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A Brief Introduction
Theology, simply stated, is "God knowledge." Our personal understanding of theology consists of whatever we believe to be true about God. In one way or another, we all have a theology. And certainly every church and denomination has a theology. It’s the framework that undergirds and informs their doctrines and practices. "Trinitarian theology" is a particular approach to theology that sees the Trinity, as revealed in Jesus Christ, not merely as one point of doctrine, but rather as the central and foundational doctrine that forms the basis for how we read the Bible and how we understand all points of theology. Trinitarian theology deals with not only the "how" and the "why" of doctrines and practices, but most importantly, it begins with the "who." Trinitarian theology asks, "Who is the God made known in Jesus Christ, and who are we in relation to him?" The Bible confronts us with a God who has chosen to make himself known and to actually be with us and for us in person, in Jesus Christ. That means we cannot look outside of Jesus to understand who God is. In Jesus we meet God as God really is, as the God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—who is for us. When we meet Jesus, we find that he introduces us to his heavenly Father. In his words and actions we hear and see that the Father loves us unconditionally. He sent Jesus not out of anger and a need to punish someone, but out of his immeasurable love and his unbending commitment to human redemption. When we meet Jesus in the Bible we find that he also introduces us to his Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God, who is also at work to bring to our attention the reconciling ministry of God. "Trinitarian theology," then, does not simply refer to a belief in the doctrine of the Trinity. It refers to believing in this Triune God and recognizing that this doctrine, which points to who the God of the Bible really is, lies at the heart of all other doctrines and forms the basis for how we understand everything we read in Scripture. Christ-centered Trinitarian theology is first and foremost Christ-centered. It tells us that Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, has become one with our flesh in order to be our saving substitute and to represent us as his brothers and sisters in the very presence of the Father. It tells us that, in Christ, we belong to the Father and that we are the beloved of the Father. This means that the Christian life and faith are primarily about four kinds of personal relationships. 1) the internal relationships of holy love shared by the Father, Son and Holy Spirit from all eternity 2) the relationship of the eternal Son with humanity in Jesus Christ incarnate. 3) the relationship of humanity with the Father graciously given to us through the Son and by the Spirit, and 4) the relationship of humans with one another as children of the Father redeemed by Jesus Christ. Trinitarian theology is Trinitarian in that it begins with the understanding that the one God exists eternally in the union and communion of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Trinitarian theology is Christ-centered in that it focuses on the centrality and preeminence of Jesus Christ as he is revealed in the Scriptures: the Son of God in the flesh, one with the Father and the Spirit; and one with all humanity. As noted by Thomas F. Torrance (a principal Trinitarian theologian of the 20th century), Jesus is both the ground (foundation/origin) and the grammar (organizing principle/logic) of the Godhead and of the entire created order—all humanity included. So everything ought to be understood in relationship to him. Jesus indicates that he is even the key to understanding Scripture. He said to a group of Jewish religious leaders in John 5:39-40: "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life." We seek to read and interpret the Bible through the lens of who Jesus is. So, he is the basis and logic of our theology—for he alone is the final and the full self-revelation of God. Early history Trinitarian theology formed the basis of Christian teaching. This is reflected in the early Christian Creeds. Early prominent Trinitarian teachers and theologians included Irenaeus, Athanasius, and Gregory of Nazianzus. Irenaeus (died A.D. 202) was a disciple of Polycarp (who had studied with the apostle John). Irenaeus sought to show that the gospel of salvation taught by the apostles and handed down from them is centered on Jesus. He saw that the Bible presents the Incarnation as a new point of beginning for humanity (see Ephesians 1:9-10, 20-23). Through the Incarnation, the entire human race was "born again" in Jesus. In Jesus, humanity has a new beginning and a new identity. The biblical foundation of Irenaeus’ thinking included Paul’s statements in Romans 5, where Jesus is presented to us as the "second" (or "final") Adam of the human race. "In Jesus," wrote Irenaeus, "God recapitulated in Himself the ancient formation of man [Adam], that He might kill sin, deprive death of its power, and vivify man..." (Against Heresies, III.18.7). Irenaeus understood that Jesus took all humanity into himself and renewed the human race through his vicarious (representative and substitutionary) life, death, resurrection and ascension. Irenaeus taught that this renewing, or re-creating, of the human race in Jesus through the Incarnation is not merely a work done "by" Jesus. Rather, our salvation involves much more than just the forgiveness of our sins. It means our entire re-creation "in" and "through" Jesus. Athanasius (died A.D. 373) defended the gospel against false teachers (including Arius) who denied the Son’s eternal divinity. This defense led to the formulation of the doctrine of the Trinity affirmed at the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325. In his treatise On the Incarnation, section 20, Athanasius wrote the following: Thus, taking a body like our own, because all our bodies were liable to the corruption of death, He surrendered His body to death in the place of all, and offered it to the Father. This He did out of sheer love for us, so that in His death all might die…. This He did that He might turn again to incorruption men who had turned back to corruption, and make them alive through death by the appropriation of His body and by the grace of His resurrection… What then was God to do? What else could He possibly do, being God, but renew His Image in mankind, so that through it men might once more come to know Him? And how could this be done, save by the coming of the very Image Himself, our Savior Jesus Christ?