Gospel Proclamation of the Ascended Lord
Herbert Hoefer
Professor
and Missions Chair,
Published
in Global Missiology, Spiritual Dynamics, July 2004, www.globalmissiology.net
Difficulties with the Western
Approach
Confusion over the Proclamation
Proclaiming to People’s
Questions
Beginning with the Need for Help
Beginning with the Living Lord
Approach of the Gospel of John
Approach of the Classical Idea of the Atonement
Appendix: Testimony of a Caste Hindu “Jesu bhakta”
Over the centuries, Western missions
have made huge investments of people and funds in outreach to the great
societies of Islam, Hinduism, and
We know that Christ is the answer to
the human need, both in time and in eternity.
Yet, we have been unable to communicate that fact to most of the
world. The failure is not in the
message, for the Word “will accomplish that for which it is sent.” (Is
55:11) The failure is not with the Holy
Spirit, for He will work faith where the Word is communicated. (Rom
Difficulties with the Western Approach
The usual message of our Western
mission approach has been: “Receive the
forgiveness of sin won for you by Christ and have the gift of eternal
life.” It is indeed a biblical, Gospel
message. Millions of people around the
world have responded to this call, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and
received Christ into their lives.
However, it is very interesting to discern the question they have found
answered in Christ. Often it is not the
one our Gospel message was addressing.
It is not the question the vast majority of
Often the distinction has been made
between a guilt-based society and a shame-based society. In the guilt-based society, individuals have
internalized a set of moral standards, and they feel personal guilt if they
fail to live up to those standards. In
the shame-based society, individuals are very aware of the judgment of their
social peers and authorities. If they
violate these people’s expectations, they feel great shame. The motivation to moral living, therefore, is
the approval and acceptance of their community.
In a guilt-based society, one might feel motivated to live by certain
moral standards purely on the basis of his/her conscience.
In the shame-based society, it is
the fear of social discovery and disapproval that motivates conformance. God is not involved. In fact, there is more definite hope of
reprieve in a guilt-based society, for God might be persuaded or appeased. However, when the “collective conscience” of
the society has been violated, boycott and excommunication are sure, with all
the shame that goes with that. The
society must rigorously guard and enforce the norms by which it survives and
functions. Eternal consequences of sin
pale in comparison with the immediate, life-transforming consequences in the
shame-based society.
The Western evangelistic appeal has
been based on the values of a guilt-based society. People are warned that God has set the
absolute standards, and we know them in our individual hearts. When we violate these standards, our
conscience itself informs us that we deserve God’s eternal judgment and punishment
(cf. Rom
Westerners are familiar with this
understanding of the Gospel as relief for the troubled conscience and assurance
of eternal life. It answers the
questions of a guilt-ridden heart. We
are sure of our salvation totally because of grace. We see God is ultimately loving and
compassionate and forgiving. However,
this proclamation says little to the major crisis of soul to be faced in a
shame-based society.
Confusion over
the Proclamation
Two years ago I was approached at a
conference by a high caste Indian “Jesu bhakta” (believer in Jesus). She expressed consternation that she had just
learned a couple of weeks earlier that she was not a
Christian. Some American Christians had
told her that anyone who does not believe that Jesus’ blood paid the price for
our sins, is not a Christian. She said
that this explanation of the atonement made no sense to her and she didn’t
believe it as part of her faith in Jesus.
I had to give her a quick lesson in the history of theology,
demonstrating that there have been many explanations of the atonement both in
Scripture and in subsequent Christian history.
As we shall discuss at the end of this article, this “substitutionary atonement” theory was propagated by St.
Anselm in the 11th century and has become dominant in Western
theology. It was never dominant in the
Eastern church.
For several reasons, this Western
presentation of the Gospel can be quite confusing to non-believers. For one thing, they ask the question “Why
can’t God just forgive if He is so loving?” The usual reply is that God also is just, and
so it is only on the cross that His justice is satisfied. Yet, for an outsider, this understanding of
God’s character makes him even less virtuous than we are. We forgive people without exacting the last ounce
of justice due us, but God can’t?
