Sergey Hudiev

Assurance of salvation

REDEMPTION IN JESUS CHRIST

The Apostle Paul expresses the essence of Christian faith in one phrase:

—・t is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." (Galatians 2:20) The Christian faith is faith in the Incarnation and Redemption which God in love accomplished for each specific sinner. In every Orthodox cathedral there is a large representation of the crucifixion, that is the crucified Christ is portrayed on each little rugged cross. For the main symbol of Christianity is the cross and the main event of Christianity is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Lord Himself says that the goal of his coming was to suffer and die.

—For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45) The focus of our faith and hope is chiefly here: For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. (1 Corinthians 2:2) That which we think in regard to salvation is determined by that which we think in regard to the cross. All of the writers of Scripture in one voice assert: Christ died for our sins. Moreover, for the Apostle Paul the Gospel in and of itself is a proclamation of the fact that Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead. Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the 1 Scriptures, (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) See also Mark 10:45; Isa. 53, Rom. 4:25; 2 Cor. 5:21 etc. j We can speak of the fact that Jesus died in order to renew man's nature, to show us an example of absolute obedience or to pioneer the way of resurrection; however, the most important and chief purpose for Christ's death was to die for our sins. To deny the substitutionary character of His death is to deny the Gospel through which we are saved! As the prophet Isaiah testifies that Christ, for the transgression of my people was he stricken. (Isaiah 53:8) In His act of redemption, God identified His Only-Begotten Son with our sin, damnation and perdition so that these things are fully settled by His death on the cross. Thus, God has identified sinners with righteousness, blessing and eternal life found in Jesus Christ so that all of these blessings belong to us. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21) This righteousness, blessing, and life belongs to us in Christ and only in Christ–it is not our own righteousness, but His: Therefore as by the offence of one (Adam) judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one (Christ) the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. (Romans 5:18) And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith (Philippians 3:9) In and of ourselves and by our own qualities, we are far from perfection and that is why we are called to strive for perfection (Phil. 3:14). However, God sees us in Christ and in this way we are perfect and fully accepted. We are seen by God as perfect because Christ's atoning work is perfect and we are in Christ. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. (Hebrews 10:14) "What is this," objects the reader, "God accepts us as perfect although in reality we are not perfect? Is it possible that God could 2 deceive Himself? Absolutely not! God sees every sin–the sins that we confess and also those which we do not want to make known, as well as, all of the deep, dark depravity of our hearts–however, he sees all of this as nailed to the cross in the body of Christ (Rom. 8:3). He sees the infinitely precious righteousness of His Beloved and Only-Begotten Son and he sees this righteousness as belonging to us as His (Jesus') brothers (Heb.2:11),as members of his "mystical body" (Eph. 5:30 etc.), and as united with Him though Holy Baptism (Rom. 6:5). This by no means is some kind of "legal fiction." For who would dare to deny that Christ in reality is the truest and most real way died for our sins? Who will arise and call His death "fictitious?" In exactly the same way, this righteous which God imputes to believers in Jesus cannot be fictitious. For if we are so united with Him that He truly carries our sins, then this means that we are so united with Him that we truly bear His righteouness. St. John Chrysostom, interpreting Rom. 5:16-19, says: We have been set free from punishment, For we were at once freed from punishment, and put off all iniquity, and were also born again from above (John 3:3) and rose again with the old man buried, and were redeemed, justified, led up to adoption, sanctified, made brothers of the Only- begotten, and joint heirs and of one Body with Him, and counted for His Flesh, and even as a Body with the Head, so were we united unto Him! All these things then Paul calls a —superabundance of grace, showing that what we received was not a medicine only to countervail the wound, but even health, and comeliness, and honor, and glory and dignities far transcending our natural state. And of these each in itself was enough to do away with death, but when all manifestly run together in one, there is not the least vestige of it left, nor can a shadow of it be seen, so entirely is it done away. As then if any one were to cast a person who owed ten mites ( ) into prison, and not the man himself only, but wife and children and servants for his sake; and another were to come and not to pay down the ten mites only, but to give also ten thousand talents of gold, and to lead the prisoner into the king‘s courts, and to the throne of the highest power, and were to make him partaker of the highest honor and every kind of magnificence, the creditor would not be able to remember the ten mites; so hath our case been. For Christ hath paid down far more than we owe, yea as 3 much more as the illimitable ocean is than a little drop. Do not then, O man, hesitate as thou seest so great a store of blessings, nor enquire how that mere spark of death and sin was done away, when such a sea of gifts was brought in upon it.1 (Homily 10; The Epistle to the Romans) In so far as I understand the Scriptures, the blessings of redemption belong to us owing to the fact that we belong to Him and not because of some kind of worth of our own. We "are justified by His blood" (Rom. 5:9) and not by anything of our own. For Christ, having no sin of His own, was made a sacrifice for sin (2 Cor. 5:21) and was made a curse (Gal. 3:13) for us (for we are without any kind of virtues in and of ourselves), that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21). Moreover, redemption in Christ Jesus means that in and of ourselves there are absolutely no merits upon which we could pin our hopes. Let's examine this in more detail. The Apostles describe the atonement as: personal. Christ personally atoned for each specific sinner: for Paul (Gal. 2:20; 1 Tim. 1:15), for the weak brother (1 Cor. 8:11), for members of specific Christian fellowships (Eph. 1:7; Gal. 3:13). He knows each of His sheep by name for whom He lays down His life (John 10:3). The Scriptures speak of the redemptive ministry of Christ as that which was made for specific people with specific names and faces who live in specific cities. The moral obligations of a Christian are inseparably linked with the fact that Christ died for him personally. One day I discussed this with a woman and she said something which I will always remember: "Yes, but you know that if I believe that Christ died for me personally, then I can no longer lie." Unbelievers think that the realization by man of the fact that all of his sins are already atoned for at Gogotha, will make him unafraid to sin. On the contrary for believers this acknowledgment compels one to zealously flee from sin. Substitionary. In the death of Christ, God's judgment was performed upon our sins. God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh (Romans 8:3)

