Exploiting the Atonement
X-posted from Naiahdot.
For so many in the modern Christian world, the Atonement is desperately misunderstood. In the name of divine grace, they exploit Christ’s sacrifice to assuage their mortal conscience and continue to live as fallen and imperfect beings. ‘Take Christ into your heart and you are saved’ is all they preach. “He who worketh not, but believeth on Him, shall justifieth the ungodly; his faith is counted for righteousness.” (Romans 4:5) It’s tricky scriptural ground, no doubt.
In Gethsemane, the Savior reached out to each and every one of us, feeling our pain, aching through our trials, knowing us deeply and in every whit. He stepped up to become ONE with us, each of us, all of us. He knew, and knows, our weakness, and being human we all will sin and fall short of the glory of God. All the more reason to become one with Him.
The Atonement is just that–a becoming one with. At-one-ment. It is not a one-way gift, you see. Jesus Christ did not die to satisfy the scales of divine justice so that we can live by modern hedonistic standards. If we choose to become one with Christ such that His sacrifice counts as our own, then we become one with Him and His heart is taken into our own and our will must needs become like unto His.
It is a type of enlightenment, the Christian ‘Nirvana,’ if you will–to cultivate a spirit in oneself so at one with the Savior’s will such that there is no difference between the two. It’s transcendental to consider. Epicly transcendental. To leave behind envy, anger, malice, selfishness until these vices hold no sway. I can’t imagine a more peaceful mode of existence.
That is the grace of God of which the scriptures speak if you ask me. His grace is manifest in that he gave us Christ, not just as a sacrifice, but as an example, to let us see a better way–to give us an earthly echo of His own divine self. To take such a holy gift at only face value, as a mere redeeming of past and future sins is to admire the wrapping paper without opening the present. Yes, He makes up for our lack, but there is so much more to be had in seeking to become one with Him. It is well worth the effort.
April 14th, 2006 17:20
Very well done, as always.
I stand all amazed at some of the ‘born again’ types who somehow think that believing that what we do is important diminishes the atonement.
I like what you say about being one in will with God. It makes living the gospel a natural part of life instead of an obligation.
April 14th, 2006 19:41
That is the grace of God of which the scriptures speak if you ask me. His grace is manifest in that he gave us Christ, not just as a sacrifice, but as an example, to let us see a better way–to give us an earthly echo of His own divine self. To take such a holy gift at only face value, as a mere redeeming of past and future sins is to admire the wrapping paper without opening the present
I liked that image, very well done, in support of an excellent post.
April 14th, 2006 22:46
“To take such a holy gift at only face value, as a mere redeeming of past and future sins is to admire the wrapping paper without opening the present.”
I agree with Stephen M. Naiah, I love how you wrote that, and I appreciate the meaning behind it. It makes me think about whether I’m actually using the gift, or if I’m just holding it in my lap and gazing at it, or maybe stuck it under the Christmas tree as decoration.
April 15th, 2006 08:13
CS Lewis talks about serving Christ in a “gentler, less worried way.” That’s what I think grace is about. I love the doctrine of grace. I know that I’ve gotten some “free passes” that others didn’t and that has to be grace. Each of us, of course, are receivers of God’s grace, in different ways.
I like the idea of relaxing, not worrying, just doing the best we can and trusting in that ultimate sacrifice. I think sometimes we confuse worrying with working. As long as we’re nervous about it, we’re working on it. I don’t think that’s what God means when he says Come Unto Me.
April 17th, 2006 09:15
I believe that I am saved by grace. I could strive to live a perfect life, but I will never obtain perfection. Jesus Christ is perfect and he took on my sins (and your sins, and the sins of the whole world) and sacrificed His life for me. All I have to do is believe in HIm, the cross, and what he did on the cross and I am saved. If there is more to it than that, then why did he die? If I was able to live as Him and follow all the commandments, then why did he need to die for me - if I could do it myself? That is the whole point - I cannot do it myself. I need Him and I am thankful everyday of my life for Him and the cross. As such, I try to live a life that glorifies Him. But it’s not really me, it’s Him - living inside me that allows me to be able to do anything at all. It all about Him, it’s not all about ME and what I do or do not do. Life is all about JESUS CHRIST and for that I am so very grateful.
