Interplanner
Well-known member
There are two aspects to salvation that matter in this life. (The third is glorification in the next life). They are:
1, God's work for us in Christ in history
2, God's work in us through the Spirit now
#1 is justification. It is not about changes in our lives, but it is the cause of that effect. Justification as you can tell from the word root has to do with judgement, the Judge, verdicts, etc. It is not even 'in' our lives in the sense above. It deals with our sin as a debt, even dealing with the fact that Adam's sin needs to be deposited against. Sometimes it is called the legal aspect of salvation. Paul uses the juridical or bookkeeping terms like 'transfer', 'account', 'credit', 'regard' about how this benefits us in spite of what we are in ourselves. The neo-Judaic group around Collossae said Christians were dis-justified until they kept all the ceremonial parts of the law, and that due to recent and immediate revelation they had received from angels they claimed also gave the Law originally.
#2 is transformation. It is obviously about changes in our lives. It is to be worked out with the Spirit, or at times is simply the Spirit at work in spite of ourselves.
When a teacher tries to say that the Cross has some magical force that improves our lives, or is an 'experience' or even has a way of making us prosperous, they are short-circuiting the system. Chambers continually makes all historic events in the NT out to be individual moments in our lives (as their primary meaning) which is hooey.
The curious thing about truly understanding justification is that you realize it is never associated or connected with a certain moment in our lives, even though there is the moment you realize this. That's because it is the gift that will be needed all through our lives even at the last. It is a cure for guilt and shame, but it does may not make any reduction in those things in an automatic sense; that's our work with the Spirit.
1, God's work for us in Christ in history
2, God's work in us through the Spirit now
#1 is justification. It is not about changes in our lives, but it is the cause of that effect. Justification as you can tell from the word root has to do with judgement, the Judge, verdicts, etc. It is not even 'in' our lives in the sense above. It deals with our sin as a debt, even dealing with the fact that Adam's sin needs to be deposited against. Sometimes it is called the legal aspect of salvation. Paul uses the juridical or bookkeeping terms like 'transfer', 'account', 'credit', 'regard' about how this benefits us in spite of what we are in ourselves. The neo-Judaic group around Collossae said Christians were dis-justified until they kept all the ceremonial parts of the law, and that due to recent and immediate revelation they had received from angels they claimed also gave the Law originally.
#2 is transformation. It is obviously about changes in our lives. It is to be worked out with the Spirit, or at times is simply the Spirit at work in spite of ourselves.
When a teacher tries to say that the Cross has some magical force that improves our lives, or is an 'experience' or even has a way of making us prosperous, they are short-circuiting the system. Chambers continually makes all historic events in the NT out to be individual moments in our lives (as their primary meaning) which is hooey.
The curious thing about truly understanding justification is that you realize it is never associated or connected with a certain moment in our lives, even though there is the moment you realize this. That's because it is the gift that will be needed all through our lives even at the last. It is a cure for guilt and shame, but it does may not make any reduction in those things in an automatic sense; that's our work with the Spirit.