… The Word of God came in His own Person, because it was He alone, the Image of the Father, Who could recreate man made after the Image. Thus it happened that two opposite marvels took place at once: the death of all was consummated in the Lord’s body; yet because the Word was in it, death and corruption were in the same act utterly abolished. Death there had to be, and death for all, so that the due of all might be paid. Wherefore the Word…being Himself incapable of death, assumed a mortal body, that He might offer it as his own in the place of all, and suffering for the sake of all through His union with it, "might bring to nought him that had the power over death, that is, the devil, and might deliver them who all their lifetime were enslaved by the fear of death" (Hebrews 2:14-15). By his death salvation has come to all men, and all creation has been redeemed. Both Athanasius and Irenaeus emphasized the vicarious nature of the humanity Jesus assumed in his Incarnation. Only through the birth, life, sacrificial death and resurrection of the Incarnate Son of God could God save humanity.. This is the essence of the gospel understood by the early church and revealed in the Scriptures. Gregory of Nazianzus (died A.D. 389) wrote of Jesus’ assumption of our broken humanity through his Incarnation: If anyone has put his trust in Him [Jesus] as a Man without a human mind, such a person is bereft of mind … for that which He has not assumed He has not healed; but that which is united to His Godhead is also saved. If only half Adam fell, then that which Christ assumes and saves may be half also; but if the whole of his nature fell, it must be united to the whole nature of Him that was begotten, and so be saved as a whole… (Epistle 101). Contemporary Trinitarian theologians In the 20th century, Trinitarian theology was advanced in the West largely through the work of Karl Barth and his students, including three brothers: Thomas F. Torrance, James B. Torrance and David Torrance, and their students. In the 21st century, there are hundreds of Trinitarian theologians scattered among many denominations, including Ray Anderson, Elmer Colyer, Michael Jinkins, C. Baxter Kruger, Alan Torrance, Trevor Hart and the late Colin Gunton. Who are you, Lord? Trinitarian theology faithfully answers the all-important question: "Who is Jesus Christ?" This biblically-anchored theology adds fullness of understanding to the gospel—and gives us a Christ-centered vocabulary to share the gospel with others in our contemporary world. "Who are you, Lord?" is the principal theological question. This was Paul’s anguished question on the Damascus Road, where he was struck down by the resurrected Jesus (Acts 9:5). Paul spent the rest of his life answering this question and then sharing the answer with all who would listen. The answer, revealed to us in Scripture, is the heart of the gospel and the focus of Trinitarian theology: Jesus is fully God—the Second Person of the Trinity, the divine Son of God, in eternal union with the Father and the Spirit. Scripture tells us that through the Son of God the entire universe was created, including all humans (Colossians 1:16), and he is the one who sustains the universe, including all humans (verse 17). So, when we say, "Jesus Christ" we are also saying "God" and "Creator." Jesus is fully human—the Son of God (the Word) became human ("flesh," John 1:14), while continuing to remain fully divine. This is called the "Incarnation." Scripture testifies that the Incarnation never ended, but continues—Jesus is now and forever fully God and fully human. He was resurrected and ascended bodily. He will return bodily, the same as he departed. When we say "Jesus Christ" we are also saying "humanity." As the One who is uniquely God (Creator and Sustainer of all) and also fully human, Jesus, in himself, is the unique union of God and humanity. In and through the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus all humans are included in the life and love of God. As the apostle Paul emphasized, the man Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5) is the representative and substitute for all people—past, present, and future. He is the vicarious human who has come to live and die and be raised in our place and on our behalf to reconcile us to God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In Romans 5, Paul addresses believers, but what he says applies to all humanity—believers and non-believers alike. According to Paul, through Jesus, all are…
This justification, reconciliation and salvation occurred:
This occurred quite apart from our participation, let alone our good works. Jesus did these things for us and to us, and he did it within himself. As Irenaeus said, echoing Ephesians 1:10, it occurred in Jesus, via his Incarnation, through a great "recapitulation." The benefit of what Jesus did so long ago, extends to the present and on into the future, for Paul says, "how much more…shall we be saved through his life" (v. 10)—showing that salvation is not a one-time transaction, but an enduring relationship that God has with all humanity—a relationship forged within the person of Jesus Christ—the one who, in himself, has brought God and humanity together in peace. Jesus, the second Adam Continuing in Romans 5, Paul compares the first Adam to Jesus, calling the latter the "second" or "final" Adam. Note Paul’s main points:
"All" really means "all" Paul is speaking of what Jesus did for all humanity. The scope of his vicarious human life extends to all who have ever lived. But not all Christians see "all" in this way: Calvinism, for example, says salvation is not truly for all because the atonement is limited to the elect who are predestined to be saved; Jesus did not die for the non-elect. However, the Bible declares that Jesus died for all—and that his death applies to all now. Relevant passages include:
While there is even more evidence, this scriptural evidence is sufficient to conclude that Jesus died for all humanity. Salvation is re-creation, not mere transaction Arminianism, in contrast to Calvinism, agrees that "all" refers to the entirety of humanity; however, salvation is only potentially theirs, not actually since salvation is not actually given until a person has faith. But the Bible tells us that salvation does not come about through a mere transaction in which God gives us salvation in exchange for our repentance and faith. Rather than a transaction, Scripture presents salvation as a free and unearned gift, a gift that involves re-creation. In Jesus, who is fully God and fully human, the perfect representative and substitute for humanity, all humans are a new creation. Although it is experienced only through faith, all humans are justified, reconciled and saved precisely because they are all included in Jesus—included in his Incarnation, life, death, resurrection and ascension. Jesus did all this for us and to us by doing it with us and in us—as one of us. Jesus is the One for the many, the many in the One. Therefore, we understand from Scripture that…
Let’s review the relevant passages:
As we saw earlier in Romans 5:18, the result of Jesus’ righteousness is "justification that brings life for all men." We are told to accept Christ’s sacrifice, but this does not cause the sacrifice to be effective; it was already effective.
Because Jesus is both Creator and Sustainer of the entire cosmos (all humanity included), when he died, all creation (all humans included) "went down" with him—"therefore all died" (2 Corinthians 5:14). And when he rose, we all rose; and when he ascended, we all ascended. Jesus includes everyone ("all") in his Incarnation, life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension.
