The Surprising God

This post concludes a series recapping insights from Alexandra Radcliff's book,  The Claim of Humanity in Christ, Salvation and Sanctification in the Theology of T. F. and J. B. Torrance . For previous posts in the series, click a number:  1 ,  2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 .  Throughout her excellent book, Dr. Radcliff emphasizes the understanding held by both T.F. and J.B. Torrance that sanctification is not about our efforts to become the sort of persons we ought to be. Viewed through the lens of the Torrances' incarnational Trinitarian theology, a holy life does not stem from an introspective concern with our sin or from attempting to follow moral rules and regulations, but from our free participation by the Spirit in Christ's intimate relationship with the Father. (p. 167)  The Torrances teach that in and through the vicarious humanity of Jesus our humanity is already fully sanctified. Our focus as Christians is thus not on trying to perfe...

This post continues a series re-capping insights from Alexandra Radcliff's book,  The Claim of Humanity in Christ, Salvation and Sanctification in the Theology of T. F. and J. B. Torrance . For previous posts in the series, click a number:  1 ,  2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 11 .  Last time we explored the Torrances' view that sanctification, rather than being what we achieve through our works, is an already-accomplished reality in Jesus. The Christian life is thus not about making ourselves holy, but about participating, by the Spirit, in what already is true of us in the vicarious humanity of Jesus Christ. That being the case, an important question is this:  How do we participate?  Is the idea of participation in Christ just a nice theological concept, or is it a day-to-day reality? To many critics of Torrance theology, the idea seems far too conceptual. After all, we live on earth and Jesus (in his glorified humanity) is in heaven. One da...

This post continues a series re-capping insights from Alexandra Radcliff's book,  The Claim of Humanity in Christ, Salvation and Sanctification in the Theology of T. F. and J. B. Torrance . For previous posts in the series, click a number:  1 ,  2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 10 ,  11 .  We come now to the section of Radcliff's book where she drills down on the subjective (personal) outworking of the objective sanctification that is ours in and through Jesus. But before focusing on the subjective aspect of sanctification, Radcliff returns to the objective, lest we we lose sight of an important gospel truth: Humanity is not only set free from the burden of attempting to achieve salvation, but also from the burden of attempting to achieve sanctification.... This is a significant contribution [by the Torrances] for, having been justified by faith, it is often supposed that it is the Christian's task to work out his own sanctification. (p. 123) Sadly, Chri...

This post continues a series re-capping insights from Alexandra Radcliff's book,  The Claim of Humanity in Christ, Salvation and Sanctification in the Theology of T. F. and J. B. Torrance . For previous posts in this series, click a number:  1 ,  2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 9 ,  10 ,  11 .  Last time , we saw how Torrance theology views sanctification as our participation, by the Spirit, in Christ's obedient response to the Father on our behalf. According to Radcliff, "rather than diminishing our response," this approach "truly establishes it" (p. 99). In this post, we'll continue on this theme of participation, looking at the ultimate goal of our salvation, which involves what the Holy Spirit is doing to "lift humanity up to God.... [drawing] us up as adopted sons of God to participate in Christ's relationship with the Father" (p. 112). TF Torrance put it this way: By his very nature, the Holy Spirit not only proceeds from the Father b...

This post continues a series re-capping insights from Alexandra Radcliff's book,  The Claim of Humanity in Christ, Salvation and Sanctification in the Theology of T. F. and J. B. Torrance . For previous posts in the series, click a number:  1 ,  2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 8 ,  9 ,  10 ,  11 .  Last time , we noted what Torrance theology says concerning the Holy Spirit's role in our sanctification. The Torrance brothers (Thomas F. [TF] and James B. [JB]) both teach that the Holy Spirit unites us to Christ, who in his vicarious humanity sanctifies us. A criticism of the Torrances on this point is that their view seems to negate the role of a person in their own sanctification. But as we noted last time, that criticism is unwarranted. The Torrances teach that in our spiritual union with Christ by the Spirit, we participate in Christ's response to God made on our behalf. As Radcliff notes, "This participatory scheme, rather than diminishing our human re...

