WHEN THE CHECK IS JUST THE CHERRY ON TOP

Did you see footage online of a young man named Alex Honnold climbing up the outside of Taipei 101, a 1,667-foot skyscraper in Taiwan? (The 101 refers to the number of floors!) It took him a little over an hour and a half and he did the whole thing without any ropes or safety gear.

Netflix did a live broadcast of the climb - with a ten second delay, just in case Alex lost his grip along the way.

Why did Ales make the climb?

Well, Netflix paid him half a million dollars. 

But Alex says he didn't do it for the money. 

In fact, he would have done it for free. He did it because it was fun. It's what he was made for. 

We should take some inspiration from Alex when it comes to our understanding of faith.

Recently when I have said that "faith" in a biblical sense necessarily involves works, I have come to realize that some people think I'm espousing what's called "Lordship Salvation", a system where good works are REQUIRED for salvation.

"You're saying we have to earn our salvation through our own righteousness", I've been told. 

Honestly, that concept had not even crossed my mind. 

I'm not talking about doing God's will in order to gain His approval or avoid His judgment.

Or earn salvation. 

Remember Ephesians 2:10? "For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life."

Our good works don't earn salvation. They ARE salvation. 

Salvation is being restored to what you were created for in the first place.

It may be challenging at times and scary at times but being in the center of God's will is the most fun place to be, hands down. 

It's a joyful thing in and of itself and I don't see how (or why) someone would want to separate it from "faith". 

ALLEGIANCE

Once you start to notice the misalignment of the American gospel with the biblical gospel, it's hard to ignore. 

I am reading Salvation by Allegiance Alone by Dr. Matthew Bates and giving a hearty "Amen!" with every page. The subtitle is Rethinking Faith, Works, and the Gospel of Jesus the King.

Here's the book's argument, "reduced to its simplest terms":

1) The true climax of the gospel - Jesus's enthronement - has generally been deemphasized or omitted from the gospel.

2) Consequently, pistis has been misaimed and inappropriately nuanced with respect to the gospel. It is regarded as "trust" in Jesus's righteousness alone or "faith" that Jesus's death covers my sins rather than "allegiance" to Jesus as King.

3) Final salvation is not about attainment of heaven but about embodied participation in the new creation. When the true goal of salvation is recognized, terms such as "faith," "works," "righteousness," and "the gospel" can be more accurately reframed.

4) Once it is agreed that salvation is by allegiance alone, matters that have traditionally divided Catholics and Protestants - the essence of the gospel, faith alone versus works, declared righteousness versus infused righteousness - are reconfigured in ways that may prove helpful for reconciliation.  (p.9)

Not surprisingly, Bates briefly points backward to the era where the church started to get off track and it is the life and writings of one man: Saint Augustine. 

(Someday I would love to do a deep dive into Augustine - he seems like a fascinating individual and to say he had an outsized influence on the church would be the greatest understatement of all time.) 

I wholeheartedly echo this line from Bates: "I hope that the correct identification of the high point of the gospel as Jesus's kingship and a retargeting of "faith" as allegiance will reinvigorate the life and mission of the church today." (p.9)

In fact, this sentiment is what motivates my dissertation work.