The gospel is about a relationship, a relationship with God healed and made real by God’s own action in Christ on our behalf. It is not about a set of demands, nor is it about a simple intellectual acceptance of a set of religious or Bible facts. Jesus Christ not only stood in for us at the judgment seat of God; he drew us into himself and made us, with him and in him, by the Spirit, God’s own beloved children. The one in whom all the cosmos (including all humanity) lives and moves and has its being (Acts 17:28) became fully human while remaining fully divine (John 1:14). Many theologies present a truncated view of the Incarnation—seeing it as a short-term accommodation by Jesus to pay the penalty for human sin. But Scripture presents the Incarnation as ongoing. The miracle of the Incarnation is not something that happened "once upon a time," now past. It is a change in how the entire cosmos is "wired"—it is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). The Incarnation changed everything, forever—reaching back to all human history, and reaching forward to encompass all time as it unfolds. Paul speaks of this in Romans 7:4, where he says that even while we are alive, we are already dead to the law by the body of Christ. Jesus’ death in human flesh for us, though a historic event, is a present reality that applies to all humanity (past, present and future). It is this cosmic fact that underlies all history. This understanding is reinforced in Colossians 3:3: "You died," Paul says to the historically alive Colossians, "and your life is hid with Christ in God." Even before we literally die, therefore, we are already dead in Jesus’ death and alive in Jesus’ resurrection. This is perhaps most clearly stated in Ephesians 2:5-6, where Paul asserts that since we are dead already in the mystery of Jesus’ substitutionary death, all of us have also (right now), been "made alive together with him" and we are "raised up together with him" and "seated together with him in the heavenly realms." In other words, God in Christ not only intersects history at one moment of time, but also is the eternal contemporary of every moment in time, present there with all humanity included in him. Perichoresis The eternal communion of love that Father, Son and Spirit share as the Trinity involves a mystery of inter-relationship and interpenetration of the divine Persons, a mutual indwelling without loss of personal identity. As Jesus said, "…the Father is in me, and I in the Father" (John 10:38). Early Greek-speaking Christian theologians described this relationship with the word perichoresis, which is derived from root words meaning around and contain. Theologian Michael Jinkins comments on how this perichoretic life involves God’s relationship with humanity: The idea communicated by the word perichoresis is crucial but difficult to handle. We can best deal with it by focusing our attention on the incarnation. When the Word became flesh, God poured out his very life into creation while also and simultaneously taking into his own triune being our humanity in the supreme act of self-abnegation for the sake of others. In this free act of self-surrender, God allows us to look into the very heart of his eternal being, into the Father’s eternal outpouring into the Son, God’s giving away of his own self without reservation. This act of self-giving is itself not merely some "it" but is God the Holy Spirit, flowing eternally from the Father to the Son and through the Son to humanity. As the Son in joyful surrender returns this love to the Father, the Spirit eternally returns to the Father, the Origin of all being (Invitation to Theology, p. 91). Everyone is in Christ In and through Jesus Christ, God reaches out to include humans in his life and love. In and through Jesus, all humanity is now included in the eternal fellowship of the Trinity, although that fellowship can be experienced only through faith. Jesus said to his followers the night before he died on the cross: "On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you" (John 14:20). He does not say that one day they will be included—he says they are included and one day they will realize it. Salvation is about being "in" Jesus, not merely something being done "by" Jesus, which we later accept and thus make it "real" or "actual" for us. Salvation is about a relationship, and that is why Paul so frequently in his letters (over 130 times) speaks of something being "in Christ" or similar phrases. Salvation is ours only in union with Jesus, by which we share in Jesus’ perfect human life and his relationship to the Father and the Spirit. United to Jesus, we are already included in God’s triune life and love. But we cannot experience the joy of that life apart from faith. As we have seen in Scripture, through union with Jesus, all humanity is…
The gospel declares not the possibility or the potential of these things being true for us, but a reality that we are urged to accept. The faith of Christ In the King James Version, Galatians 2:20 reads: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." This and other translations speak appropriately of our sharing in the faith of Christ (rather than "faith in Christ"). It is Christ’s faith that saves us. David Torrance writes (emphasis added): We are saved by Christ’s faith and obedience to the Father, not ours. My brother Tom [Torrance] often quoted Gal. 2:20…. Such is the wording of the KJV, which I believe is a correct translation…. Other translators, like those of the New International Version, apparently because they found it so difficult to believe we can live by Christ’s faith rather than our faith, have altered the text to make it read, "I live by faith in the Son of God"! – something altogether different! That translation takes away from the vicarious nature of Christ’s life of faith. It is by his faith [not ours] that we are saved and live! Our faith is a thankful response to his faith. When we look back along our lives and ponder how disobedient we at times have been and continue to be, it is marvelously comforting to know that Christ gives us his life of obedience to the Father and that it is Christ’s obedience which counts. We are saved by his obedience, not ours. (An Introduction to Torrance Theology, pp. 7-8) Thomas Torrance writes: Jesus steps into the actual situation where we are summoned to have faith in God, to believe and trust in him, and he acts in our place and in our stead from within the depths of our unfaithfulness and provides us freely with a faithfulness in which we may share…. That is to say, if we think of belief, trust or faith as forms of human activity before God, then we must think of Jesus Christ as believing, trusting, or having faith in God the Father on our behalf and in our place…. Through his incarnational and atoning union with us our faith is implicated in his faith, and through that implication, far from being depersonalized or dehumanized, it is made to issue freely and spontaneously out of our own human life before God. Regarded merely in itself, however as Calvin used to say, faith is an empty vessel, for in faith it is upon the faithfulness of Christ that we rest and even the way in which we rest on his is sustained and undergirded by his unfailing faithfulness (The Mediation of Christ, pp. 82-83) But what about human freedom? If it is the life, faith and obedience of Jesus Christ that saves us and includes us in that salvation, what is our role? What happens in this viewpoint to the idea of human freedom? Consider the following points:
Not universalism When we talk about human decision, we are talking about personal response. And we must take care not to confuse what is objectively true in Jesus for all humanity with an individual’s personal and subjective reception of or encounter with this objective truth.
There is the general, or objective, truth about all humanity in Jesus, and also the personal, or subjective, experience of this truth. Objectively all people, past, present and future, are justified already; all are sanctified; all are reconciled in Jesus in and through what he has done as their representative and substitute. In Jesus, objectively, the old self has already passed away; in him, objectively, we are already the new humanity, represented as such by him before and with God. However, although all people are already objectively redeemed by Jesus Christ, not all have yet personally and subjectively awakened to and accepted what God has done for them. They do not yet know who they truly are in union with Jesus. What is objectively true for everyone must be subjectively and personally received and experienced through repentance and faith. Repentance and faith do not create or cause a person’s salvation, but salvation cannot be experienced and enjoyed without them. Repentance and faith are themselves gifts of God. In the Scriptures, we find some verses that speak to the general/objective, while others speak to the personal/subjective. Both are real and true—but the personal is true only because the general is a pre-existing reality. These two categories are found throughout Scripture—both sometimes occurring in one passage, as happens in 2 Corinthians 5:18-21. Paul starts in verses 18-19 with the objective/universal: "All this is from God, who reconciled [past tense] us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation." Good news for all people Here is a general truth that applies objectively to all—all are already reconciled to God through what Jesus has done in union with all humanity. Any theology that is faithful to Scripture and to Jesus himself must account for this truth. Unfortunately, many theologies tend to ignore this aspect and focus primarily or only on the personal/subjective. That does the gospel a disservice, because it is the general/objective aspect of who Jesus is and what he has done that is the foundation upon which the personal/subjective rests. Back to 2 Corinthians 5, having established the general in verses 18-21, Paul goes on in verses 20-21 to address the subjective/ personal: "We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us." How can all be "reconciled" already and yet the invitation go out to "be reconciled"—suggesting a reconciliation yet to occur? The answer is that both are true—these are two aspects of one truth. All are already reconciled in Christ—this is the universal and objective truth—but not all yet embrace and therefore experience their reconciliation with God. To be reconciled, and yet not know and experience it, is to continue to live as though one is not reconciled. Having one’s eyes opened by the Spirit to this reconciliation, choosing to embrace it, and then experiencing it does not cause the reconciliation to occur, but it does make it personally realized. Thus, the evangelistic invitation from Christ’s ambassadors (verse 20) is to "be reconciled." But this appeal is not to do something that would bring about reconciliation; rather it is an appeal to receive the reconciliation that exists already with God in Christ.
