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<\/a><\/p>\nQ. When we talk about God\u2019s Word exegeting us, even while we are exegeting it, what would Barth, or evangelicals really mean by this? Merely that the Bible can change our thinking? Or the Bible can shape us morally and ethically in terms of our behavior?<\/p>\n
A. Both\/and. We come to Scripture to find out, not what we think of it, but what it thinks of us. And once we find out it thinks we\u2019re sinner in need of God and the working of the Holy Spirit, then we submit to its analysis and make changes accordingly. <\/p>\n
Q. Barth\u2019s theology of Christ as the elect one of God, plays out in interesting ways in his son Markus\u2019 magisterial commentary on Ephesians. One of the difficulties with Barth\u2019s approach is his assumption that Christ being the elect one means Christ is the saved one as well, but Christ didn\u2019t need to be saved. The problem, it seems to me is the confusion of election with salvation. God\u2019s chosen people in the OT were certainly elect, but according to the testimony of the OT, many of them were not saved. Election has to do with God\u2019s purposes, plans, missions in history and it has a corporate sense\u2014 election happens in Israel in the OT, and in Christ in the NT. But the means of getting into Christ is by grace through faith in Him. There is the further problem, especially with his reading of Paul, because Paul has three tenses to salvation\u2014 I have been saved, I am being saved, and I shall be saved. It is not a package deal determined before the foundation of the universe, and particularly in stage two it is not a unilateral matter. We must work out our salvation which God is working into us to will and to do. So Barth\u2019s reversal of \u2018if you repent and believe, you will be saved\u2019 into \u2018you are saved therefore you must repent and believe\u2019 does not do justice to a whole plethora of NT texts, including Paul. I agree with von Balthasar that despite Barth\u2019s denials, the implications of what he says about the death of Christ and about election lead to universalism. <\/p>\n
A. All I can say is to encourage readers to read chapter 12 in which I discuss this at length. I do think there is room to talk about the difference between election and salvation. That is, all are elect, as Barth put it, God has no obligation to save someone who stubbornly refuses to accept his election and decides to live a life apart from Christ. <\/p>\n
Also, I think we have to take Barth\u2019s reversal\u2013you are saved, therefore repent and believe\u2014as a theological statement. Meaning that this is really what is going on, even though we experience it in a different order. That is, why would someone decide to repent and believe if, in fact, they didn\u2019t feel assured that they are talking to a good God who wills them to be saved? The fact that they feel assured they would be saved means that their salvation is already assured before repentance? To say otherwise\u2014that God only saves when we believe\u2014well, that\u2019s Pelagianism, with salvation resting on a human action and human will. <\/p>\n
I think we have to be humble enough to recognize that any solution we come up with to grasp the paradoxical and mysterious nature of faith and salvation is going to have serious theologian problems attached to it. Barth\u2019s solution certainly does. But so does the traditional way of talking about these things. <\/p>\n
Q. Reconciliation, as it is spoken of in the NT (and that is very rare), refers to the re-establishment of a relationship between two parties\u2014 God and humankind, or between humans and humans. When we hear about \u2018God reconciling the world to himself\u2019 emphasis has to be placed on the word \u2018reconciling\u2019 an ongoing process being played out in human history. So, while we can say that Christ\u2019s death on the cross objectively made possible reconciliation between God and us, that benefit has to be appropriated through the gift of faith. Yes, it\u2019s there in principle, but no, it\u2019s not actual until the two parties are actually in a restored relationship with one another. That\u2019s just basic to the meaning of that Greek word. So, while I agree we can affirm Barth\u2019s view about Christ as the elect one, and about his death having universal scope when it comes to sin, and about reconciliation being achieved in principle then and there, so that all persons already belong to and in Christ, there is still the matter of being saved by grace through faith, active trust in God and active belief in Christ, the active receiving of the gift of salvation that is not a fait accompli. Think of it this way\u2014 love must be freely given and freely received, and freely returned otherwise it\u2019s not love, but rather manipulation. What does Barth have to say about the nature of God\u2019s love and our love for God? <\/p>\n
A. As you can imagine, this cannot be answered in a few sentences. Suffice it to say that our response to God does, in fact, have to be utterly free. If it is gained by any threat whatsoever, it is not free. It is only free if, in fact, God has already done everything, if in fact, we are really reconciled, if in fact, we are already forgiven. Then all threats are taken off the table, and for the first time we really are able to respond in freedom. <\/p>\n
Q. Your book is excellent but it made me wonder if you have seen and read John Barclay\u2019s powerful book Paul and the Gift<\/em> about the nature of grace in Paul\u2019s thought. I think he takes us beyond Barth to a more Biblical place when it comes to understanding what Paul actually says about grace and whether it is irresistible or not. I commend it to you. <\/p>\nA. I have read summaries of it and parts of it myself. Before reading the whole book word for word, my quick reading suggests that he\u2019s not a Barthian! Meaning, I don\u2019t know that he recognizes the radical nature of grace as outlined in Romans 5-8, and in 2 Cor. 5. But I\u2019m teachable on this point!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Q. When we talk about God\u2019s Word exegeting us, even while we are exegeting it, what would Barth, or evangelicals really mean by this? Merely that the Bible can change our thinking? Or the Bible can shape us morally and ethically in terms of our behavior? A. Both\/and. We come to Scripture to find out, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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