Atonement: The Death of the Messiah and the Birth of the New Covenant, Part 5

deathofthemessiahandthebirthofthenewcovenantWe are continue to reflect on Michael J. Gorman’s The Death of the Messiah and the Birth of the New Covenant: A (Not So) New Model of the Atonement.

A community covenant

Gorman thus concludes,

The purpose of Jesus’ death was to effect, or give birth to, the new covenant, the covenant of peace; that is, to create a new-covenant community of Spirit-filled disciples of Jesus who would fulfill the inseparable covenantal requirements of faithfulness to God and love for others through participation in the death of Jesus, expressed in such practices as faithful witness and suffering (cruciform faith), hospitality to the weak and servant-love for all (cruciform love), and peacemaking (cruciform hope).

(Kindle Locations 5473-5476).

That would make for quite the congregational mission statement, wouldn’t it? It’s not particularly clever marketing though. I mean, who wants to attend a church that promises “faithful witness and suffering”? For that matter, are we really in the mood for peacemaking? I’m not seeing much of that in the modern church.

Notice how traditional atonement theories tend toward the individualistic. It’s about Jesus dying for me, so I can go to heaven. Gorman’s understanding is more about community — the church and the kingdom. Although personal salvation is part of atonement, the focus is on creating “a new-covenant community” rather than “a personal relationship with Jesus.” Not that there we should not desire exactly that. But it’s far from enough. We cannot travel from Egypt to the Promised Land alone.

In all of the Gospels, Jesus’ death effected forgiveness (one aspect of the new covenant) but also much more, including the creation of a community that, empowered by the Spirit, peaceably practices faithfulness and love, participating in the mission of God that is embodied in Jesus’ life and death. As we said about the Gospel of John, “To embrace the Son’s death is to embrace God’s world-mission and thus to embody God’s love in the world.”

(Kindle Locations 5521-5525) (emphasis in original).

Hence, atonement is not only into community but also into God’s mission. We sometimes think that, having been baptized, we just need to be careful not to mess up and be lost — that Christian living is all about avoiding damnation. That attitude leads toward a caution that is nearly idolatrous. We become so afraid of error that we worship truth rather than He who is the Truth. We so want to be saved that we take our eyes off the Savior and focus on the theory of salvation.

The solution is to get outside of ourselves and become concerned with others. We’ve been saved to participate in God’s mission — out of love for the lost and for God. Grace gives us the comfort to press forward even when we don’t know the answers. (And we rarely know the answers. Not really.)

Faith and works

Gorman suggests several advantages to seeing things this way. In particular,

[A]s the cross pulls the various aspects of the prophetic vision of the new covenant together, the rifts between faith and works (especially faith and love), evangelism and social justice/ peacemaking, and spirituality and politics that should have never occurred can be mended, and perhaps in a permanent way. These various aspects of Christian existence are all integral and interrelated aspects of the new-covenant reality envisioned by the prophets and inaugurated by Jesus’ death.

(Kindle Locations 5585-5588).

In short, when we overly focus on how we become saved, we tend to create theologies that offer no guidance for how we should live as Christians. Yes, we’re saved by faith and not works. But, yes, we’re saved to work. The work doesn’t save us, but we’d better do it because it’s what God saved us to do.

All the Reformation-inspired arguments, and all the Church of Christ vs. Baptist debates over faith and works, want to push to one extreme or the other without finding a synthesis of the whole.

But when we think of our salvation as entry into a new covenant community on mission from God, then obviously we are to do works — but just as obviously, we didn’t earn our way in. We were forgiven and saved before we accomplished the first work, but we will work or else frustrate God’s purpose for us to help redeem his world.

Therefore, when we stand before God’s throne of judgment, we who are saved will have a lifetime of good works to show for God’s investment in us. We’ll be different from the damned, who might have done good but not good for the kingdom.

It’s really not complicated — except when we insist on pounding such simple truths into ancient inter-denominational debates. The categories that separate us are not scriptural categories, but manmade — fashioned as a way to defeat fellow believers in debates and steal their converts. And I’m out of patience with sheep-stealing theology.

Blessed are the peacemakers. Not blessed are those who can argue the Baptists into hell.

Holistic theology

Gorman also explains,

Our theology of Jesus’ death becomes inseparable from our ethics, spirituality, ecclesiology, pneumatology, missiology, and even politics — the very dimensions of Christian theology and practice that are often unconnected, or only loosely connected, to the various theories and models of the atonement. In this model, the cross shapes each of these aspects of Christian thought and life, weaving them together into a comprehensive and integrated whole.

(Kindle Locations 5581-5584).