Copyright © 2009 Grace Communion International
Part 2: Questions & Answers
Let’s now address several common questions and objections to Trinitarian theology. Are you saying there is no difference between a Christian and a non-Christian? No. We are saying that because of who Jesus is and what he has done, all humans—believers and non-believers—are united to God in and through Jesus. As a result, all people are reconciled to God; all have been adopted as his dearly loved children. All, in and through Jesus, are included in the Triune love and life of God: Father, Son and Spirit. However, not all people know who they are in Christ. Thus, not all have experienced repentance (a change in their thinking about who God is and who they are) and have thus not turned to their heavenly Father in faith, trusting in Jesus, and "picking up their cross" to follow Jesus as his disciple. Some Trinitarian theologians, noting this personal difference between believers and non-believers, speak of all humanity as being reconciled to God, and of believers as being both reconciled and redeemed. Whatever the terms used, believers have a personal and realized participation in the union that all humanity has with God in Christ. Another way to speak of the distinction between believers and non-believers is to say that all people are included in Christ (universally) but only believers actively participate (personally) in that inclusion. We see these distinctions spoken of throughout the New Testament, and they are important. However, we must not take these distinctions too far and think of non-believers as not accepted by and not loved by God. To see them in this way would be to overlook the great truth of who Jesus Christ is and what he has done already for all humanity. It would be to turn the "good news" into "bad news." When we see all humanity in Christ, some of the categories we might have held in our thinking fall away. We no longer see non-believers as "outsiders" but as children of God in need of understanding how much their Father loves them, likes them, and wants them. We approach them as brothers and sisters. Do they know who they are in Christ? No—and it is our privilege to tell them of God’s love for them. If all are reconciled already to God in Christ, why does Scripture say so much about repentance and faith? In Colossians 1:21-23, Paul writes, "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant." Paul is showing that despite universal reconciliation, there remains in the minds of individual non-believers alienation toward God. Though included in Jesus, and thus included in God’s love and life as his adopted children, they don’t "see" it—they don’t "get" it—they remain alienated in their minds toward God, though God is certainly not alienated in his mind toward them. So the need for nonbelievers is not to "get reconciled to God" —that is already done—but their need is to turn away from the alienation toward God that they hold in their minds. This "turning away" and "turning toward" is repentance and faith. Many people are told that unless and until they repent and believe, they are utterly separated from God and the blood of Jesus Christ does not and cannot apply to them. Believing this error leads them to believe another error—that any time they fall back into sin, God withdraws his grace and the blood of Christ no longer covers them. That’s why, if they are honest with themselves about their sinfulness, they worry throughout their Christian lives that God might finally reject them. But the gospel does not tell us that we are separated from God and that we must do something in order for God to extend his grace to us. The gospel tells us that in Jesus Christ, God the Father already reconciled all things, including you and me, including all humans, with himself. Paul writes in Colossians 1:15-20: "[Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible…all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things…by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross." Jesus, who created everyone, included everyone in his substitutionary and representative human life, death and resurrection. There are no exceptions to this inclusive "all"—and this reconciliation is entirely by God’s own action—entirely by grace, not by any merit or works of ours. This is the stunning and universal good news. However, there is a related issue—and it involves personal repentance and faith. Each individual person has to acknowledge that they are reconciled to God in Christ. In the New Testament, the Greek translated "repent" is metanoia, which actually means "change of mind." All humanity is invited and enabled by the Spirit to experience a radical change of mind away from sinful egoistic self-centeredness and toward God and his love experienced in union with Jesus Christ. Notice Peter’s invitation to this change of mind in Acts 2:38-39: "Repent [metanoeo = change your mind] and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for [eis—"into" or "with a view toward"] the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call." God does not grant the repentant person forgiveness in exchange for their repentance and belief. As Scripture proclaims, forgiveness is an unconditional free gift that is entirely of grace. The gospel truth—which is the truth about Jesus and about all humanity in union with God in Jesus—is that God has already forgiven all humanity with a forgiveness that is unconditional and therefore truly free: "Therefore," invites Peter, "repent and believe this truth—and be baptized by the Spirit with the mind of Jesus—which involves supernatural assurance that we truly are the children of God." Repentance (metanoia) is a radical change in thinking about who Jesus is and about who we are in union with him, apart from anything we have done or will yet do. Through repentance, which is God’s gift to us, our minds are "renewed" in Jesus through the Spirit. The Spirit moves us to repent "because" our forgiveness has already been accomplished in Christ, not "in order to" be forgiven. We repent "on account of" the understanding that, in Jesus, our sins have been forgiven and that, in Jesus, we are a new creation. In this repentance, we turn from the alienation within us as the Spirit baptizes our minds in Jesus’ acceptance and in the assurance that comes with it. Why does Paul say that if you don’t have the Spirit, you don’t belong to Christ? Romans 8:9 says, "You [Christians]…are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ." Does Jesus not love the person who "does not belong to Christ"? Of course, Jesus loves this person—he died for all people. But because this person is not controlled by the Spirit (is not a believer), they do not subjectively "belong" to Jesus. However, in an objective sense, the person certainly does belong to Jesus, who created them and died to reconcile them to the Father. Paul wrote in Colossians 3:11: "Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all." Ephesians 4:6 adds: "One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." All are included—all belong to Christ; but not yet all know it and believe it and therefore do not experience and live out their new life in him. If the world is reconciled, why would Jesus say that he doesn’t pray for the world? In John 17:9, Jesus says: "I pray for them [his disciples]. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours." First, we should understand that just because Jesus said in one instance that he was not praying for the world, but instead for his disciples, does not imply that he never prayed for the world. It is just that right then, his emphasis was on his disciples. It is also important to understand how John uses the word "world" (kosmos in Greek) in the flow of his Gospel. At times the word can refer to all people (who are all loved by God; see John 3:15) while at other times it can refer to the worldly "system" that is hostile toward God. It is apparently this system that Jesus has in mind in John 17. Since this system resists God, Jesus’ prayer to God precludes it. He is not praying for the world in its current form, rather, he is praying for a group of people whom he can use to declare his love for the world. Note that later on in his prayer in John 17:21, 23 Jesus does have the whole world in mind. He prays that all of his followers "may be one, Father…so that the world may believe that you have sent me…. