Nothing but the blood of Jesus: A theological perspective
In Bible college, professors talked about “Christ plus,” the idea that salvation is by the blood of Christ and something else. In Protestant settings, the obvious example is the Catholic Church, generally represented as teaching that salvation is by Christ through the sacraments. Less obvious examples are from within Protestantism. Essentially, it is the idea that Christians must believe in the blood of Christ and something else equally — creationism, Bible versions, spiritual gifts, tithing, etc. In this way, the saving knowledge of Christ is put on the same footing as other, albeit important, issues.
The fundamental problem is the diminishment of the Cross. If, as Paul proposes, salvation is by faith in Jesus only (cf. Rom. 4), nothing else can be regarded in the same way, not in importance or in essentiality. That does not mean other issues are unimportant, for as Paul demonstrates, there is much that is important… but not everything is important for salvation’s sake.
A further difficulty lies in the fact that many theological issues are not yet decided. Whether infants should be baptized or not has not been decided by the universal church. Some Christians baptize infants; others do not. That one person or group of people is persuaded does not make it a decided matter. To impose this belief or insist upon it is folly.
Salvation by the blood of Christ is, however, a decided matter. In fact, Christianity, from its earliest moment, was (and is) defined by belief in the physical death and resurrection of Jesus. To call oneself a Christian is to say, “Jesus really died, he really rose.”
Issues do not define faith; faith defines the issues
A still further difficulty is that some theological issues are simply unimportant, so that what matters is not the position one takes, but how one takes that position. “For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin,” writes Paul (Rom. 14:23). Whether one eats meat or abstains (a major issue in the early church) is unimportant. Rather, what is important is that one acts according to conscience. Whether one esteems one day or all days is unimportant, as long as one worships in faith. And we should not imagine that “matters of conscience” are limited to these examples. It may well be that the “undecided” issues of Christian faith fall into this category.
In my own theology, only faith in Jesus is essential, i.e. the thing upon which there must be unity. All other things — and I define “all other things” quite broadly — are non-essentials. I do not say that these other issues are unimportant, but they are not foundational.
Whatever the outcome of “issues,” the beginning point is certain: salvation is by the blood of Christ only. That is what we must hold first. All else will follow.
Similar Posts:
- Thoughts on essentials and non-essentials
- What is “non-essential”?
- Notes on Galatians in view of Kingdom Exclusion
- In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, love.
- When is a person not a Christian?
© 2010, Mark Adams. All rights reserved. For inquiries press here.
Originally posted 2009-03-18 11:50:45.
