God has saved you, therefore respond (salvation and sanctification in Torrance theology)
As suggested by its title, the book summarizes the incarnational Trinitarian theology of Thomas F. (TF) and James B. (JB) Torrance, particularly in the areas of soteriology (salvation) and sanctification (holiness and Christian living). The book also offers suggestions for how Torrance theology might be clarified and expanded, particularly related to the outworking, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, of our sanctification, which already is accomplished in and through Jesus' vicarious humanity. Along the way, Dr. Radcliff addresses objections lodged by various theologians to Torrance theology. An interesting aspect of the book is the way she shares insights from her background in the Charismatic-Pentecostal movement.Because the book is well written and provides helpful definitions of technical terms, I find it to be a good "primer" on Torrance theology. On that basis, I recommend it to the readers of this blog and others who wish to learn more about the incarnational Trinitarian theology this blog represents, which is in alignment with the theology of the Torrance brothers and the theology embraced by Grace Communion International (GCI).
In this post and the ones that follow, I will look at Dr. Radcliff's main points, providing illustrative quotes as we go.
A radical claim
All humanity has its true being in Christ. The whole of humanity is redeemed by Christ's vicarious person and work. Humanity is wholly claimed in Christ prior to anything that we can contribute. This also places an unconditional and all-embracing claim upon humanity; God's grace demands our all. Yet, sanctification is not a daunting, arduous endeavor. We are liberated to grow into the ontological [pertaining to being] reality of who we are in Christ as we freely share by the Holy Spirit in the incarnate Son's communion with the Father. (p. 1)In this way, Radcliff summarizes TF's and JB's teaching that all people, by virtue of who Jesus is and what he has accomplished on behalf of humanity, have their true being in Christ. In and through the vicarious (representative, substitutionary) humanity of Jesus, God already has reconciled himself to all people (it is an objective, accomplished reality). The Torrances thus believe in universal reconciliation (Radcliff calls it universal atonement). In and through the humanity of Jesus Christ (who is one in being with the Father), God has included all people in his life and love. However, as we will see, the Torrances do not teach a doctrine of universalism.
The outworking of that reality
As Radcliff notes, what has been accomplished for all humanity in an objective sense in Christ, must be personally (subjectively) realized. She states it this way: "God's purposes are fully accomplished [but] not yet fully manifest" (p. 188). The time between the full accomplishment and the, yet future, full manifestation (parousia) is a period she calls "the eschatological reserve." This is the time between Jesus' first advent and his promised return (second advent). It is during this time "between the times" that the Spirit is forming and transforming the body of Christ to participate with Christ in his ongoing work in the world. It is through this participation that believers are personally (subjectively) conformed to Christ and (in that sense) sanctified.A convenantal not a contractual God
Fundamental to Torrance theology is the understanding that...God the Father is revealed in his Son as a convenantal God, not a contractual God, with primarily filial rather than judicial purposes for humanity. Prior to any contribution that we could make, God chooses the whole of humanity for salvation in Christ. This liberates us to offer ourselves back to God whole-heartedly in freedom. (p. 15)When people view God as a "contractual God," they tend to understand salvation and sanctification as grounded in a transaction based on obedience to law. According to this view, God forgives us for breaking the law only upon our repentance, and then having saved us, he empowers us to keep the law, thus bringing about our sanctification. This legalistic/transactional view of salvation and sanctification, which is championed by several theologies (including five-point Calvinism), stands in contrast with Torrance theology, which sees God not as a "contract God" but as a "covenant God" whose principal concern is not obedience to law, but establishment of a filial relationship with us. Whereas the contract viewpoint sees salvation as legal (forensic) and thus external to us, the covenant viewpoint sees salvation as relational (participatory) and thus internal to us.
Who over how --- the revelation of God in Jesus
Given the relational/participatory nature of salvation and sanctification, it's vital we begin not with the "how" (How are we saved? How are we sanctified?) but with the "who"---Who is Jesus Christ who both saves and sanctifies us? As Radcliff notes...