This is key. Rather than scissoring the Five Steps of Salvation from the scripture and leaving a tattered Bible behind, the temptation toward proof texting goes away and we can finally start thinking more holistically. It all fits together and makes sense and is, ultimately, not complicated at all. The complicated part is unlearning so much of what we’ve been taught — all in an effort to damn those who disagree with us.

About Jay F Guin

My name is Jay Guin, and I’m a retired elder. I wrote The Holy Spirit and Revolutionary Grace about 18 years ago. I’ve spoken at the Pepperdine, Lipscomb, ACU, Harding, and Tulsa lectureships and at ElderLink. My wife’s name is Denise, and I have four sons, Chris, Jonathan, Tyler, and Philip. I have two grandchildren. And I practice law.
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13 Responses to Atonement: The Death of the Messiah and the Birth of the New Covenant, Part 5

  1. Joe Baggett says:

    Incarnate faith results in good works. And the more I understand the incarnation of the word through the Spirit in our bodies the more I realize that “works” are less about religious rituals and forms of worship or even a salvation plan and more about the actual behavior that results from a transformed heart. Works of generosity, works of repentance, works of mercy, works of long suffering, works of kindness, works of patience, works of sacrifice, works of peace making and so on are the true works of faith.
    I have thought about the few times that Jesus and the Apostles spoke about the Day of Judgment. Not once did they mention doctrinal and ecclesiastical perfection but they did mention taking care of “the least of these” and “feeding sheep”. It is my belief that many will show up on the day of judgment and say just like the Pharisees “Look at what we did we stood for what we understood to be truth and lived and enforced to the letter of the law. We debated the Baptists. Methodists and all the others and corrected as many as possible”. But will they have anything to add about taking care of the “least of these”; Jesus most important thing? The idea that we can have grace or truth is a false dichotomy. In fact they fit together. If we perceive truth to be mostly “the work, worship, and organization of the church, a perfect doctrine, a perfect ecclesiology and so on instead of the identity and nature of Jesus, God the father and the Holy Spirit made alive in our bodies then we will always struggle with this false dichotomy and wind up worshipping the bible instead of the God who is revealing himself through it.

  2. Dwight says:

    Amen Joe. The Jews made traditions and depended on works of the Law to justify them, but they largely forgot love and desire for God and others in the process. We have convinced ouirself that berating others about thier misgivings and promoting our superiority of doctrine is our goal as a Christian, but then again this is largely all we offer…division. It is us against them and not us and them. We think that because we are possibly in a better boat we are so much better than they, but we don’t take note that we are all on the same ocean where grace and love abound.

  3. brent says:

    I like the analogy Dwight. Well said.

  4. Ray Downen says:

    We are saved to SERVE. The NEW BIRTH of water and spirit surely does save us. As Christians, we are called to serve and seek others so they also can be saved.

  5. Joe Baggett says:

    I would like to interject something that may be somewhat related. Great commission is to make disciples. Everything else is ancillary. What is salvation without redemption and discipleship? Where atonement comes in my mind is the bridge between salvation and discipleship. There have been many who have confessed, been baptized and initially repented but never make the bridge to discipleship because salvation is seen as the goal rather than the faithfulness of God. Traditionally we only added “to live faithfully unto death” after being baptized. First of all faithfulness can never be applied as a maintenance thing only. In fact faithfulness in itself must have “growth”. I believe that as we allow our minds to be renewed leading to transformation as Paul says the atoning work Jesus did on the cross empowers us through the Holy Spirit to live out the nature of God by” sacrificing our bodies, as Paul describes as being our “true act of worship. Wow could our self sacrifice really be important to God and his kingdom than the rituals or sacraments we do in a one hour assembly once a week? I think so because it is the kingdom that God wants to bring that is the goal! In fact anything we do in the assembly should be a tool to lead us into deeper discipleship and transformation whatever that is. This could be an atonement assembly. Wow what an idea. How does the atoning work of Jesus help us look at ourselves and let God change us into more of Him? Let that be the theme of Sunday’s assembly!

  6. Joe says:

    So I just thought of this on the way home from work. One way the atoning work Jesus did for us helps bring the kingdom now is the assurance of salvation. Simone who lives with the assurance of salvation does so much differently than one who does not live with the assurance of it. Those who are assured of eternal promise are moving on to bigger things of discipleship, transformation and bringing the kingdom

  7. Joe, I love what you are saying! Paul said he was sent to preach the gospel, not to baptize. It was Jesus who said “as yo are going, make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them to observe all I have commanded you.” What had he commanded? Well, love God and one another. All the law and the prophets hang on these two.

    Let’s learn to preach a gospel of discipleship to King Jesus! This will help us move away from a church culture of salvation by making a decision (whether to be baptized or to say the sinners prayer). It will lead us into a church culture of discipleship to Jesus where the greatest value, yea even our identifying mark, will be our love for each other and for the world that God loves so much He gave his Son that the entire world might be redeemed from the curse of man’s sinfulness.

