Union With Christ (Part 2)

After 4+ posts on OSAS do you actually think I'm done? Well luckily for you, dear reader, I really am. But the recent onslaught of OSAS posts were not without intention. It wasn't my purpose to simply haggle a single random teaching. But it just so happens that it gets me to a point where I really want to go: The spirituality of our union with Christ. Our spirituality covers so much more ground. Is salvation just a one time thing pinpointed and limited to a single moment of time in the life of a Christian or is it more? A spirituality that embraces one or the other will look markedly different.

A few things that I wanted to highlight in those posts is that we are saved, being saved and will be saved. It is all by grace through faith. Faith doesn't stop justifying. We are always justified by faith. Faith always justifies us because Jesus always justifies us. The two are related because each one joins us to the other. Salvation embraces our whole life since Christ dwells in us through faith. Faith is always complete and entire in our lives, and yet is always on going, because so is Christ. Christ is our righteousness. It is the gospel and the Holy Spirit that initiates our faith and it is also the gospel and the Holy Spirit that sustains our faith. The gospel is a gift through and through, it keeps on giving.

But here is the kicker: If people view their salvation only as a moment of the past then the gospel will also play a minimal role in their spirituality and fall by the wayside. It takes on a weird dynamic that shifts from gospel to law. It focuses on works and fruits without the sustenance that produces them. A lot of people often burn out and fall away because they are left with nothing else. But the gospel always needs to stay at the forefront because it is the daily water which nourishes us and produces fruits in us. If we cut off the supply the tree will die. Sure Christ's sacrifice is once and for all - a one time thing- but that news to us isn't! It is always something that feeds us and gives us life now.

This is where a lot of evangelicals stop or misunderstand how the gospel shapes Christian or Lutheran spirituality. A "saving moment" can be defined every time we hear the gospel - the gospel always saves whenever it is believed. Therefore, saving moments are an ever present reality in the life of a Christian. It is our life of faith that always has forgiveness being poured into our ears.

The nature of salvation is revelatory. Salvation is God's disposition of grace toward us sinners declaring us righteous; but this not something that we can figure out on our own. Salvation is something that must be revealed. It is a word that unveils Christ for us. Whenever this news is proclaimed to us it brings healing, wholeness, life and forgiveness. Christ, however, shows his forgiveness in multifaceted ways, but it is always the same word speaking because it is revealing the same forgiveness. This revealing is always declarative.

Every time you hear the gospel God is speaking salvation into you. Not that you had any less of it before, not that you need to fill up, but simply because God gives us more than we need - his salvation overflows in us and strengthens us in assurance. It's exactly like loving someone. When you love someone you should tell them you love them frequently. If you tell someone you love them it fills them. It doesn't negate the previous times you tell them you love them. But as humans we are prone to doubt and need assurance.

God also assures us in the here and now by revealing his grace in multiple ways. He doesn't just give us faith and then leave the rest up to us, but he constantly comes to us in the word of the Gospel. Also sermons don't all have to be the same - stylistically, we can learn of salvation from the example of Jacob being clothed as his brother receiving the blessing of another - because we are also clothed with our brother Jesus and receive his blessing. Or another sermon might highlight Christ as the pascha lamb - and God passes us over. It is the same word. Either way salvation is declarative and we receive something we do not inherently deserve. And God brings this home in us.

Not only can this word come in different ways stylistically it can also come to us different ways methodologically. It can be heard from the sound waves proceeding from the mouth of a preacher. It can be married to music with notes and rhythm. It can be read with eyeballs glancing at a piece of paper. Or felt with braille. Either one of these means of communication communicate the same grace.

Still with me? God's disposition to us isn't simply invisible guess work. It comes to us in earthy tangible ways. These tangible things come from outside of us and work its way into us by revealing them to us.

But for whatever reason, Lutherans often get a lot of flack for saying God offers and reveals his grace in Baptism and the Lords Supper. Yes, you heard it right. Lutherans claim that. Water, Bread and Wine when combined with God's word actually promise what they say. Sure these things are visible, but they are no more profane than the mouths of men or a book of paper. Both have God's authority attached to them because both are sanctified by the word of God.

For example, in the Lord's Supper Christ says to us "this is my body given for you." Though a pastor might say this - it is really the word of Christ speaking to you through the pastor. These words come to us with the full blast of Jesus' authority because Jesus is the one who has spoken them. Do his words not reveal forgiveness? Do they not have his word of promise? Do his words not demand our faith? "Given for you" speaks to me and spurs me to faith. I cannot ignore my savior. As God attaches his word to ink and paper, so he attaches his word to bread and wine. They all both adequately reveal God's salvation to us and declare us forgiven and sustain us in the gospel.

So God tells us over and over he forgives us. But it is all the same forgiveness that comes from the cross. God brings the cross to us and reveals it in different ways.