THE MISSING DIMENSION OF OUR REDEMPTION

The Reformers and their successors radically transformed Chris- tianity by reviving an essential truth of the Gospel—we are justified by faith alone through grace alone. What a liberating experience it was for people to understand that the gift of righ- teousness could be received simply by faith. It was like coming out of darkness into the daylight. Salvation involves a glorious exchange in which Christ takes our sin and guilt, and we take on His righteousness. I love the doctrines of salvation, sanctifica- tion and adoption that highlight our legal position in Christ. I believe they are a vital dimension to the preaching of the Cross and are foundational to a healthy walk with God.

Unfortunately, some of reformed evangelicalism has be- come rigid and scholastic in reducing a relationship with God to our legal standing with Him. The Gospel involves far more than God stamping accepted on our passport to Heaven. Yes, that’s good news, but that is not the whole of the story of the good news: God’s heart is ravished and filled with delight for His peo- ple (Song of Solomon 4:9). In the Song of Solomon the bride understands this about the king, saying, “I am my Beloved’s, and His desire is toward me.” What a statement! Out of a heart con- sumed with this revelation of God’s desire, the bride proclaims that she belongs to the king, and why.

In addition to our legal purification before God, salvation includes intimacy with God, a relationship that involves the receiving and giving of deep affection between our hearts and God’s. As God communicates His longing and affections for us, we respond in a similar way. As John said, we love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). An intellectual understanding of the legal aspects alone is not enough. Why? Because we are intended, and we want, to have more passion for God than we

do for the lawyer who gets us out of a speeding fine. We must understand what God feels for us; the revelation of the loving, passionate God must pulsate at the core of all our ministries, whether teaching others how to receive salvation, ministering to the sick, or leading a home group. Although God is totally self-sufficient, He desires our love. He, who has no need of us, abounds in His desire for us.

The First Commandment must be first in our lives or we live in boredom and are vulnerable to Satan. The human heart does not work properly in half-heartedness. It will be passive and therefore vulnerable to many destructive lusts. To be emotion- ally whole, we must live wholeheartedly. Some counseling min- istries in the Church fall into deception as they attempt to help people find emotional wholeness without insisting that their clients live in wholeheartedness with God. Wholeheartedness is necessary for our emotional health. Many believers try to find security and happiness in the grace of God without being aban- doned to God. They look for a way to make grace reinforce their carnal lifestyles.

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