Beyond Salvation
One of the books I’ve been reading for class this semester is called For the Life of the World, by Miroslav Volf and Matthew Croasmun. I was startled by one chapter claiming “It would be a mistake, however, to center the Christian faith and Christian theology on redemption or, even more narrowly, on justification.” From a Lutheran perspective, this seems like a very bold claim. Jesus is the savior of the world, specifically, he saves us from our sins. Jesus is our redeemer. How could redemption and salvation not be the central theme of Christianity? This is what Jesus came for, and Christianity is ultimately about Jesus.
Nonetheless, Volf and Croasmun present a compelling argument. Jesus worked to save people, but was saving the end goal itself? Did God create humans just so they could be saved? Is the chief end of humankind to simply be the recipients of God’s saving grace? They argue that sin was a departure from God’s original plan for humanity and salvation is the work of restoring humanity to its proper place at God’s side. Creation initially was good, and humans were part of that goodness. God didn’t create us simply so that we could fall. God didn’t create us so God could fulfill some fantasy of being a hero. God created us so that we could live in God’s presence, flourishing in the fullness of the life God has given us. Sin interfered with the relationship between God and us. While the story of the Bible is one of redemption so that this good and loving relationship can be fully restored, the real story of Christianity is what lies beyond it. It isn’t just a matter of being saved, it’s a matter of that salvation achieving ultimate fulfillment of eternal life in God’s loving presence.
So, salvation is secondary. This is the objective of getting back on track to fulfilling the ultimate goal of truly experiencing God with us. If we fully accept this, what does this mean for the rest of our fundamental protestant beliefs? We talk a lot about the importance of grace and the Gospel. We talk about faith alone as the key to salvation, but if salvation is secondary, what does that mean for grace, faith, and the Gospel? It seems that they are also bound to become secondary, and perhaps that isn’t such a bad thing. With regard to salvation, grace and faith are essential. However, as important as salvation is, it isn’t the only thing worth talking about.
In Ephesians 2:8-10, we read in perfect clarity that we are saved by grace apart from our works. We cannot boast about our good deeds when it comes to salvation. This is a purely free gift from God. However, we also read that we are “created in Christ Jesus for good works.” Good works don’t save us, but they are what we have been saved for. If we are restored to our intended created nature, then good works follow. It’s in our spiritual DNA, so to speak.
This tracks well with Lutheran theology throughout its history. We must be saved by grace, and then that salvation has real consequences in our lives. God’s love toward us overflows to others. We are created as vessels to bear God’s love, but God always gives us so much that it naturally spills over onto others. Simple as this may be, there are many ways we can get this wrong.
We always need to be on the lookout for instances of moralism interfering with the Gospel. We may be created for good works, but good works don’t save us. Furthermore, we could argue that all our good works must give glory to God. Were it not for God’s grace to us, we would be so far from our intended created nature that we would be unable to share God’s love with others. To continue the image of an overflowing vessel from before, it would be like someone had punched a hole in the bottom. No matter how much God pours into the cup, it never overflows to spill into other cups, but drains down into the ground.
I don’t want to suggest that only Christians can do good things. Certainly nonbelievers throughout history have loved their families and communities, followed laws, and cared for the poor and for Creation itself. However, the Bible also tells stories of God calling nonbelievers to serve God’s purposes. According to Biblical theology, Christians and Jews aren’t the only ones that God works in and through. That doesn’t mean that non-Christians are secretly Christians, so secretly that not even they know it about themselves. Rather, God’s work can go beyond Christians to all the world. Grace may abound where we least expect it, and certainly God created all the world, and wants to restore all the world. We should imagine that even sin is not so powerful that it could completely stifle all of the goodness in God’s work. Regardless of how God is working outside of the church, within, we must remember that God’s grace comes first. We do not work our way to salvation or superiority.
Another problem that Christians may run into is a sort of apathy when it comes to caring for others and Creation. If salvation is the ultimate end goal, then we run the risk of stopping once we feel saved. Perhaps good evangelists will go out and try to convince others to receive God’s grace into their lives, or “accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior,” which tends to not be how Lutherans phrase it, but if salvation is the end, then we stop there. Christianity should call us into a robust commitment to serving the poor and caring for the world. We need to engage in the social work of the church in providing for the material needs of the most vulnerable among us. We need to call for an end to war so that Christ might reign in peace. We need to put an end to hatred and discrimination. We need to cry out against the wealthy hoarding resources at the expense of the working class. We need to oppose pollution and the devastation of Creation for endless production. To be saved is not simply a self-focused experience allowing us to go to heaven when we die. To be saved is to be restored to our original created purpose: to do good works in the world in which God dwells with us.
