1 Pet. 2:24; 1 Cor. 11:30
Various parts of the Christian Church have focused on various aspects of salvation over the centuries. Various metaphors have been used to describe sin and its effects, and what God has done to save us from it. Last time, we looked at the most typical Western view, that sin is a crime against God, and we are all like criminals facing judgment. What we need desperately is to be saved in a forensic sense, to be freed from our guilt, forgiven of a crime we’ve committed. That’s important, but it’s not enough. Because if we just look at salvation as a forensic thing, then once our record is expunged, we think that’s all there is to it. But being a forgiven criminal doesn’t tend to make us feel we’re in a personal relationship with the Judge, does it? And it doesn’t do much in terms of changing our behavior, our attitudes, feelings, our relationships with others. No, forensic salvation is good, but it’s only one aspect, one phase of what God has for us. There’s more to it, more that we need to understand. Continue reading “Saved From What? #4 The Sickness of Sin”