I find Matthew Bate’s emphasis on allegiance being a better translation for the Greek pistis rather than faith helpful with what you’re describing. As in, we are saved not by our faith (often understood in terms of belief) but by our allegiance to Jesus as messiah/king.
Many liberal Christians intuitively grasp that there is something lacking with the emphasis among many conservative churches that all you need to do is believe in your heart that Jesus died for your sins and that nothing else is being asked of them. By shifting the focus from justified by faith/belief to justified by our faithful *allegiance* to Christ, this allows for a way to understand the costly nature of grace. Yes the burden is light and the yoke is easy but we hold that in tension with Jesus’ teaching that unless we give up everything we cannot be his disciple.
I find Matthew Bate’s emphasis on allegiance being a better translation for the Greek pistis rather than faith helpful with what you’re describing. As in, we are saved not by our faith (often understood in terms of belief) but by our allegiance to Jesus as messiah/king.
Many liberal Christians intuitively grasp that there is something lacking with the emphasis among many conservative churches that all you need to do is believe in your heart that Jesus died for your sins and that nothing else is being asked of them. By shifting the focus from justified by faith/belief to justified by our faithful *allegiance* to Christ, this allows for a way to understand the costly nature of grace. Yes the burden is light and the yoke is easy but we hold that in tension with Jesus’ teaching that unless we give up everything we cannot be his disciple.
Absolutely. That’s a book I want to read.
I have never heard my congregations say they want harder sermons. That’s interesting. You know what’s hardest? In a way, Grace.
Grace is hard!