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them [the whole world] even as you have loved me." Think of it: God loves all the world with the same love with which he loves his own Son, Jesus Christ. And that is truly good news! If all are reconciled already to God by being included by grace in Jesus, why does Scripture say so much about final judgment and hell? As with all questions, we must begin with the foundational truth, namely who Jesus Christ is. Jesus is our Savior and our Judge—both roles in the one person. And he does not have a "split personality." There will not be a Jesus showing up at the final judgment different from the Jesus who died for us (and with us) on the cross. Think of this issue out of the framework of what we know to be true otherwise, and the following points begin to emerge: Every person who ends up in hell will have been included already in Jesus and thus reconciled to God—forgiven; adopted; accepted. It is only their personal/subjective unbelief—their alienation and thus rejection of God’s forgiveness that leads them to persist in their refusal of God’s love. The final judgment involves the general resurrection, when all will see Jesus and themselves in Jesus, clearly; and this creates for alienated, non-believers a crisis that might constitute for some their first invitation to repentance and belief. The bottom line for all in the final judgment will be—"Do you accept God’s love and forgiveness in Christ? Will you come into the wedding supper?" To refuse is cling to alienation from God, alienation from the source of a person’s very being, and alienation from fellow humans. This alienation is "hell"—likened in Scripture to "outer darkness" and "ever-burning fire." C.S. Lewis, in The Problem of Pain, wrote this about hell: I
would pay any price to be able to say truthfully "All will We’re dealing here with the mystery of evil in a universe where God is fully sovereign, and the reality that God will never strip any person of the free will that he has given to them. They must remain free to say "no" as well as "yes" to God. In The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis wrote: There are only two kinds of people in the end; those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done." All that are in hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened. Trinitarian theologians are often accused of denying the reality of hell. Karl Barth, for one, has often been accused along those lines. In rebuttal, he shared with a friend a vivid dream in which he saw hell as an… …immense desert…[that was] unbearably cold, not hot. In this cold, forsaken desert, there was sitting one person, very isolated, and very lonely; so much so that Barth became depressed just observing the loneliness. Ending the narration of his dream, Barth said to his friend, "There are people who say I have forgotten this region [hell]. I have not forgotten. I know more about it than others do. But because I know of this, therefore I must speak about Christ. I cannot speak enough about the Gospel of Christ" [from "Memories of Karl Barth," by Eberhard Busch, in How Karl Barth Changed My Mind, ed. by Donald McKim, pp. 13-14]. Scripture speaks of final judgment and of hell precisely because God gives us freedom to respond to what he has done for us in Christ. We are included in Christ, but we can, somehow, refuse that inclusion. We are reconciled to the Father, but we can refuse that reconciliation. Such refusal has horrific consequences, but it does not negate the universality of what God has done for all humanity in Christ. But why are some names not in the book of life? Revelation 13:8 says, "…all inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world." Revelation 17:8 says, "…the inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast." How is it that some names are missing from the "book of life" if all humanity is included in God’s reconciling love through Jesus? First consider the gospel context of these statements in Revelation. The New Testament elsewhere states clearly that God has reconciled all humanity to himself in Jesus. This is an objective and universal truth. However, we are also told that what is objectively true for all, is not personally (and thus subjectively) experienced by all. It seems that in the aforementioned verses in Revelation, John is speaking about this personal and subjective experience. Next consider the literary context of these statements in Revelation. John writes using a literary genre (style) known as apocalyptic. This genre, which was commonly used by Jewish writers in John’s day, is highly symbolic. There is not a literal "book of life." The "book of life" is a symbolic way of expressing belonging. John typically employs symbols borrowed from the Old Testament, particularly from the apocalyptic sections of the book of Daniel. Note, for example, Daniel 12:1: At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. Here Daniel speaks of a book, which is a symbol used to convey the idea of belonging. This symbol comes from the ancient practice of keeping a list ("book") of the names of citizens in a particular community. The issue behind this symbol seems to be that of identity. John’s point in Revelation is that some people identify with Jesus and some with the Beast. Though this is a matter of personal and, therefore, subjective experience, it is, nonetheless, quite real. Some identify with Jesus, who is our life, and, tragically, some do not. Jesus took upon himself our humanity—and no less than the whole world is included in that union through Jesus’ substitutionary, representative life, death, resurrection and ascension. In this objective sense, he has written all our names in his book of life. And because we are his, he does not forget us—even when we, in personal blindness, turn away and it thus seems (personally and subjectively), that our names are absent from his book. We believe that God will give to every person the opportunity to understand the truth of their inclusion in Jesus—and through this understanding, have their eyes opened. But even then, each person, exercising their God-given freedom, has the personal choice to either accept or reject God’s love. Why does Peter say it is hard to be saved? First Peter 4:17-18 says: "For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, "If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?" Peter is drawing from Proverbs 11:31: "If the righteous receive their due on earth, how much more the ungodly and the sinner!" The issue is not salvation in the "hereafter" but in the "here and now." In one sense, it is not hard to receive the salvation that is ours in Jesus—one simply repents and believes the gospel. However, in this world, because of hardness of heart, many don’t want to do this. On the other hand, it’s hard to live out the transformed life here on earth, especially if the world is persecuting you—which is the issue Peter is addressing (see 1 Peter 4:12-16). So the "hardness" Peter talks about relative to salvation is not that it is hard to "get saved"—in fact, it is a free gift to us. But the way of salvation is often difficult in this world because it is at odds with the way the world apart from God works, particularly in times of persecution. What about everlasting contempt and destruction? Doesn’t Scripture teach that some will be condemned forever? If so, how can we say all are now reconciled? Daniel 12:2 reads, "Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt." Second Thessalonians 1:6-9 says, God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power. Both of these passages refer to the time of the final judgment when Jesus is "revealed" (sometimes referred to as Jesus’ "second coming" or Jesus’ "return in glory"). This is the time when all humans will see clearly who Jesus is and thus who they are in union with Jesus. And this "revealing" presents to them a choice—will they say "yes" to their inclusion