{"id":67837,"date":"2017-03-06T05:18:24","date_gmt":"2017-03-06T11:18:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?p=67837"},"modified":"2017-03-05T16:04:47","modified_gmt":"2017-03-05T22:04:47","slug":"faith-as-allegiance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2017\/03\/06\/faith-as-allegiance\/","title":{"rendered":"Faith as Allegiance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Screen<\/a>When we confess that we are saved or justified by faith<\/em> alone what do we mean by \u201cfaith\u201d? The answers tend to run from cognitive confession\/belief in specific propositions \u2014 like Jesus is the Son of God, our Redeemer, etc \u2014 to faith as the act of genuinely trusting or relying upon God. The second answer often counters trust in one\u2019s self or one\u2019s moral sufficiency or self-reliance.<\/p>\n

You may well know that the Greek word for faith\u00a0pistis<\/em> is cognate with the Greek for believing\u00a0pisteuo<\/em>. So that faith and belief\/believing are the same side of the same coin. The verb and the noun belong together. Further, the sense of faithfulness is tied into the word faith:\u00a0pistos<\/em> means both belief\/faith and faithfulness, or what I once translated as \u201ctrust over time.\u201d (In A Fellowship of Differents<\/a><\/strong><\/em>.)<\/p>\n

Enter a brand new and what some will see as provocative and challenging by Matthew Bates called\u00a0Salvation by Allegiance Alone<\/strong><\/a><\/em>.\u00a0<\/strong>This is undoubtedly one of the best books I have read this year, and I hope you buy it, read it, and discuss it. For sure, it pokes the Reformation slogan \u2014 faith alone \u2014 in the eye, but it does so by out-Reforming the Reformation crowd opposing this new book. How so? In true Reformation fashion, this book takes us back to the Bible to ask \u201cWhat does\u00a0faith<\/em> mean in the Bible?\u201d The best way to be faithful to the Reformation is to go back to the Bible and to be\u00a0semper reformanda<\/em>. Bates is that with courage.<\/p>\n

His answer? It means more than what we mean by \u201cfaith\u201d and should be translated\u00a0allegiance<\/em>. Couldn\u2019t agree more. This definition does not erase trust or faith or believing and instead swallows them up into a larger sense, one that is faithful to the Bible\u2019s own teaching: faith in king Jesus means allegiance to king Jesus.<\/p>\n

For the pew sitter who is self-satisfied and wants to be left undisturbed in a thin discipleship, for the Zane Hodges follower who thinks faith and repentance are largely cognitive, for the unconditional, soft love of God folks who think they are (more or less) entitled to God\u2019s love, and for the grace-ist theologian who thinks he elevates God\u2019s glory by over cooking grace and thereby eliminates faith as allegiance (can I hear an Amen for Bonhoeffer\u2019s \u201ccostly grace\u201d?) and who needs to read John Barclay\u2019s\u00a0Paul and the Gift<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, this book by Matthew Bates is urgently needed.<\/p>\n

Read it, digest it, and find a way to speak this word from the pulpit.<\/p>\n

Some snippets from the opening to the book:<\/p>\n

What is this necessary surgical procedure? Although the words \u201cfaith\u201d and \u201cbelief\u201d are mentioned in virtually every sermon preached in the English language, although they are prominent in nearly all translations of the Bible, although faith is currently so much at the heart of Christianity that the whole tradition is often called \u201cthe Christian faith,\u201d the persistence of this terminology as it pertains to eternal salvation has had, and continues to have, a misleading effect. The best corrective is that \u201cfaith\u2019 and \u201cbelief,\u201d insofar as they serve as overarching terms to describe what brings about eternal salvation, should be excised from Christian discourse. That is, English-speaking Christian leaders should entirely cease to speak of \u201csalvation by faith\u201d or of \u201cfaith in Jesus\u201d or \u201cbelieving in Christ\u201d when summarizing Christian salvation. For the sake of the gospel we need to revise our vocabulary. 3<\/p>\n

The needed surgery involves not just an excision of \u201cfaith\u201d language but also a transplant. With regard to eternal salvation, rather than speaking of belief, trust, or faith in Jesus, we should speak instead of fidelity to Jesus as cosmic Lord or allegiance to Jesus the king. This, of course, is not to say that the best way to translate every occurrence of pistis (and related terms) is always or even usually \u201callegiance\/\u2019 Rather it is to say that allegiance is the best macro-term available to us that can describe what God requires from us for eternal salvation. It is the best term because it avoids unhelpful English language associations that have become attached to \u201cfaith\u201d and \u201cbelief,\u201d as well as limitations in the \u201ctrust\u201d idea, and at the same time it captures what is most vital for salvation\u2014mental assent, sworn fidelity, and embodied loyalty. But we do not need to avoid the words \u201cfaith\u201d and \u201cbelief\u201d entirely. For example, they do carry the proper meaning in English for pistis with regard to confidence in Jesus\u2019s healing power and control over nature; moreover, these terms are suitable when pistis is directed primarily toward facts that we are called mentally to affirm. Our Christian discourse need not shift in these contexts but only with regard to eternal salvation. 5<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Bates wonders what happens to allegiance when we say \u201cfaith, not works\u201d or \u201cjust believe Jesus died for your sins.\u201d He wonders why we then say \u201cgenuine faith produces good works\u201d but works don\u2019t save? Why the fumbling around? Why avoid the obvious: genuine faith includes ongoing faith. Why not just translate it with \u201callegiance\u201d?<\/p>\n

Here are the four central theses of this book:<\/p>\n

1. The true climax of the gospel\u2014Jesus\u2019s enthronement\u2014has generally been deemphasized or omitted from the gospel.<\/p>\n

2. Consequently, pistis has been misaimed and inappropriately nuanced with respect to the gospel. It is regarded as \u201ctrust\u201d in Jesus\u2019s righteousness alone or \u201cfaith\u201d that Jesus\u2019s death covers my sins rather than \u201callegiance\u201d to Jesus as king.<\/p>\n

3. Final salvation is not about attainment of heaven but about embodied participation in the new creation. When the true goal of salvation is recognized, terms such as \u201cfaith,\u201d \u201cworks,\u201d \u201crighteousness,\u201d and \u201cthe gospel\u201d can be more accurately reframed.<\/p>\n

4. Once it is agreed that salvation is by allegiance alone, matters that have traditionally divided Catholics and Protestants\u2014the essence of the gospel, faith alone versus works, declared righteousness versus infused righteousness\u2014are reconfigured in ways that may prove helpful for reconciliation. 9<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

His question arises after wondering about the filtering of Jesus\u2019 demand through the filter of a specific understanding of Pauline theology and grace: \u201cHow many beams of good works must we toss aside as we strain to find the sawdust speck of \u201cfaith alone\u201d before we start to wonder precisely how this salvation house has been constructed? If we have to read the \u201cgood works\u201d requirement out of so many of Jesus\u2019s teachings about eternal life, might it be the case that the assumed Pauline interpretative lens of \u201cby grace alone through faith alone\u201d and \u201cnot by works\u201d is causing the distortion? Or could it be that we have foisted our own questionable contemporary understandings of faith, works, the gospel, and salvation onto both Paul and the Gospels?\u201d 12-13<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We believe in salvation by faith alone. But what does “faith” mean? Matthew Bates throws down the gauntlet and says the term, bibilcally defined, means “allegiance.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76,806,370,17012],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-gospel","category-grace","category-justification"],"yoast_head":"\nFaith as Allegiance<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We believe in salvation by faith alone. But what does "faith" mean? 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