In Asian societies, we have the ethical
principle of non-violence. The Western
Gospel proclamation often portrays a very violent – even blood-thirsty – God,
sacrificing His own Son. We say there is
no forgiveness without the shedding of blood.
Of course, we know that this imagery of the atonement is drawn from the
Old Testament system of temple sacrifice.
However, for outsiders, this proclamation portrays a God Who seems less than virtuous.
A third question about God’s
character in this understanding of the Gospel is about the freedom of God. If, by definition, God is the Totally Free
One, then He should be free to do what is totally good. He should be totally free to forgive.
Next, there is the question of
guilt. What if I don’t feel guilty? What if my conscience does not accuse me about
something as being morally wrong? What
if my conscience is blunted or misinformed?
Then I feel no need for the forgiveness that is being proclaimed and
proffered.
Fifthly, this Gospel proclamation
assumes that I care what God thinks about my actions. What if I don’t have a concept of a personal
God? What if I don’t have a personal
relationship with God? Then I don’t feel
guilty about offending Him. What if I
don’t see God as One laying out rules for me to
follow? Then I don’t worry about disobeying
them.
Then, what if I don’t look for moral
standards within myself or in God, but in my community? Then I don’t have a sense of guilt from my
conscience or a sense of offense from my relationship with God. I don’t feel the need for God’s forgiveness,
and I don’t fear eternal punishment.
What I really do fear and feel concerned about (the judgment of my
community upon me), this proclamation of the Gospel does not address.
Finally, the Gospel appeal made by
Western missions tends to assume that my focus is on eternal life. However, many societies comfortably leave the
question of life after death as a mystery.
People in these societies are much more focused on present realities and
struggles: with the spirit world, with
community expectations, with personal failures, with issues of poverty and
health, etc.
Indeed, for many of these reasons,
this “satisfaction theory” of the atonement has diminished in importance even
in Western theological circles, as reported by Dr. Paul Rajashekar,
Academic Dean at Philadelphia Lutheran Theological Seminary. In an e-mail response to a draft of this
paper, Dr. Rajashekar observed that “the feminist
critique of that theory is even more devastating” than the one presented above.
(
Proclaiming to People’s Questions
If we are to address our Gospel
proclamation to the questions that people actually are asking, what would those
questions be? The questions, as
mentioned already above, have to do with life now. In tribal African societies, the question is
if there is a power that can control the powerful, capricious spirit
world. When I was in
What is striking is that each answer
to such issues of present living draws upon the fact of Jesus as Ascended
Lord. So much of Western theology has
been centered on Jesus’ crucifixion. We
focus on the atoning sacrifice of His suffering and death. This focus answers the question of guilt. When we add to this proclamation the fact of
Jesus’ resurrection, we add the assurance of eternal life. However, Jesus’
Western theology has focused on Good
Friday as the center of the salvation event.
In fact, Easter and the Ascension are quite secondary, even unnecessary
in this paradigm of atonement. Easter
simply makes public what had already taken place, and in the Ascension Jesus
simply returns to the Father with the task accomplished. One can imagine a scenario in which Jesus
would simply have disappeared from the cross once His death had paid the price
for sin, for the other two events simply are not essential to the atonement
event.
Eastern Orthodox theology, in
contrast, has focused on Easter as the central event. They find in Jesus’ resurrection the
inauguration of a whole new cosmic order.
This is the good news that they proclaim, and it certainly is a true and
biblical proclamation, rooted in the ancient church fathers. It also is much more comprehensive and
dynamic than a concept of the atonement that basically stops with Good Friday,
as we shall see later.
