Tuesday, May 20, 2014

You can't separate them

The key thing is that salvation involves transformation. It is not cheap grace, based on bare assent to propositions, or merely a change of status. Romans 5 with its doctrine of justification is followed by Romans 6 with its promise of union. It is not just a matter of balancing two ideas; it is a matter of never conceiving of the former without its goal in the latter. For the justified person is baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If there is no newness of life, if there is no union with Christ, if there is no coming out from under the dominion of sin, there is no salvation.— Flame of Love, pages 156-157

<idle musing>
Amen! Good preaching! Salvation is not an intellectual event, it is a life-changing encounter with the living God. With all the emphasis on orthodoxy these days—and we need good doctrine, so don't misread this—we need a reemphasis on orthopraxy—right living. Don't stop reading at Romans 5! Read through 6, 7, and then 8. Death to self via union with Christ in his death and alive in Christ through his resurrection with the result that we live a victorious life via the Spirit, who lives in us.

That's something to get excited about!
</idle musing>

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