This is the third and final post that kicked off here (or really, as inspired by this post The Gospel is Not About Us).

To summarize what has been stated thus far, there is no salvation outside of the completed work of Christ. It is the Spirit alone who effects our regeneration and ongoing transformation, yet we are participants with God in the ongoing process of our transformation. It is a work undeniably marked by the life of the Spirit, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” by those whose lives reflect, as theologian Michael Gorman describes it, “cruciformity,” our continual conformity to Christlikeness in “putting to death” attitudes and activities generated from a life ordered to the flesh (Matthew 16:24-25; Galatians 2:20; 5:22-24; 6:8; Romans 6:6-7, 11-14; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10; James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:3-9; 4:12-13; 2 Peter 1:3-11).

In this way, our salvation is not driven by performance but it is a way of life— formed within our character and carried out through faithful and loving action. It is not a matter of meritorious earning but an applied effort in learning to live into the reality of God’s kingdom bubbling up from within us (John 7:38). It is not about a personal salvation event sealing our eternal destination but a starting point with an eternal trajectory, it is a journey of growth into Christlikeness. Here, salvation is revealed within our being (alive in Christ) and becoming (conformed to his likeness). It is the already-and-not-yet reality of the Kingdom of God that we have been both delivered into by God’s Spirit and will yet receive in fulness at the return of Christ.

The Old vs. New Way of Life

This is where the overwhelming emphasis in the ‘warning’ passages is on demonstrative attitudes and actions that are contrary to the way of the Kingdom of God, that such behaviors are either wasted efforts (possessing no eternal value) or else evidence of one’s pending condemnation.

For instance, such is the case in Hebrews 10:19-26. This warning follows the author’s argument that Jesus stands as both the ultimate high priest and once-and-for-all atoning sacrifice for sin in establishing a new and lasting covenant that supersedes the Mosaic covenant established on Saini; that is, the New Covenant foretold by Jeremiah 31:31-34 (cf. Ezekiel 36:24-27; Luke 22:20; 2 Corinthians 3:1-6) coinciding with the earlier covenant God made with David (2 Samuel 7:11b-16; cf. Matthew 1:1; Luke 1:32–33; Acts 13:22–23), and being found in continuity with the Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 12:1-4a;  15:1-6; cf. Romans 4:3, 20–24; Galatians 3:6; James 2:23).

The author of Hebrews then argues that this New Covenant, being firmly grounded in the everlasting priesthood of Jesus, provides us with confidence and resources to live in unceasing union with God (10:19-22). Here, the aim of Christ’s provision not being to provide us with ‘fire insurance’ (deliverance from Hell) but the capacity to live faithfully in both the presence of God and in presencing Christ in the world (10:23-25).

However, the author of Hebrews goes on to assert that those who “deliberately keep on sinning;” that is, those who willfully foster, feed, and defend sinful practices and patterns of behavior under the guise of Christian liberty— “…only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God” awaits them.

There is never a sense that folks are falling out of salvation based on momentary moral failures, needing to be re-saved (“born again, again”) through rededication to Christ. It’s a matter of repeated and willful action stemming from and shaping one’s way of life, to the point where their supposed profession does not match the pattern of their behavior— the way in which they are actually seeking to live. That is, despite one’s profession of faith, they continue to live for themselves, demonstrating little-to-no resolve to grow in Christlikeness. The biblical authors recognize that only God knows the heart, whether one has truly been regenerated by the Spirit. And while there is no systematic ‘test’ for determining whether one is alive in Christ, the life of a Christian ought to be marked by a posture of confession and repentance in a process that fosters spiritual growth, namely seeking to be aligned with the will and ways of God.

We see Paul making similar statements throughout his letters. In his letter to the churches of Galatia, following a list of vicious behaviors that mark a life lived “according to the flesh,” that is, out of one’s own limited wisdom, strength, and resources, being led by their natural appetites and desires; Paul asserts, “those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21, emphasis added). This follows Paul’s admonishment that followers of Jesus “. . . walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are conflict with each other . . .” (Galatians 5:16-17).

On the surface, Paul appears to imply that if followers of Jesus exhibit such“works of the flesh” then their salvation could be on the line. Though, based on similar exhortations Paul makes throughout his letters, this doesn’t seem to be the point he is making.

In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he uses the contrast between a life lived “according to the flesh” vs. “the Spirit,” where he further clarifies,

“You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.” (Romans 8:9–11) 

In both Galatians and Romans, Paul acknowledges the reality that the Christian will continue to struggle with ‘fleshly’ behaviors. This is a natural consequence of living amid the brokenness of creation and the corruption that continues to pervade every layer of the world we inhabit. Even though our spirit has been regenerated so that we’ve been born anew, being made “alive in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:5), we continue to bear the weakness of mortal bodies and years of vicious behaviors formed through hurts and fleshly habits that must be “crucified” or “put to death” or “put off” according to the newness of life we have in Christ (Galatians 2:20; 4:22-24; Romans 8:13; Colossians 3:5). Furthermore, because “the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you,” the follower of Jesus has access to the power of Spirit to resist and put to death fleshly behaviors in becoming increasingly aligned to the will and way of God (i.e., transformation into Christ-likeness).