The third event in God’s saving work
in Christ, the
Beginning
with the Need for Help
In the great religions of the world,
there is a great emphasis on living a moral life. For Hindus, following the laws of “dharma”
ensure that one will have a more pure soul and a better reincarnation. For Buddhists, there is the challenge that
everyone has the Buddha nature and anyone can attain buddhahood if s/he would just follow the moral rigors
of the eight-fold path. For Muslims,
following the laws of
This is the spiritual quest of the
adherents of these religions. When they
think of religion, they think of leading such a pure, spiritual life. In Western theology, we have categorized such
thinking as “works righteousness.” They
think they can make themselves righteous.
They need to receive the righteousness that Christ has won for us on the
cross and offers to us as a free gift.
However, such a response to this
religious thinking misses the point.
They are not seeking free salvation.
They are seeking spiritual help.
The atheistic Chinese also are seeking help to become the noble man of
Confucianism and the egalitarian society of Communism. Our goal may well be to bring them to the
gift of free salvation, but the way there would best be the path these people
are already on.
On my last trip to
It is significant what part of the
Bible convinced him of its inspiration.
It was the part that spoke to his inner most heart and quest: Romans 7:14-25. In these words of
This was not a shout of agony over
guilt but of agony over frustration. In
his shame-based upbringing, he could not achieve spiritually what was expected
of him in his community, and in his own soul.
He needed a living Lord to lead and guide his life. He found in Jesus, as
Beginning
with the Living Lord
This individual told a story about a
conference he was at. A university
lecturer had been brought in to speak to a group of “Jesu
bhaktas” (followers of Jesus still living in their
Hindu communities). Instead of
addressing the issues these believers face, he spoke for one and a half hours
about the Jesus’ resurrection, attempting to prove from history that Jesus had
indeed risen from the dead. Squatting on
his haunches through all this was an elderly villager. When the professor finished his lecture, the
man responded, “I’ve been listening to you for all this time proving that Jesus
rose from the dead. The fact is I spoke
with Him a long time just this morning.
I didn’t need to listen to all of this to know that He’s alive.” For this man, it was the experienced fact of
the ascended Lord that was the centerpiece of his faith and life, not some
convictions about theology or about history.
A further example of this focus on
Jesus as living Lord is the frequent fact of visions among converts in
Such visions come not only in
distant lands but in Western lands as well.
I am convinced that God uses this approach wherever and whenever He
finds people open to it. Such personal
encounters are the prime avenue of conversion for sincere spiritual
seekers. We had a Hindu student in our
university who had rejected the Gospel in all his religion classes. But while sitting in a large auditorium in
one Humanities class he said he suddenly heard Jesus call to him and tell him
to follow. At that, he felt he had no
choice but to convert.
People on this spiritual quest also
respond profoundly to the Person and work of the Holy Spirit. “Now the Lord is the Spirit.” (II Cor
When I was in northern
The personal character of the Gospel
in Western proclamation is that “Jesus died for you.” The focus is on the crucifixion. The personal character of the Gospel in the
examples I’ve given above is found instead in the
I’m reminded of the refrain of the
Gospel Song “Because He lives:”
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, all fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living just because He lives.”
This is the Gospel faith and
experience of Christians in these societies.
Now the question comes if we are willing to make this aspect of the full
Gospel message the center of our evangelistic proclamation. Converts indicate that the good news of the
living, active Jesus is the Gospel that speaks to their heart. Can we challenge non-believers to acceptance
of this same good news?
What we would be doing is starting
with sanctification rather than justification.
Typically, in Western theology we have begun with justification, God’s
gracious declaration of His forgiveness.
We have said, then, that we accept this gracious gift and respond with a
life of sanctification, a life of grateful service to our Lord in the
transforming power of the Holy Spirit.
However, when the quest of people’s
heart is sanctification rather than justification, might we begin with that
part of the good news? Might we
say: “You feel overwhelmed by life? You know you are not living up to the
standards of your religion and your society and your heart. You feel helpless and frustrated. You wonder how you and your society can
become all that you desire. Where is the
help for your life?”