This post continues a series re-capping insights from Alexandra Radcliff's book,  The Claim of Humanity in Christ, Salvation and Sanctification in the Theology of T. F. and J. B. Torrance . For previous posts in the series, click a number:  1 ,  2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10 ,  11 .  Last time , we saw that T.F. and J.B. Torrance view sanctification not merely as our  imitation  of Jesus (seeing him as a distant model to emulate), but as our active  participation,  by the Holy Spirit, in Jesus' ongoing love and life as our Mediator and High Priest. From this incarnational, Trinitarian perspective, the key question when it comes to sanctification is not What would Jesus do? (then trying to follow his example in seeking to transform ourselves), but What is Jesus doing? (then, by the Spirit, participating with him). "Participation" is thus a key word for the Torrances, and in this post we'll see how and why,...

This post continues a review of Alexandra Radcliff's book,  The Claim of Humanity in Christ, Salvation and Sanctification in the Theology of T. F. and J. B. Torrance . For previous posts in this series, click a number:  1 ,  2 , 3 , 4 , 6 ,  7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10 ,  11 .   Last time we saw how the Torrances view the atonement (justification in particular) as participation , not mere imputation . Now we'll see how they view sanctification as  participation , not mere  imitation . The Way of Joy  by Greg Olsen (used with permission) It's somewhat common in Evangelical Christian circles to think of Christians as being called to "imitate Christ." To be fair, we should note that authors use the term "imitation," as it pertains to the Christian life, in various ways. However, it is often implied that Jesus came, set us an example, then left, calling upon his followers who remain to imitate his example, and so be transform...

This post continues a review of Alexandra Radcliff's book,  The Claim of Humanity in Christ, Salvation and Sanctification in the Theology of T. F. and J. B. Torrance . For previous posts in this series, click a number:  1 ,  2 , 3 , 5 , 6 ,  7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10 ,  11 . Last time we saw what Torrance theology says concerning how the vicarious (substitutionary, representative) humanity of Jesus Christ is central to a biblical understanding of salvation and the atonement. We saw how the Torrance brothers emphasize that Jesus' resurrection not only confirms that by his death we have been forgiven, it also points to the new birth of a righteous humanity in Christ. The Torrances then note that in Jesus' ascension this new humanity "is raised up in Christ to share by the Spirit in his perfect relationship with the Father" (p. 61). JB Torrance puts it this way: The Son of God takes our humanity, sanctifies it by his vicarious life in the Spi...

The following is an edited version of an excerpt from the introduction to a discipleship guidebook  written by GCI pastor George Hart. A typical presentation of the gospel goes something like this: First behave (change the way you live; repent; act like you belong here).  Then believe (change the way you think; have faith; believe like one of us).  Then you can belong (because you have behaved and believed, God has forgiven you and made you his child. So now we welcome you to God’s family).  This typical presentation of the gospel raises some troubling questions: How much must I change before I am acceptable, and thus can belong? Can I actually change that much? Is God’s love toward me unconditional or is it conditioned upon my behavior and belief? Can I be assured of my salvation? Is this presentation of the gospel accurate? The Trinitarian faith represented on this blog answers no---this presentation is about legalistic religion, not gospel. ...

This post continues a review of Alexandra Radcliff's book,  The Claim of Humanity in Christ, Salvation and Sanctification in the Theology of T. F. and J. B. Torrance . For previous posts in this series, click a number:  1 , 2 , 4 , 5 , 6 ,  7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10 ,  11 . Last time we looked at what Torrance theology says about election, human freedom, hell and universalism. This time we'll look at a key precept of Torrance theology---the vicarious (substitutionary, representative) humanity of Jesus Christ, and how that precept informs our understanding of salvation and the atonement. Christ---fully God, fully human. (public domain via Wikimedia Commons) As Radcliff notes, for the Torrances, "God's unconditional, covenantal claiming of humanity in Christ is  an ontological event " rather than an external one that is merely forensic (legal). Torrance theology views salvation as  participatory, as "worked out in the very depths of Je...