 1 P. Schaff, The Nicene Fathers, electronic ed. (Garland, TX: Galaxie Software, 2000). 4 Our curse was placed upon Him: 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us–for it is written, —Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree (Galatians 3:13) Our sins were placed upon Him: 5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. (Isaiah 53:5-6) See also 1 Pet. 2:24; 1 John 2:2; 3:5; 4:19; Rom. 4:25; Gal. 1:4; Heb. 2:17 etc. 5 Exhaustive. 12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. 14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, 16 —This is the covenant that I will make with them After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws upon their heart, And on their mind I will write them, He then says,17 —And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. 18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin. (Hebrews 10:12-18) All of man's attempts to expiate his sins and to gain God's favor by his (man's) own personal deeds are unnecessary. What is follows from this? A series of very important conclusions. If I (following the Apostle Paul) believe that Christ died for me personally, then I am forced to acknowledge that I in and of myself, with all my pious deeds have gained nothing except condemnation, rejection and damnation –all of which the Lord bore for me on the cross. Jesus bore upon Himself that which I deserved. So how could I, after understanding this, say that I have pleased God(or hope to please him in the future) by my own virtues–especially if I view the Lord as One who died upon the cross the death of One who was accursed? This is perhaps a difficult but inescapable conclusion–in the death of Christ, God's verdict is already pronounced upon my life and actions and this verdict is guilty. God quite obviously did not accept my life and my actions as a sacrifice, well-pleasing to Him–otherwise Christ's sacrifice would not have been needed. The cross emphasized that which we studied previously when we examined the testimony of Scripture regarding man's sinfulness:

All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one. (Romans 3:12) Christ did not come in order to add to and support our own claims for righteousness, but rather to repudiate them. Therefore the apostolic proclamation regarding the substitutionary atonement easily arouses such a sharp objection–for it fully shatters all of our claims of self-righteousness. When the Word of God proclaims that "Christ 6 died a death of One who was cursed and He died for your sins" it is saying "truly you have earned nothing except damnation and death." For the sinner who tries to take refuge in the rags of his virtues, pious deeds and personal feats, this is a heavy blow. For he realizes that his rags will never suffice. Then upon what is he to rest his hopes which seem so vain?

 Yet, at the same time there is great comfort–for you will not be condemned because One who was not guilty died for you. You do not have to worry about whether or not you rags will appear good enough because you will receive the garment of Christ's righteousness. The death and resurrection of Christ releases the wearied sinner to freedom–it is no longer necessary to lie and justify oneself, nor to overstrain oneself, attempting to break through to God via personal blamelessness, nor is there a need to live in fear and doubts being convinced all the more that such a thing is impossible. One may simply yield and rest upon the atoning work of Christ. The Apostle Paul sets forth a harsh choice: either we receive through faith the righteousness of Christ or we attempt to produce our own righteousness. 3 For not knowing about God‘s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. (Romans 10:3-4) The Apostle himself pronounces his former (highly significant) religious attainments and merits as "vain" and as "rubbish." 7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, (Philippians 3:7-9) The redemptive ministry of our Lord contains all that is necessary and sufficient for our salvation. and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had 7 been invited, 任ome; for everything is ready now.‘ (Luke 14:17) Redemption in Christ and redemption through one's own efforts are not compatible but rather are mutually exclusive of one another. —I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly. (Galatians 2:21) (We will in detail examine what Paul had in mind regarding "under the Law" when we study the topic of justification by faith.) Any teaching on salvation which to some degree or another adds to man's salvation his personal achievements will inevitably lead to a denial of the redemption accomplished by Christ. For if man can save himself through his personal good deeds, then Golgatha is reduced to some kind of mere demonstrative act whose goal was to "convince man to accomplish his own salvation." It is possible that the reader has encountered a few other notions such as: Christ redeemed man's nature; however, every independent sinner still must acquire the fruits of redemption through his own personal efforts. According to this assertion, And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. (1 John 5:11) one is to understand that in essence God has not given us eternal life itself but only the possibility to participate in eternal life through Christ. Of course for such possibility to occur we must bring it about through our personal efforts. I am forced to recognize that in comparison with the Apostolic witness regarding redemption, this idea gives rise to serious difficulties. 1) "Man's character" actually exists only in the case of concrete people. To assert that Christ redeemed "man's character", yet not having redeemed anyone specifically is in essence to assert that Christ redeemed nothing. 2) In the context of the Apostolic witness regarding redemption, it is very difficult to find such an understanding as "man's character in general."2 Would it be correct to say that,