The answer, of course, is the living
Lord Jesus. “Because He lives,” there is
hope and direction and help. You can
call to Jesus, and He will respond. He
will give you a peace and a strength of spirit that
you have never known before. You will be
transformed in the core of your heart.
You will find the strength and guidance to be all that you want to be,
in the power of His Spirit. You need not
fear. He is with you, and He is in
charge. He is Lord of all.
That is the good news so many
seeking hearts are yearning to hear.
That is the powerful Word that will not return void, for it will be
received with eagerness. This is the
Gospel message that we have not usually communicated. It is the message that many converts heard,
even directly from the Lord, and they responded with their lives in grateful
and courageous service. Might we finally
listen to their witness and follow their lead in our Gospel witness?
Hindus, Muslims, and Buddhists
expect that their religion will be challenging and life-fulfilling. They don’t want to just mouth some formula
about abstruse doctrines. They want a faith
that will enable them to be all that they feel God means them to be in their
daily life. Perhaps they have a lot to
teach us as well.
The saving act of God in Christ is
much more than Good Friday. It is the Fall, the history of
The Ecumenical Creeds intentionally
forego any explanation of God’s atoning work in Christ. We are called to remember and confess the
simple facts: “Jesus Christ… who…
suffered…was crucified….rose… ascended.”
These are the bare facts of the mystery, left uninterpreted
just as in the gospels themselves. What
do these events mean, and how do they speak to my life today?
Many different attempts have been
made to develop facets of this eternal mystery.
The theological criticism of the
standard Western approach, as we have seen, is that it is static and juridical
and centered almost completely on the crucifixion. Other approaches are far more comprehensive,
historical, and dynamic. For example, in
Eastern orthodox theology, as we have seen the focus is on Easter. Good Friday is a path to get to Easter and its
salvific implications. Easter brings in a whole new reality of
divine regeneration of humanity, cosmic transformation, universal restoration,
and the inauguration of the Age of Church and its sacraments.
The Pentecostal traditions have
brought a focus on the event of Pentecost, and emphasized the inauguration of
the Age of the Spirit. This view is
closely related to the emphasis on the Ascension, as it is the ascended Lord
Who sends the Spirit and Who “is the Spirit” in
action. (II Cor. 3:17) Once again, this
approach is much more dynamic, personal, and historical than the usual Western
approach, as believers are caught up in the regenerating, renewing, and
empowering work of the Holy Spirit. The
rapid spread of Pentecostal churches around the world in the last century, also
among adherents to the major religions, testifies that they are presenting the
Gospel in a way that answers people’s needs and desires.
Our focus on the Ascension follows
this theme of God’s saving activity as cosmic in scope and a living, personal
reality. Clearly, this approach
incorporates the crucifixion and its centrality in God’s saving work. However, it also moves beyond that seminal
event of the cross to its implications in all of living history through the
fact of the Ascension.
People are called to encounter the
living Christ personally in their questions of life, whether in a guilt-based
society or a shame-based society or a post-modern society. In the words of John’s gospel, as we all now
see, all believers join in experiencing “the glory of the One and Only, Who
came (and comes) from the Father, full of grace and truth” and in testifying
that “From the fullness of His grace we have received one blessing after
another” (John 1:14-15).
Approach
of the Gospel of John
We see this emphasis on the living
Christ in John’s gospel. It was the last
one written. Seemingly, John wrote his
account of Jesus’ life a couple of generations after Mark, Matthew, and Luke
wrote theirs. John’s interest was not so
much the actual events of Jesus’ life, but their on-going meaning and
implications. In John’s gospel, the
crucifixion/resurrection/ascension is one salvific
event. For his audience, it is not the
experience of the historical Jesus that is real but the experience of the
living Lord.
Therefore, in John’s gospel we have
a much different emphasis. He is writing
for those who live now with the Ascended Lord.
As John concludes his gospel, he summarizes that it was his intention to
help his hearers and all future generations know this Jesus so that they may
“have life in His Name.” (
Throughout John’s gospel, he
presents the themes of “light” and “life.”