We understand God's works from knowing the person of Christ, who is the revelation of God the Father. We must therefore look to who God is in order to understand how he acts.... We cannot seek to understand God according to prior anthropological systems of logic. The method of knowing in theology must be appropriate to the subject of inquiry. (p. 18)
Thus, to understand God (and, ultimately, his acts), we must begin with who Jesus is. This is because Jesus alone reveals the true nature and will of God. Once we are clear on who Jesus is, we can then see how God acts for our salvation and sanctification by looking to what Jesus has done (and continues to do by the Spirit). Dr. Radcliff (referencing the writings of John McLeod Campbell that were embraced by the Torrances) comments:
Jesus' activity in salvation is one with the Father; the Son was not placating the wrath of the Father in order to receive forgiveness for humanity. The reconciliation that Jesus brings about is the very expression of the love of the Father.... This does not deny a judicial element to atonement, but it means that is must be subsumed and only understood within God's overarching filial purposes for humanity. (p. 20)
The flaw with a largely legal/forensic view of the atonement is that "it demands works from humanity for salvation." In contrast, "the Torrances believe that the Father's dealings with us [both in salvation and sanctification] are not primarily in terms of law but rather in terms of Fatherhood and sonship." His purposes for us are thus "primarily filial rather than judicial... his love sought our salvation so that we might be adopted as sons and daughters in order to live in loving communion with him" (pp. 21-22).
The nature of God's covenant with humanity
Fundamental to Torrance theology is the understanding that because God made a covenant with all humanity, he does not relate to us in contractual terms. A contractual relationship would mean that God forgives us (and so saves us) only after we repent, whereas a covenant relationship means that God first forgave us then, as a result, we repent (which as we will see, means participating in Jesus' repentance on our behalf).
The covenant that God made first with Abraham, then with Israel, and now in Christ with all humanity, is unilateral (vs. bilateral) and unconditional (vs. conditional). This means that the covenant is made with humanity entirely from God's side. We, the beneficiaries, do not fulfill certain covenant conditions in order to gain God's favor in return. The reality, seen clearly in the person and acts of Jesus, is that humanity has God's favor, God's love, already. Indeed, God "fulfills both sides of the covenant for our salvation in Christ" (p. 24). As JB notes, "The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is the God who has made a covenant for us in Christ, binding himself to man and man to himself in Christ" (p. 24).
It is thus God's unconditional grace toward humanity that serves as the basis for our salvation. God saved us, in Christ, because he loved us, not in order that we might do something to get him to love us. The same God of love, by grace, sanctifies us, not by what we do, but by what he, in grace, has done for us already in and through Jesus. Radcliff puts it like this:
It is God's unconditional grace that leads to living a holy life that [ultimately] upholds the law. Paul writes that it is under grace that sin has no dominion (Rom 6:14). Grace teaches us to reject ungodliness (Titus 2:11-14).... Paul asserts that we are free from the law and that godly living is a friut of the Spirit (Galatians 5). Godly living fulfills the law but this is the fruit of the Spirit rather than our own efforts.... (p. 25)
The logic of grace
As Dr. Radcliff notes, the Torrances teach that...
There are no conditions placed upon humanity for grace, but there are obligations of grace. The "logic of grace," TF believes, is that "all of grace" does not mean nothing of man but rather "all of man." Likewise, JB argues that although God makes the covenant for us, it demands a response from us. God's claim of humanity places a radical claim upon humanity. However, it is essential to distinguish that the obligations of grace are not conditions of grace. (p. 26)She also notes JB's assertion that "the indicatives of grace are always prior to the obligations of law and human obedience" (p. 26). In similar fashion, TF notes that...
God has already provided the perfect human response in our place through Jesus. This means that our response is a participation in a response already made, which liberates humanity from any demands to earn God's grace and allows us to offer ourselves back to God in freedom. (p. 26)As Radcliff goes on to note, this means that the proper declaration of the gospel is this:
God has saved you. Therefore respond.
As we will see in future posts looking at Radcliff's helpful book, that response is our participation in the response Jesus, in his humanity, has already made on our behalf. From start to finish, including all aspects of our salvation and sanctification, it is about Jesus, not us---it is about grace---it is about what the covenant God of love and grace has, in Christ, done for us. Amen.