@Albion @Messy
Perhaps this helps...
Issues of the Reformation: Salvation
This was the KEY ISSUE. It was the one issue over which the church of the day used to excommunicate Luther, split the denomination and drive the Reformation. There were several other main issues (ecclesiology, epistemology and several others), but this was the “deal breaker.” And this issue is at the very heart, the very center of Christianity…. It is the “keystone” by which Christianity stands or falls.
We must begin with a definition: By “
salvation” Protestants mean justification in the narrow sense. The word means "to rescue" and Protestants tend to hold that we were DEAD and unable to rescue ourselves, we NEED a savior, the savior, someone outside ourselves, indeed God Himself, to
rescue us.
SOME Catholics refer to this as "initial grace."
By "salvation" we mean our changed relationship with God, our spiritual coming to life, some call this "Born again (born a second time - first physical, second spiritual)" It is not at all to be mixed or confused with sanctification (discipleship, Christian living) which is what
results and follows from justification – what we are to do as Christians (those justified). Here, when we say “salvation” we mean it in this sense of narrow justification. We are NOT at all dismissing the Call to perfect holiness, divine love, absolute moral perfection, service to all as unto God, and the sharing of the Gospel with all 7.7 billion people on Earth.... salvation does not cancel the Law BUT it does remove the curse of the Law, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, there is forgiveness; for the saved, the Law remains but the Gospel is now present too.
+ Christ IS the Savior!
Salvation (in this sense) all hinges on one pretty simple but very,
very critical question (all eternity hinges on it): WHO is
the Savior?
IF you answer "Jesus" then Jesus is the Savior. Not you - not a bit, not at all, not now, not ever, not in any way or shape or form or manner. Salvation is entirely, wholly, completely wrapped up in Jesus. Alone. Salvation is the work of Jesus, the accomplishment of Jesus, something Jesus does. It's entirely HIS work. HIS heart. HIS love. HIS mercy. HIS gift. HIS blessing. His life, His death, His resurrection. His Cross, His blood, His sacrifice. His righteousness, His obedience, His holiness. Not you. Not yours. Not in whole. Not in part. Not now. Not ever. You may have some other role in some other matter (Christian living, for example), but not this. The "job" of Savior belongs to Jesus. Not you.
IF you answer "me!" then you are the Savior. Not Jesus - not a bit, not at all. Not now, not ever. Not in any way, shape or form or manner. Salvation is all wrapped up in YOU. In YOUR works. YOUR will. YOUR love. YOUR efforts. YOUR merits. YOUR obedience. YOUR righteousness. YOUR decisions. Your surrendering. YOUR holiness. YOUR sacrifice. Not Jesus. Not Jesus'. Jesus may have some other role in some other matter, just not this one. The Savior is you.
Here’s the problem…..
While the church was ONCE crystal clear that Jesus is the exclusive SAVIOR (even officially declaring so at the Council of Orange in 529), all this had gotten
seriously gummed up. For centuries before Luther, the “answer” was pretty much: ME. The typical view in Luther’s time was that rather than being the Savior, Jesus actually had two
very different roles:
Jesus the Possibility-Maker. The “spin” was that Jesus did
all that is necessary to make salvation
possible. By His life, death and resurrection, He opened the gate to heaven, and made it POSSIBLE to us to be saved. Of course, that’s true – but its light years away from saying He’s the Savior! People were told THEY had to get THEMSELVES through those gates – thus the actual “job” of salvation is our own. People were told that Jesus is not the Savior (you have that job) rather He is the possibility-maker. Some stressed that we save ourselves by our works or our faith, others had other ideas in how we save ourselves but they are all embracing that while Jesus makes salvation possible – we actually save ourselves by what WE do, something(s) we can point to that WE did.
Jesus the Helper. But we can’t do it by our own innate strength and ability – we need HELP. The medieval church of the west defined the word “grace” (in justification) as “help.” Or as it is sometimes put today, “Grace is the divine ‘gas’ God puts in your ‘tank’ so that YOU ultimately can get YOURSELF where you need to be.” This “help” became the focus of the concept of salvation – the HELP we need (and get) so that we can save ourselves. HELP from the Roman Catholic Church…. HELP from the official current “Saints” declared by the Roman Catholic Church, HELP from the “Treasury of Merits” of the Roman Catholic Church, HELP from the Virgin Mary, etc. Jesus too began to be proclaimed as our HELPER. If YOU adequately tap this “help” you can save yourself. But that’s lightyears away from proclaiming that Jesus saves!