Sometimes John calls it “eternal life,” but his message from the Lord is
that it is real life, life “in all its fullness.” (
1:4-5, 9 – Jesus is the true life and light
6:32-35, 50-51 – Jesus is the “bread of life”
6:63 – Jesus’ words are spirit and life
12:35-36 – Jesus calls us to “become sons of light”
These themes speak to the faith and
experience of converts from these other religions. They have found “life in His Name.” They have found real life and real light from
their relationship with the living Lord.
The focus is not so much on what Jesus did but on what He is. He lives “in them.” (
1:14, 16 – Jesus came and gives blessing upon blessing.
15:5 – When we remain in Jesus, we will bear much fruit.
16:12-15 – The Spirit will come to guide us into all truth.
John describes/predicts what these
converts experience and value: the
personal relationship with the living Lord.
Clearly, what they emphasize as central to their Christian faith is
central to God’s message to His Church in the Fourth Gospel. They may indeed help all of us to focus on
this dynamic, historical relationship that we too might have real life in His
Name and bear much fruit.
The reality of Jesus is not just
that He removes our guilt. He also
removes our shame. Through our living
Lord we have a new life in the Spirit, a new sense of worth and hope and
security as children of God. We have an
affirming and supporting community in relationship with our Lord and His
People.
Approach
of the Classical Idea of the Atonement
One of the things these converts can
help us do is expand and deepen our Western understanding of God’s saving work
in Jesus Christ. These converts are
reacting to one portrayal of God’s work of salvation in Jesus. This interpretation of the crucifixion became
dominant in the West through the writings of St. Anselm of
Many scholars have traced the
history of the doctrine of the atonement, beginning with the variety of themes
in the New Testament. The theme that was
most common in the millennium prior to Anselm was the theme of Jesus conquering
evil. In his classic study of the topic
in Christus Victor (1931), Gustav Aulen calls this theme the “classic idea” of the atonement
because of its roots in the Scriptures and in the early church fathers. His argument is that Martin Luther attempted
to revive this understanding of God’s work in Christ, over against the Anselmian understanding, which Aulen
calls the “Latin idea” or the “satisfaction theory” of the atonement.
Aulen traces the origins of Anselm’s view to the Medieval practice of penance. “Its root idea is that man must make an
offering or payment to satisfy God’s justice; this is the idea that is used to
explain the work of Christ.” (Christus
Victor, Macmillan Co., N.Y. 1966, p. 82)
The offering for sin had to be sinless, but it had to be performed by
man for man’s sin. The solution,
according to Anselm, was that God could come Himself and make that
satisfactory, sinless offering as man in Jesus.
“The relation of man to God is treated by Anselm as essentially a legal
relation, for his whole effort is to prove that the atoning work is in
accordance with justice.” (p. 90)
In contrast, the classic description
of God’s saving work is much more dynamic and personal. God is not simply a judging figure that must
be satisfied. He is the active conqueror
of evil through Christ. Jesus’ death is
the culminating event in God’s long conflict with Satan, and now God triumphs
over the devil through Christ’s Resurrection and
This approach places the climactic
events of Jesus’ life into a cosmic and eternal context. The battle between God and Satan began before
the creation of the world and will culminate at the end of time: Mt. 25:41, II Pet. 2:4, Jude 6, 9, Rev. 20. With the creation of the world, the battle
occurs immediately in the Garden in Gen.
3, and God promises that He will “crush” the Evil One (cf. Rom. 16:20). The battle is reflected throughout the
history of
The battle intensifies as God makes
His direct invasion of the realm of Satan, “the Prince of this world” (Jn.