2 That is used in this fashion–in such a nebulous way. 8 But He was wounded for the transgresions of man's character He was bruised for the iniquities of man's character; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes man's character is healed. 6 Man's character has turned, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of man's characterl. (thoughts from Isaiah 53:5-6) or

In Him man's character has redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace (Ephesians 1:7)? "The idea of something like Man's character" cannot sin, nor is in need of atonement for sins, nor can it go astray–for these things demand a person, not a character. 3) Such an idea undermines personal grace and personal devotion of the Christian to his Savior. If Christ did not die for specific people, but rather for a "character", then associations in regard to moral obligations also are placed upon "man's character" and not upon specific people. 4) Such a point of view robs the glory from Christ in regard to our redemption and makes one a hero through one's own redemption. In reality, thanks to whose works does any specific person find the fruits of redemption? Thanks to his own works? Christ alone paves the way to make this possible for man. For example, imagine that I, because of my great generosity, knowing of your needy situation (materially), give you a gift of five thousand rubles. You are already stretching out your hand and then I explain to you that in order to acquire this gift you must work it off. But of course I, because of my great generosity and gratuitous disposition toward you provide you with a working place, instruments and with all that is necessary for your work. Moreover, I declare that I reserve the right not to pay you one kopeck if the volume and quality of your work does not suit me. You will most likely understand that I am in no way a benefactor, but simply an employer and a strange employer at that–for what purpose is there in referring to wages as a gift? I have always expressed distrust of street vendors who at first present something as a "gift", and then say that one must only pay for 9 delivery. If they simply want to sell me something, then why do they all it "a gift from the firm?" If a specific finds salvation "by personal deeds" then for what purpose do we speak of salvation as a "gift." This would simply be an injudicious advertisement. However, I do not find it possible to suspect God of such imprudent advertising. If the Word of God asserts that salvation is a gift, then that is exactly what it is: Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. (Isaiah 55:11) they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, (Romans 3:24) For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God–not the result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9) For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

Does this mean that one may simply ignore personal moral deeds? Of course not. But, as we are now discerning, a pious life and zeal for good deeds–these are the necessary manifestations of salvation and not the prerequisite condition of salvation. 5) Examine John 15:4-5: Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Here the Lord says that we can bear fruit that is pleasing to God only through abiding in Him. Thus, if I am not in Christ, then the benefits from all of my spiritual efforts are nothing more than . If I am abiding in Christ, then I already possess those blessings which He promises to His sheep: I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. (John 10:28) 10 In different places the Scriptures also say that we can perform deeds pleasing to God only when we are already saved and accepted by Him: For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God–not the result of works, so that no one may boast.For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. (Ephesians 2:8-10) In reality, what kind of good fruit can man bear for God if he is still remains a "son of disobedience," "a child of wrath" and "the wrath of God abides on him?" The same is spoken of in the Epistle to the Romans: and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. (Romans 8:8-9) We can live according to the Spirit, only if the Spirit of God already lives in us, otherwise we "cannot please God." Likewise, it is said of the Spirit that He is the unquestionable Witness of our belonging to Christ. In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God‘s own people, to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14) That is, only those who already belong to God through Jesus Christ have the Holy Spirit. Thus, in order to bear good fruit for God, it is first necessary that one has been made a good tree (Matt. 7:17-18). It is quite strange to think that through personal efforts a burdock can produce figs and in reward for this is made into a fig tree. 6) Such a conception about salvation assumes that man can be in process of the transition from an "unredeemed" to "redeemed" state, abiding in Christ only partially according to the measure of his "mastering" the fruits of redemption. Whereas the Scriptures draw a very sharp and clear-cut distinction between abiding in Christ–when all present and future blessings of redemption already belong to man 11 and abiding outside of Christ, when man is wholly and completely absent of these blessings. The distinction is so sharp that it is impossible to speak of any kind of intermediate or transitional condition. This question is so important that we will set aside a separate chapter in order to examine it further. 12