  8. Jay Guin says:

    Joe wrote,

    Wow could our self sacrifice really be important to God and his kingdom than the rituals or sacraments we do in a one hour assembly once a week? I think so because it is the kingdom that God wants to bring that is the goal! In fact anything we do in the assembly should be a tool to lead us into deeper discipleship and transformation whatever that is. This could be an atonement assembly. Wow what an idea. How does the atoning work of Jesus help us look at ourselves and let God change us into more of Him? Let that be the theme of Sunday’s assembly!

    Exactly!!!

    The Lord’s Supper is not a ritual performed to prove our faithfulness and willingness to scrupulously obey picayune rules. Rather, it’s a gift from God to spiritually form us — to help us become more like Jesus as we gaze upon his sacrifice and glorification — in which we should participate.

    Just so, baptism is spiritually forming — not just because of what happens in heaven while we’re in the water, but because baptism points us to Jesus in countless ways. It helps shape us.

    The same is true of singing, praying, and most especially the contribution. Giving helps us become like Jesus.

    Even the announcements help shape us as we learn to sympathize with the hurting and to rejoice with the celebrating and to volunteer where there are needs. It all shapes us.

    Which means that we need to be extremely careful about the shape of our worship. We’ll become like the One whom we worship. And if we worship an angry, vengeful, foot-fault damning God, that’s who we will become like. But if in communion and baptism and worship we find grace and empathy and compassion — living the crucifixion, well, that’s what we’ll become.

    To be a disciple is to want to be like the rabbi more than anything. It’s to be consumed with becoming like Jesus. To follow Jesus is to walk so closely behind that we’re covered with the dust of his feet.

    So, yes, exactly. The assembly should be all about atonement — at-one-ment — becoming united with Jesus.

  9. Jay Guin says:

    Joe wrote,

    One way the atoning work Jesus did for us helps bring the kingdom now is the assurance of salvation. [Someone] who lives with the assurance of salvation does so much differently than one who does not live with the assurance of it. Those who are assured of eternal promise are moving on to bigger things of discipleship, transformation and bringing the kingdom

    Again … exactly!

  10. Jay Guin says:

    Joe wrote,

    In fact they fit together. If we perceive truth to be mostly “the work, worship, and organization of the church, a perfect doctrine, a perfect ecclesiology and so on instead of the identity and nature of Jesus, God the father and the Holy Spirit made alive in our bodies then we will always struggle with this false dichotomy and wind up worshipping the bible instead of the God who is revealing himself through it

    This strikes home. I just received two requests from readers for Bible correspondence courses. I looked at the website for a course popular among the Churches of Christ, and I found —

    The Bible answers your need for Love.

    The Bible answers your need for guidance.

    The Bible answers our world’s need for peace.

    The Bible answers your need for Life.

    I just can’t recommend a correspondence course that focuses more on a book than the Person.

    Does anyone have a suggestion? Or am I being unfair to these materials?

  11. Joe Baggett says:

    Jay
    I would also contend that singing, praying and giving only help us become more like Jesus when those acts come from a transformed heart. If not; they are done just to meet a religious requirement. Example, giving from a spirit of generosity that wells up inside us because of the atoning work Jesus did on the cross, because that is God’s nature is different than; “well I must give 10% to meet my religious requirement of giving”. God’s nature is one who fills the cup to overflowing, gives more than enough, and does more than enough and so on. Until that is our spirit; giving is just another religious act. His ultimate will is for us is to be givers like Him not meet a requirement. When we understand atonement then we understand his will for us in this. By the way this applicable to just about anything we do as Christians.

    It is like when Paul says “They gave out of their poverty or beyond what they were able”. This is the giving that comes from a transformed heart! Instead of asking the questions of what must I do to be ok in regards to amounts, times forms etcetera a better question maybe “What is God’s nature on this subject?” to me God’s nature should shape our “forms” of anything we do period! It also allows those forms to change in order that the ultimate goal of discipleship, kingdom, and transformation may be accomplished in any time, place, or culture. This would be a better foundation to any doctrine or ecclesiology than the typical “What is the requirement?” When they asked Jesus questions like this he told them about the widow who gave all she had even though it wasn’t much, He didn’t give them an amount! Only someone who understands the riches of God through their transformed heart gives like this! These ties back to atonement. Once people realize that atonement set them free spiritually to be transformed then they might give like the widow.

    Sorry I don’t know of any correspondence courses like the ones you were asking about.

  12. Ray Downen says:

    The commission is for when we’re traveling. The call is for us to serve daily wherever we are. At home or away we should be telling others about Jesus and baptizing those who believe.

  13. Alabama John says:

    Most of those teaching as we should do not write a book.

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