in Christ, or will they say "no"? Their decision neither creates nor destroys their inclusion, but it does determine their attitude toward it—whether they will continue in alienation (and thus in shame and everlasting contempt and destruction) or enter fully into the joy of the Lord. For most, this final judgment may be their first opportunity to learn of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are not given to know the details. We are reminded of Paul’s own experience. He says in 1 Timothy 1:13-14: "Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus." If God shows mercy on a blasphemer and persecutor of Christians like Paul, will he not do so for all? The answer is yes. God’s grace will be poured out abundantly on them as well. However, God will never remove from them the freedom he has granted to them to say "no" to his "Yes." Why? Because love cannot be coerced. Our personal acceptance of God’s freely given inclusion must be freely given. Continuing in 1 Timothy 1:15-16: "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life." In turning, these sinners "receive" eternal life—a life they have already with God, in Christ, but a life they have not known, let alone embraced or lived out. Prior to their eyes being opened, these rebels, though often perpetrating terrible evil, were living in ignorance. Remember what Jesus said in Luke 23:24 concerning those crucifying him: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." But a time is coming when this ignorance will be removed. John 5:28-29 says: "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his [Jesus’] voice and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned." The Greek word here translated "condemned" is krisis, which means "judgment" (as krisis is translated in v. 22). Note the translation of verse 29 in The Word Biblical Commentary: They will "come forth; those who have done what is good will rise for life, those who practiced what is wicked will rise for judgment." Judgment may result in condemnation, but judgment itself is not condemnation but a process of sorting things out. We must remember that the judge at this "rising again," usually referred to as the general resurrection, is Jesus, the Savior of all humanity. Notice John 5:22: "…the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment [krisis] to the Son." On Judgment Day, Jesus, the Judge who died for all of us in our ignorance, will reveal fully who he is—and in the light of that truth, all are called to decision—to "judgment" (krisis)—a point of crisis. Those who accept Jesus enter into the fullness of the joy of the life they have with God in Christ. Those who reject him continue in their alienation and the misery that goes with it. The crisis of this judgment has the effect of sorting out who, in the end, will receive the salvation that is offered them, and who will not. What about the "narrow gate"? Jesus says in Matthew 7:13-14: "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Jesus is speaking of this life now—on this side of the general resurrection. In this day, most are living on the "broad road" of destruction. Though included in Christ, they live as though they were not. Only the "few" have in this time embraced the truth that is in Jesus—and it is he who is "the narrow gate." Jesus addresses this same issue in Matthew 7:21-23: "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’" These people have done miracles, and in doing so have deceived many. They claim to know Jesus, and though Jesus obviously knows them (he is omniscient!), he does not see himself in them with regard to their actual faith or behavior, and so he proclaims, "I never knew you," in the sense of not having a harmonious union with them. However, this does not mean that they have no future opportunity for repentance (perhaps coming on Judgment Day). Jesus died for them and redeemed them (2 Peter 2:1). There will be no reward for these false works. But they can still turn in repentance to Jesus to experience the eternal life they have in him. Paul alludes to this in 1 Corinthians 3:12-15: "If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames." But what about Jesus’ statement in Matthew 25:41: "Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels’"? As the verses that follow this statement show, these rebels have lived selfishly. But so have we all. The issue is not perfect behavior, but the attitude of the heart—some turn to Jesus in repentance but others remain obstinately rebellious. All who stand before Jesus in judgment belong to him—they are included in his life and love, but some reject it, and in doing so separate themselves in their own hearts and minds. Jesus acknowledges this fact and the consequences that follow, namely "eternal fire." This "fire," like "outer darkness," is a metaphor for the self-imposed misery that will be experienced by those who, in the final judgment, refuse the goodness and love of God that is theirs. But don’t we become God’s children only at the point of belief? John 1:12-13 says, "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born neither of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God." We have already seen in Scripture that God has included all in the vicarious humanity of Jesus. When he died, we all died; when he rose; we all were born again in him. Therefore all humans are from God’s perspective, already his children. But those who believe and accept Jesus enter into and begin to experience the new life that has been theirs all along, the new life that has been "hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3). In other words, what has been objectively true for them all along becomes subjectively and personally experienced when they become believers. Jesus proclaims the universal truth and the personal truth, the objective truth and the subjective truth. Notice how he does this in John 3:16-18: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son." Verse 16 proclaims the universal: "For God so loved the world…" and the personal: "Whoever believes in him should not perish…" Verse 17 proclaims the universal: …not to condemn the world, but to save the world through him…" Verse 18 proclaims the personal: "Whoever believes in him is not condemned…whoever does not believe stands condemned…" What is the condemnation spoken of in verse 18? It is not condemnation to hell, because every person is an unbeliever before they become a believer. It is referring to their remaining in a state of condemnation, living in darkness and ignorance without Jesus in their lives since they are continuing to distrust and refuse to receive life in union and communion with him. But when any person becomes a believer the darkness is lifted and they enter the light. They are no longer in a state of condemnation. Jesus makes a similar point John 8:42: "If God were your Father, you would love me…. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire." Those living in the darkness of unbelief, even though they are objectively God’s children in union with Jesus, they are subjectively in their personal experience still in darkness. Paul writes to believers of this deception and darkness in Ephesians 2:2: "In which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient." These believers were once unbelievers walking in darkness, and they still belonged to God because of Jesus, but only when they became believers did they begin to know God and experience life in him. Isn’t this universalism? Scripture shows that God, in Christ, has reconciled all humans to himself, but he will never force any person to embrace that reconciliation. Love cannot be coerced. God wants sons and daughters who love him out of a joyful response to his love, not zombies who have no mind or choice of their own. Elmer Colyer explains why Trinitarian theologian T. F. Torrance rejected universalism: Torrance sees universalism and limited atonement as twin heresies which rest on a deeper heresy, the recourse to a logico-causal explanation of why the atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ avails or does not avail for all people. Torrance rejects universalism because we cannot explain why some people