The battle culminates in Jesus’
suffering and death, with His seeming defeat on the cross. However, the fact of His eternal victory is announced
in His glorious Resurrection and perpetuated in His triumphant Ascension back
to the right hand of the Father: “His
incomparably great power…which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the
dead and seated Him at His right hand… far above all rule and authority… not
only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under His feet…”
(Eph. 1:19-23, see also 2:4-7, 3:9-11, 4:8, Col 3:1). Now the seeming defeat of the cross is
revealed actually as Jesus’ final triumph, “having disarmed the powers and
authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the
cross” (Col. 2:15, see II Cor. 2:14, Rev. 5:5, Jn. 16:11).
From now on, Jesus is addressed not
only as Rabbi and Messiah (Christ) and Savior.
He is addressed primarily as Lord.
Early church martyrs would rather die than address Caesar by this title
won by the Son for all eternity, when “every tongue (will) confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord” (Phil. 2:9-11). He is
the Lamb Who has been victorious and will “overcome those who make war against
Him… because He is the Lord of lords and King of kings” (Rev. 17:14,
In His triumphant resurrection,
Jesus even descended into hell and exerted that all “angels, authorities and
powers (are) in submission to Him” (I Peter
Clearly a presentation of the Gospel
in terms of this classic view of the atonement is much more dynamic and
provocative than the cold, juridical transaction portrayed in the substitutionary view.
The view places us today in the cosmic and universal saving work of
God. The view of Jesus as the triumphant
Lord, rather than merely the suffering Savior, inspires faith and hope, whether
for a tribal person struggling with fear of spirits or a social activist
struggling for justice or a pious person struggling with pangs of conscience or
a person shamed and afraid in his community.
For the Muslim also, this view
places the saving work of God in Christ in a much broader and more
comprehensible perspective. The Muslim
can resonate with the concept of God in battle (“jihad”) against evil. However, when we focus immediately on Jesus’
suffering and death we are brought into immediate conflict with the teachings
of the Qur’an about the crucifixion. In
the context of divine “jihad,” the crucifixion can make much more sense.
This view of the atonement speaks much
more clearly, then, to the felt needs and spiritual quest of people in all the
major religions of the world. It avoids
many of the moral and aesthetic obstacles that the Anselmian
view has raised in their sentimentalities.
Instead, we have a triumphant, caring, living Lord Who came and Who comes. He has
demonstrated and effected His power over evil and over
the Evil One, at the cost of His own life.
He is present even now in that care and power. He is to be trusted and followed with joy.
Such an understanding of the work of
Christ in past history brings a continuity with His
work for us in current history. This
saving work of Christ answers the searchings of their
soul that their current religious life has raised and left unanswered. The Lord Who triumphed is the One Who
continues to triumph, and He invites all to the Life and Light that is
available only in Him, both now and for all eternity.
In the provocative words of Martin
Luther’s famous Battle Hymn of the Reformation, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God:”
“…. But now a champion comes to fight, Whom God Himself
elected.
You ask who this may be? The Lord of hosts is He,
Christ Jesus, mighty Lord, God’s
only Son, adored.
He holds the field victorious.
…. We tremble not, unmoved we stand;
They cannot overpower us.
Let this world’s tyrant rage; In battle we’ll engage.
His might is doomed to fail. God’s judgment must prevail!
One little word subdues him.
…. For God Himself
fights by our side With weapons of the Spirit….
Though life be
wrenched away, They cannot win the day.
The Kingdom’s ours forever.”
As an illustration of the issues
involved, I share with you an e-mail that I received from a high caste Hindu “Jesu Bhakta” when I shared with
him the draft of this article:
Dear Herb,
But I can summarise my current thoughts on the matter. For me, the language and terminology of the
cross and Christ's death on the cross and justification does not seem to have a
personal application. I.e., I do not
have a deep sense of gratitude towards Him for having died for me on the cross
(I don't understand why He had to do that, was this something God orchestrated
to demonstrate to the Jews the concept of grace? Since the sacrificial system
was endemic to the Jewish tradition, did he choose to use this as a symbol?