Therefore, the gist of the exhortation in such passages is, at least in part, “You know better! This is not how we live in the household faith (the family of God)! That is part of the old way of life, so now live into what you know to be good and true according to who you are now in Christ!” We hear this tone again in Paul’s exhortation to the church at Ephesus,

“So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:17–24)

Practice & Participation With the Spirit

We see here that the Christian life is not merely about emulating Christlike behavior but being conformed to Christlikeness. It is not about doing good things as proof or evidence that we are saved but about becoming truly good, to realize the fulness of our humanity that God intended. This is accomplished as we practice the way of Christ in participation with the Spirit, versus living out of our own wisdom, desires, and strength (“the flesh”). It is only by the Spirit that we can become the type of person who exudes “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). The image of “fruit” here speaks to qualities that grow out from within us. That is, not simply good deeds we perform but that we embody, that flow out of a deeply virtuous character, from who we are. When virtue has been formed within our character, such good deeds will flow from us without a second thought. However, we cannot become truly virtuous people in our own strength, they are the “fruit of the Spirit,” meaning that the Spirit alone ultimately produces such virtues within us.

That is, we may be able to act in loving ways but our love is ever limited, selective, and often driven by selfish motives. For example, I may perform an act of generosity out of a sense of guilt, shame, compulsion, reciprocity, or a desire for recognition. Even though the act of generosity may be good, the act itself does not make me a generous person. But God desires for me to become an authentically generous person. This happens in the deepest way as we consistently practice being generous, and namely, as we do so with the Spirit. Then, over time, as being generous becomes a natural extension of who I am, where generous acts flow from the resting posture of my heart, the fruit of the Spirit has been produced in me, becoming a part of who I am. It is then that I have experienced spiritual transformation in the virtue of generosity.

So, how do we do such work “with the Spirit”?

There is much that could be said here (surely a topic for a future series!), suffice it to say, it begins with acknowledging the good (e.g. ‘generosity’), my struggle with or resistance to it, and my need for the Spirit’s help. In biblical terms, it begins with confession, repentance, and an invitation to the Spirit through prayer. 

Oftentimes, when coming home from school, picking him up from a friend’s house, or first sitting down to dinner, my oldest son can’t wait to unload all that is going on in his mind and heart. His wish lists, his daily exploits, his requests for screen time, and so on. Often when he is done, he promptly retreats to do his own thing. While we are encouraged that he wants to share with us, it isn’t much of a conversation. Here, we are trying to teach him to slow down and make space for dialogue, ask questions, inquire about how others are doing, and invite their input on things that he has shared.

Similarly, we often tend to think of prayer as a one-way conversation with God. We tend to verbally vomit our thoughts, petitions, guilt, and fears before him, then walk away to do life to the best of our ability. While there is certainly a place in prayer for all of that, we must reimagine prayer as a conversation. We must learn to cultivate the capacity to listen in prayer, even learning to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17); remaining in a readied posture to recognize God’s movements and voice as we go about our day, keeping an open line of communication with him in whatever we are doing. This takes practice. In this way, prayer is one of the many ‘spiritual disciplines’ or practices that retrains our fleshly mindsets and habits as we learn to live life with God, as opposed to living it on our own terms.

It is important to note that spiritual disciplines are not activities we do out of a sense of obligation. Nor are they an end in themselves. We don’t pray, read Scripture, or serve others in an effort to be dutiful, or even to express gratitude (i.e., feeling like it is the least we can do ‘for’ God). Spiritual disciplines are a means for cultivating intimacy and relationship with God as we learn to put on the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5). Spiritual practices help us to situate our hearts and minds for transformation by the Spirit (see resource list below for digging further into such practices).

Spiritual transformation happens quickly in some areas, while slowly in others. It’s not a matter of either waiting for the Spirit to ‘zap’ us or grinning and bearing it through raw obedience in an attempt to do it on our own. It is a matter of applying effort (discipline) to do what we know is good, in participation with the Spirit, creating space for the Spirit to reveal, heal, and transform as he wills. In this way, we must resist the temptation to approach spiritual practices as formulas guaranteeing particular outcomes. This would be to slide toward legalism in thinking that we can earn freedom or healing or blessing if we just work hard enough at such practices. To echo Dallas Willard, spiritual practices are things we can do that create space for the Spirit to do what we cannot do on our own. Once again, the aim of disciplines is not to achieve anything (status or ‘blessings’ or converts). They are to cultivate relationship with God, as we create space for the Spirit to draw us nearer, aligning our hearts and minds to God. As a result, the life of God will abound in and through us.

Salvation is about “eternal” or “abundant life”, which is a life of “knowing God,” a life lived with God, the eternal one (John 17:3). It is a way of life that begins now and continues into eternity. As the life of God is infinite and eternal, our salvation is a reality that we’ve been brought into and are to ever be realizing. As with its originator, the life and love of God are ever-expansive and never exhausted. It is here that questions of eternal security often reduce salvation to either mere profession of faith or else ethical proofs that one is indeed ‘saved,’ portraying a shallow and altogether weak view of salvation void of the profound reality of the life of God that we have been saved into. In the end, it’s a question that seems to think too little of God’s purposes in salvation, perhaps even too little of God himself.

FURTHER READING
Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation, by M. Robert Mulholland, Jr.

Soul Keeping: Caring for the Most Important Part of You, by John Ortberg

Sacred Rhythms: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation, by Ruth Haley Barton

Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God, by Dallas Willard