believe and others do not, any more than we can explain why evil came into the world. (An Introduction to Torrance Theology, edited by Gerrit Dawson, p. 54) If we are included already, why struggle to live the Christian life? The question assumes that it is better and easier not to live the Christian life than it is to live it. That is not true. To live apart from God is a harder and more painful life than to live in God. Those who are in Christ love him and want to do what he says. They have a changed heart and mind; they are a new creation. Their desire is to be like Jesus, to conform to his image. The Spirit dwells in them and they are being transformed into the likeness of Christ. We are indeed already included. Salvation is freely and equally given to all based on Jesus’ merit and work, not on our own. This is what Jesus is speaking about in his parable of the laborers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:12:15): "When they received it [their payment for working in the vineyard], they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ …[To which God answers:] ‘Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’" Some people do not like the idea that others who do not work as hard as they do will end up with the same reward as they. But this concern overlooks the truth that no one, no matter how hard they work, deserves salvation. That is why it is, for everyone, a free gift. However, in Scripture we learn that our participation now in Jesus’ love and life bears good fruit and personal joy that stretch into eternity. Living in ungodly ways results in pain, anguish and misery for oneself and others. That is why God doesn’t want us to live that way. Consider the following passages: 1 Corinthians 3:11-15: "For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames." Galatians 6:7-8: "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life." God gives his free gift of reconciliation in Jesus to all, but those who, through the Spirit, embrace it and live in Christ will experience rewards now and into eternity. Note what Michael Jinkins writes: This leads us to understand that the life God desires us to live is the quality of life we see in Jesus Christ, the "passionate" life, as Moltmann described it, the life freely poured out for the sake of others, abandoning any self-filling security, trusting instead to be filled by God, the eternal source. This life, which is by definition life in community, reflects the inner life of God, the perichoretic life of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the mutual penetration of divine persons in self-abandonment and mutual participation. It is this life of perichoresis, or coinherence, which forms the center of our ethics because it is also this life eternal that provides the meaning of our justification and our sanctification. (Invitation to Theology, p. 244) What about Christian mission? If all are included already in God’s love and life through Jesus, why would we have any concern about Christian mission—about proclaiming the gospel to the world and making disciples for Jesus? It is Jesus’ union with each of us that provides the basis and foundation for every aspect of our life, including our participation in mission and ministry with Jesus. The Spirit moves us to take part in what Jesus is doing in union and communion with us. And he is actively proclaiming his gift of grace already given to all humanity through what he has done for us all. The Spirit is at work in the world to share the truth that is in Jesus—and to invite all to receive and embrace it. In doing so, what is true of them already (in an objective sense), will become true for them personally (in a subjective sense). And that changes everything. What about John 6:44? John 6:44 says, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him." The Jewish religious leaders were seeking to deflect Jesus’ seemingly outrageous claim: "I am the bread of life that came down from heaven" (John 6:41). This statement was tantamount to claiming divine status. And Jesus’ reply to the Jewish leaders’ complaint concerning this claim was that they "stop grumbling" (v. 43) and realize that "no one can come to me [the bread of heaven that gives true life] unless the Father who sent me draws him…" (v. 44). Jesus’ point is that the Father is drawing everyone to Jesus. At times, this verse is misused to say that as followers of Jesus we have no role in evangelizing nonbelievers, because only the Father can draw people to Jesus. But Jesus is speaking of the unity that he has with the Father. The work he is doing on earth is not merely his own, but the direct accomplishment of the Father’s will (v. 38). So united is Jesus and the Father, that what he does is to be seen as the Father’s own will and work. When people follow the Son, it is because the Father has drawn them to him. And so it is with our work as Jesus’ disciples: The work we do in obedience to Jesus’ command (the Great Commission) to "go and make disciples" (Matthew 28:19) is our participation in Jesus’ work in our world—which is the Father’s work. Indeed, we cannot draw people to Jesus on our own. But as we, through the Spirit, participate actively in what Jesus is doing, we are his instruments, agents of the Father in pointing people to the Son (2 Cor. 5:20). If the entire cosmos is included, why is there still evil in the world? This objection tends to run along one of two lines: Argument 1: Because God will not coexist with evil, and because there are so many evil people in the world, it follows that God has not already included all humanity. Argument 2: If God has actually included all humanity already, we should expect to see in the world around us a corresponding and significant abating of evil since God accomplished this inclusion. But we don’t see this abatement, and thus it follows that God has not already included all humanity. Trinitarian theology does not deny that evil exists in the world. One need only note the very direct and courageous way that Karl Barth (and other theologians) confronted the evil of Hitler’s Third Reich. It’s clear that there is and always has been an appalling amount of evil in the world. The universal atonement of humanity has been accomplished in and through Jesus Christ. His Advent constitutes the in-breaking of the kingdom of God in our world. And Jesus likens this kingdom presence to the "yeast" that infects the whole "lump of dough," yet is not visible to most (see Matthew 13:33). The full revealing, which all will see, of this inclusion awaits the parousia (return) of Jesus. We know at this time of humanity’s inclusion in God, because (and only because) it has been revealed to us in the person and work of Jesus Christ. He is shown in the Holy Scriptures to be the unique and final union of God and all humanity. The gospel declares that all humanity is included objectively and universally in Christ: no exceptions; no exclusions. Furthermore, it says that God is not separate from sinners; rather he has included all of them, adopted the whole lot of us, as his dearly loved children in Christ. Argument 1 above is not correct in its assertion, because God is willing to coexist with sin; in fact, in Jesus he became sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus was (and still is) a "friend of sinners" (see Luke 7:34; and note here that God the Father is of the same mind). God hates sin and thus he hates evil because it hurts his children. But he is not afraid of evil, nor can sin stop him from loving sinners. Rather, God dealt with it all, "up close and personal" on behalf of all through the vicarious humanity of Jesus. What is objectively and universally true of all humanity (from the "best" of us to the "worst"), is not experienced subjectively and personally by all. Paul makes this clear in Colossians: "God [the Father] was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him [Jesus], and through him [Jesus] to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross" (1:19-20). This speaks to the universal and objective state of all humanity—all were reconciled (past tense) through Jesus to the Father. As we might say, "It’s a done deal!" But