To me, the
relationship with Christ is more as my personal Lord, God, Guru,
however you wish to call Him. I can
relate to Him as the Living God and this I experience via the presence of the
very real Holy Spirit whom He has given me ("God has poured out His love
into my heart thro' the Holy Spirit whom He has given
me"). It is the living,
resurrected, ascended Christ that I can relate to.
I have asked many
Christians recently why I cannot have a relationship with God in the way that
Abraham, David, Moses, Isaiah, etc did, by faith. There was no sacrifice on the cross then. I
have not heard any clear answer, the only answer is
that that was the covenant God had then, now it is through faith in the
sacrifice of Christ.
I do not doubt that
Christ is the incarnate God. But I think
the crux of all Christianity is that the incarnation was for the purpose of
redemption. And it is this latter point that has been a stumbling block for me.
It seems to me that Christians focus more on the sacrifice on the Cross than on
the living, resurrected Christ.
Christians around me
like to suggest that I am a struggling Christian, a baby Christian who hasn't
grown. I am considered a heretic, as someone who is "way out there"
etc, just because I cannot relate to their terminology and obsession with the
crucifixion. Often, I tend to believe their assessment about me and then end up
in bouts of self-flagellation and despair.
My initial drawing to Christ was to a personal Lord, God and Guru. For many years I did not have much
understanding of nor exposure to the Gospel messages
that are thrust upon new believers.
I do believe I am
forgiven by God when I come to Him in genuine repentance (as in "Against
thee, thee only have I sinned"), I come back
vindicated by Him when I go to Him with a repentant and contrite heart. “The
sacrifices of God are a broken and contrite spirit.”
I am to die to myself
daily and let Him rule in me. (It is my ego that is the biggest enemy that
stands between me & God.) One can
indulge in all kinds of talk about what happened at the cross and what it means
to them, to me what seems important is coming to Him
as a pauper in spirit, that is the point at which God meets man. And then in continuing to
live for Him.
Many Christians have
urged me to see the much hyped "Passion of Christ" movie, especially
since I have struggled with issues of the Cross and the blood of Christ. I have not bothered. I do not need to have the message of
crucifixion force-fed into me.
The other thing I have
had trouble with is the one-shot nature of what happened at the Cross.
Christians like to say things like, "all my sins
were forgiven in the one act at the Cross". Then I have to wonder why we continue to
sin. The very fact
that I continue to sin means that I need to continue to come to God in utmost
repentance. For me to say that
there is no more sin in me because I believe Christ died once and for all on
the cross for my sins would be a lie. I know the baseness/sinfulness of my
heart and I know I continue to sin daily.
And I know that I need to come to Him daily.
I believe Christ is my
personal Lord, God and Saviour. But where He fits into the picture, in God's
forgiveness of me, I do not understand.
Christians indulge in a lot of talk about how God cannot see us apart
from our sinfulness but for the sacrifice of Christ. This concept I just cannot relate to very
easily. Maybe it is more a symbolic
concept that I do not need to get so hung up on? There is far greater focus among Christians
on the justification than on the ongoing process of sanctification. And this leads to the danger of cheap grace,
which I have seen a lot of.
After all, what use is
justification if it is not followed by sanctification?
I read your paper and
notice that other caste Hindu converts like me have had similar struggles with
the matter of justification, and, like me, consider Jesus as their personal,
living God. So this must be something
peculiar to us Hindus.
For this reason, I
much more enjoy the 4 Gospels, which seem to be a narrative of Christ’s life on
earth. I particularly favor the Gospel
of John whose focus is on Christ’s relationship to God and also our
relationship to Christ/God. I find it
hard to relate to the writings of Paul and the book of Hebrews, which seem to
be heavily steeped in the language of atonement, redemption, justification,
sacrifice at the Cross, etc. It feels
like reading a legal document.
I have really enjoyed
your paper. You are the first one I have
seen to have correctly assessed what distinguishes the Hindu convert's thinking
from the stereotypical Western Christian's thinking. Your paper very nicely sums up what I have
not been able to give expression to.