"Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means!" (Rom 6:1-2 NRSV)
This seems like such an obvious statement to me, yet Christians throughout the ages have had to ask Paul's question of themselves many times. Paul asserts that in our baptism we are united to Christ's death and resurrection: "For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his" (6:5). This assertion has led many Christians into conversations about salvation and how death and resurrection actually works. If we are baptized and united to Christ, can we ever do something so bad that we fall out of that grace? If we can fall out of grace, is baptism efficacious? If we cannot fall out of grace, does that mean that we can do whatever we want?
I think the biggest problem with this means of thinking is that it takes a mechanical approach to salvation. If you follow steps A, B, and C, then you get to proceed. Remembering that our baptism is an entry into Christ's death, Paul writes that "our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin" (6:6). Does this mean that if we're baptized, we no longer sin? Judging just from my own life, from the age of 5 to 35, I have done some additional sinning. What this means for me is that I am no longer held captive by sin. In other words, I don't have to worry if I fall into sin because the grace of God has already been given. I don't read this as meaning that I can do whatever I want, but that I can dive head-first into life attempting to live out the kingdom of God without the fear that I will somehow fail. Paul says it this way:
No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness (6:13).My task as a Christian, according to Paul, is to use my life--my very body--as a means of establishing God's righteousness. Because I am a human being and far from perfect, I will inevitably mess up sometimes. I will make wrong decisions, I will hurt people, and I will fall short of the glory of God. HOWEVER, because I have died and been risen with Christ in baptism, God's grace will far outshine my shortcomings. I can be an instrument of righteousness and peace, and the sins and mistakes I make out of my humanness will not enslave me.
This has incredible implications for our daily life. You've probably seen that meme going around that asks the question, "What would you try if you knew with certainty that you could not fail?" Paul assures us that with Christ, we cannot fail. Wow! Even if we do mess up, there is forgiveness and there is grace.
Attempt to spread God's love. Live like you believe it. When you mess up, ask God for forgiveness and learn from the experience, and above all, know that God's love for you never diminishes.
Great post, Father. It reminded me of the old story about one of our folks running into an evangelical and being asked, "Are you SAVED?" And s/he answered, "I was saved on Calvary, I am being saved by the work of the Holy Spirit in my life, and I will be saved by the grace of God on the Last Day." Salvation is a dynamic process of cooperation with grace.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Michael. I've also been reading a lot of African American theologians who remind me that the biblical notion of salvation is almost always communicated in a communal sense. How are we collectively cooperating with grace dynamically, as opposed to my individual salvation?
ReplyDeleteWe are saved by being incorporated into the Body of Christ. That's what I understand Paul to be teaching. So, "salvation" is not so much a matter of "me and Jesus" as a matter of "us and Jesus." Then by witness, prayer and good works we take that Body out into the world. There are amazing mysteries everywhere here. Grace. The Eucharist. The communion of saints -- the unity of those departed, those present, those still to come.
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