resurrection and continued with them to their home in Emmaus. As we read the account in the 24th chapter of Luke, the sense of the two disciples’ bewilderment and disillusionment is palpable. They had just three days prior witnessed the crucifixion of their beloved Teacher and although they had heard rumors of an empty tomb, they still didn’t quite know what to make of these wild stories.

Unlike with Paul’s experience on the Damascus Road, Jesus purposely did not reveal to them who He was, but instead walked with them and began to reveal and interpret to them the scriptures concerning Himself beginning with Moses and all of the Prophets. It was not until He broke bread with them later that evening that He opened their eyes to see Him for who He actually was; the risen Lord.

For many years I sought to have a Damascus Road conversion. My experiences in a number of evangelical and fundamentalist churches led me to believe that “sudden conversion” was how it worked. It seems to me that many Christian churches, especially those of various flavors of evangelicalism, push for those who are in attendance to come to a point of crisis. Countless fantastic testimonies and altar calls seek to nudge the would-be convert to a moment of decision and response. I myself responded to a number of those alter calls, and was in fact baptized twice when I decided that the first one “didn’t take.”

It is my opinion that the Damascus Road model of conversion that most evangelicals seem to favor can be quite misleading to many. The emotional crisis that many pastors try to nudge would be converts to quite often backfires. I believe that there are a great many people who are already on the Emmaus road to conversion, but they are not quite far enough down the road yet to where Christ can reveal Himself to them and be recognized. If, in a moment of emotional distress, they are pressed to have that Damascus Road event, it quite often will not be genuine or lasting. I think it better that, as Christian leaders, we do as Jesus did for the disciples on the Emmaus Road, that is to continue to walk along with them and gently instruct them. When the timing is right, Jesus will reveal Himself to them.

A couple of years ago I finally did “get it.” I had in fact come to a point in my life where I was able to understand who Jesus Christ really was and finally committed myself completely to Him. For quite some time after this “conversion” I thought that I had finally had that “Damascus Road Experience” that I had sought after for many years. My heart finally began to change and I began to want to live for Jesus like I never had before.

However, after a great deal of reading of scripture as well as a lot of prayer and counsel, I have begun to understand that I was more than likely on the Emmaus Road all along. During those many years while I was walking in bewilderment and disillusionment I have come to realize that Jesus was walking with me the whole time, more than likely since before I got baptized the first time. Perhaps He realized that I was a bit more hardheaded than most and He just continued to walk with me until I got to the point where He knew that I would recognize Him when He revealed Himself.

Although I believe that there are many Christians that do in fact have Damascus Road type conversions, I think that for most people it is much more like a journey than an event. And even for those who do have a Damascus Road type of conversion, they too must soon get on the Emmaus Road so that they can allow Christ and His disciples to continue to teach them and lead them. Even Paul had to find Anannias and the other disciples so that he could fully understand what had happened to him.

It seems to me that there are a great many others who are seeking Christ, men and women who desperately want to know Him. Perhaps they are seeking a Damascus Road event in their lives, not even realizing that their feet are already on the Emmaus Road and that Christ is in actuality walking right beside them. Just like Jesus did for the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, we must be gentle and loving to them, guiding to understanding of Scripture until their eyes are opened and they realize that Jesus has been walking right beside them all the while.

Filed Under: Conversion, Fundamentalism, Prevenient Grace