there is still more to be said, and next Paul addresses the personal and subjective aspect of this universal picture. Note that he is speaking to believers: "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds, because of your evil behavior" (Colossians 1:21). In and through Christ, we are all God’s dearly loved, forgiven, accepted and adopted children. But there remains in the minds of unbelievers an alienation toward God. The fact that all are included in Christ does not mean that evil has been eliminated. Our role as believers is to declare the good news that God has forgiven, included and adopted all in and through Jesus Christ. Because of Christ, God loves humanity unconditionally, and the Spirit invites and enables all people to repent (to change their thinking) concerning who God is and who they are in light of the truth of Jesus, and to place their trust (belief) in him, picking up their cross and following him. The gospel of humanity’s universal inclusion in God’s love and life in Jesus deals directly and decisively with the issue of evil. Jesus has taken all evil upon himself and has and is redeeming it—delivering the perpetrators of evil from sin and death into faith and life in him. This is the transformation that is the focus of the Holy Spirit in conforming us individually and collectively into the image of Christ. How does this theology compare to Calvinism and Arminianism? In comparing and contrasting Christian theologies, we are talking about different approaches among Christian brothers and sisters who seek to serve the same Lord. Thus, our discussion should reflect respect and gentleness, not arrogance or hostility. Within the Christian community, numerous theologies have arisen, including various forms of Calvinism and Arminianism. Calvinism is a theology that derives from the teaching of the Protestant reformer John Calvin (1509-1564). There are many forms of Calvinism, but most embrace two related precepts: Limited atonement—the idea that Jesus died only for the elect (those he predetermined to be saved). Irresistible grace—the idea that the elect cannot resist their salvation. Calvinism emphasizes God’s sovereignty in election and salvation. Many Protestant denominations and congregations embrace this theology, including most Presbyterians, Reformed churches, and Particular (Reformed) Baptists. Arminianism derives from the teachings of another Protestant reformer, Jacob Arminius (1560-1609). He rejected Calvin’s ideas of limited atonement and irresistible grace, insisting that Jesus died for all humanity, and that all people can be saved if they take necessary, personal action, which is enabled by the Spirit. This theology, while upholding God’s sovereignty in salvation, tends to rely on human decision and freedom. Many Protestant denominations and congregations embrace some form of Arminian theology, including most Methodists and many Baptists. Other examples of Christian theological streams are liberation theology, feminist theology, natural theology, dogmatic theology. Each stream views God, salvation and the Bible through the lens of its particular concern. Tips on Biblical Exegesis We have sought to address typical questions and objections that arise as people consider Trinitarian theology. No doubt, there are other verses that bring similar questions or objections. What we have sought to do in this booklet is to demonstrate a Trinitarian, Christ-centered approach to reading and interpreting all passages of Holy Scripture. Some object to the idea of interpreting Scripture. They say, "I just let the Bible say what it means." This idea, though admirable, is not tenable. The act of reading is, necessarily, an act of interpretation. So the issue is not interpreting or not interpreting; it is this: What criteria do we use in our interpreting as we read? The fact of the matter is that we always bring to Scripture certain criteria—certain ideas and presuppositions. What we are urging here is that we come to Scripture with the truth of who Jesus Christ truly is as the beginning point and the ongoing criterion by which we read and interpret the Holy Scriptures. Jesus, himself, must be the "lens" by which all Scripture is read. Therefore, in reading Scripture, we recommend thinking about the following questions: How does this passage line up with the gospel, which answers the question, Who is Jesus? Is this passage referring to the universal, objective salvation of all humanity in Jesus, or is it referring to the personal, subjective experience of accepting or rejecting that salvation? What is the historical, cultural, and literary context? How is this passage worded in other translations? Other translations can sometimes help us see passages from different perspectives. It’s a good idea to check multiple translations. It’s also helpful to check Greek lexicons and other translation helps, because some of the richness and subtleties of the Greek text of the New Testament are lost in translations into other languages. For a guide to biblical exegesis, you may find it helpful to consult Michael J. Gorman, Elements of Biblical Exegesis: A Basic Guide for Students and Ministers (Hendrickson, 2009). Key
points of Trinitarian, Following are some basic precepts of the theology presented in this booklet. The Triune God created all people to participate through the vicarious humanity of Jesus Christ in the love relationship enjoyed by the Father, Son and Spirit. The Son became human, the man Jesus Christ, to reconcile all humanity to God through his birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension. The crucified, resurrected and glorified Jesus is the representative and the substitute for humanity at the right hand of the Father, and he draws all people to himself by the power of the Holy Spirit. In Christ, humanity is loved and accepted by the Father. Jesus Christ paid for all our sins—past, present and future—and there is no longer any debt to pay. The Father has in Christ forgiven all our sins, and he eagerly desires that we turn to him. We can enjoy his love only when we believe that he loves us. We can enjoy his forgiveness only when we believe he has forgiven us. When we respond to the Spirit by turning to God, believing the good news and picking up our cross and following Jesus, the Spirit leads us into the transformed life of the kingdom of God.
Recommended
Resources To study Trinitarian, Christ-centered theology in greater depth, we recommend the following resources.
Books Invitation to Theology, by Michael Jinkins (InterVarsity, 2001; 278 pages) Kingdom, Grace, Judgment, by Robert F. Capon (Eerdmans, 2002; 522 pages) An Introduction to Torrance Theology, edited by Gerrit Scott Dawson (T&T Clark, 2007, 179 pages) The Mediation of Christ, by Thomas F. Torrance (Helmers & Howard, 1992; 126 pages) Worship, Community and the Triune God of Grace, by James B. Torrance (InterVarsity, 1996; 130 pages) The Great Dance, by C. Baxter Kruger (Regent, 2000; 121 pages) How to Read T.F. Torrance, by Elmer Colyer (InterVarsity, 2001; 393 pages) Dancing in the Dark, by Graham Buxton (Paternoster, 2001; 310 pages) Jesus and the Undoing of Adam, by C. Baxter Kruger (Perichoresis, 2003; 72 pages) Evangelical Theology: An Introduction, by Karl Barth (Eerdmans, 2000; 210 pages) Dogmatics in Outline, by Karl Barth (Harper & Row, 1959; 130 pages)
GCI articles Grace Communion International has hundreds of helpful articles that address Christian belief and practice. Following is a list of articles (with web addresses noted) that unpack key aspects of GCI’s Trinitarian, Christ-centered theology. Good News for Bad People www.wcg.org/lit/gospel/goodnews.htm The Gospel Really Is Good News www.wcg.org/lit/gospel/bestnews.htm Getting a Grip on Repentance www.wcg.org/lit/gospel/repentance.htm Predestination—Does God Really Let You Choose Your Own Fate? www.wcg.org/lit/booklets/predestination.htm "Why Study Theology?" www.christianodyssey.org/god/theology.htm "The Trinity: Just a Doctrine?" www.christianodyssey.org/god/0710trinity.htm "Foundations of Theology for Grace Communion International" www.wcg.org/av/misc/theology.htm
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