There are really just two places to look: To the mirror OR to the Cross. There are really only two religions in the world: Trusting in Christ or trusting in self. When we stop looking to the perfect, divine CHRIST and instead look in the mirror to the sinful, flawed, limited SELF – either uncertainty and fear result (as we realize how lacking we are) OR pride/boasting results if we conclude the guy in the mirror in one awesome dude. Most lacked the ego for the second – so fear, insecurity reigned as people HOPED someday to save themselves but….
+ Monergism vs. Synergism – The DEBATE
These are the theological terms used for the “two sides” in this critical debate (that ultimately split the Roman Catholic Church in 1521). Note, all agreed that sanctification (discipleship, the life of a Christian, what one does as a Christian with faith and the Holy Spirit) certainly IS synergistic (no debate there). But central to the entire debate centered on salvation - the COMING of the Holy Spirit, of spiritual life, of the application of the Gospel and work of Christ, the coming of the gift of faith) - "salvation" in the sense Luther and Calvin meant it (as the Catholic Church well knew).
Monergism (One-side) is the conviction that salvation is God’s gracious gift. Jesus is THE one, exclusive, all-sufficient Savior. This conviction is the basis for the “rally cries” of the Reformation: Sola Gratia – Solus Christus – Sola Fide. Soli Deo Gloria! The “sola, solus, soli” are all Latin for exclusively, solely, alone, only. The Reformation is a solid, bold, confident proclamation that salvation is all about Jesus!
Lutherans and Calvinists express this teaching by 4 Latin phrases. They are ONE, united, inseparable teaching (they cannot be separated) but are sometimes discussed individually.
SOLA Gratia – Grace
Alone: it’s all about God’s heart! It all begins with and happens because of God’s heart, His unconditional and unearned love, favor, mercy and gifts. “For God so loved the world…..”
SOLUS Christus – Christ
Alone: It’s all the result of what Jesus did/does; Christ is the Savior! “… that He gave His only begotten son”
SOLA Fide – Faith
Alone: Which faith trusts/embraces/apprehends; faith as God’s work, too. How the work of Christ is applied to the individual. “whosoever believes in Him”
SOLI Deo Gloria – God
ALONE has all the glory, gets all the “credit.” ALL the above is God’s doing. The arrow comes down….. a blessing….. a gift….. an inheritance….
Synergism (Two-sides, Cooperation). This became the Catholic position against Luther. Our salvation, the Roman Catholic Church of the day insisted, is a
cooperative venture: Jesus does his part (opening those gates) and we do ours (walking through them). Luther, it insisted, was a heretic for holding to the view of monergism, for holding that Jesus is the all-sufficient Savior. The Catholic Church insisted Jesus has to do His part good enough (and He did), now we gotta do our part good enough (ultimately it's WE who do that part that actually results in our entering heaven).
Luther stressed it’s all a GIFT from God! God’s doing! Luther stressed God’s mercy, favor, and unconditional love. The church then stressed it’s instead a cooperative venture – Jesus opening the “gates” and insuring we are offered sufficient help – we needing to “tap” that sufficiently, do all the “stuff” we need to do, and (ultimately) get ourselves saved.
Without a doubt, there was plenty of “talking past” each other (sadly, misunderstandings often play part of debate) but largely – it came down to these two basic, mutually exclusive views. Luther would not recant and so was excommunicated (by the way, Luther desired to submit BOTH views to a true ecumenical council and submit to its ruling, but that never happened).
Know that there are LOTS of modern forms of synergism (it’s alive and well and living in a lot of churches – some of which are “Protestant”). Synergism is any form of Jesus
PLUS me. When salvation (in the sense we are speaking of here) is said to require: “You must surrender the steering wheel of your life!” “You must recite the sinner’s prayer!” “You must dedicate your life to Jesus!” If it’s “you” – it’s not all about Jesus. If it’s ‘you’ then it’s looking in the mirror, not to the Cross. Beware of “Yeah, Jesus is the Savior BUT
you gotta
(fill in the blank) !” That’s a contradiction. That’s synergism… it’s ultimately looking in the mirror, trusting in self, denying Jesus as the Savior. AGAIN, that IS true in Sanctification (the Christian life) but not in Justification (the BECOMING a Christian).
Continues in next post....
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