April 17th, 2006 11:24
It’s a pretty strong accusation - exploiting the atonement. While we, as Mormons, do tend to see the doctrine of grace in charicatured terms, our own doctrine of grace “after all we can do” is also charicatured as a doctrine of earning our salvation. Neither charicature appreciates the complexities of the true doctrines, nor approximates the devotion each elicits in respective adherents.
I think we, as a Mormon people, seriously minimize our own doctrine in an attempt to assuage our guilt. We approach the old Catholic indulgences, but rather than offering money as a price for salvation we are consumed by tithing settlement, temple attendance, home and visiting teaching percentages, etc. These outward displays of righteousness may result in an inward change, ala Wayne Booth’s description of “hypocrisy upward”, but I suspect there will be many of us, from both camps, surprised at how little we truly understood.
Thankfully, we have God’s grace and love to redeem us.
April 18th, 2006 13:19
I had a very wise seminary teacher that once said that that the faith without works example is like sitting in a row boat with one oar being works the other faith, with just one you go in circles. I would like to know why so many people are bothered with the idea of doing good works? When it is done in the spirit of service, is that not giving the glory to God, to Christ? My acts of service when done in that quiet, non assuming, just because it is the right thing todo is that very example that He gave us. IT has nothing to do with me, but everything to do with Him. I know I’m not perfect, only he was perfect, that is why Grace is important, I can’t earn salvation on my own, it can only be given to me. Why should I complain if I am asked to do things to show that I earn them. I should be willing to take His name as Mine, to do that shows my willingness to try to be like him, to serve like him, and ultimately love like him. When we have a loan at the bank, we are required to pay interest on that loan. Well with the Saviour we can never, ever repay the debt let alone the interest, therefore we have to do what we can when he asks it of us. Is it really too much to do? I surely hope not, I don’t want to be caught going incircles, rather I want to be going straight in line to where he dwells.
April 18th, 2006 13:47
Eric,
Thank-you, as always. I share your inability to comprehend how offering one’s life in gratitude for the grace can be miscontrued as devaluing that grace. To emulate is the highest honor, and Jesus Christ’s works were good. For us to seek to be like Him in no way diminishes the value of His atoning sacrifice.
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“I like what you say about being one in will with God. It makes living the gospel a natural part of life instead of an obligation.”
Yes, we do not abandon our will for what Heavenly Father would have it be, but rather we cultivate (think ‘weed’ like a garden) our will until we ourselves have grown and changed, have progressed such that we are more like Him, and we take our joy in those good and holy things as He would. It’s pure peace, if you ask me, and should be an overt goal for each of us in this life in light of our eternal progression.
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Stephen M,
Thanks. It was a nice moment of inspiration. I speak a lot in images–similes & metaphors. I find that often they communicate more than a more specific narrrative. I have a growing appreciation for the Savior’s practice of teaching in parables.
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JKS,
Ah! Yay!!! You said “makes me think”! That is the highest praise of all! Thank-you, and I hope you thought good thoughts! Think, ponder, pray, grow! It’s an amazing miraculous gift of a process!
April 18th, 2006 14:07
Grace and works are not synonymous. Either it’s grace or it’s works. “Works” can be expression of your gratitude for your free gift. If I give you a gift but tell you that for you to receive my gift you must pay me $10.00, then is it still a gift? Why not just go out and buy whatever the gift is yourself and remove me from the process? Do we really believethat Christ’s ultimate gift is not enough. Are we that self-centered to think that there is more that “we” need to do?
April 20th, 2006 17:35
Never ever think that grace and works are synonymous but they work together hand in hand. We are asked to do things for salvation that is simple. The grace given to everyone is the grace that we will rise again, that death is conquered. We have to repent, that is a work, we have to feel sorrow, we have to live a good life to the best of our ability. It sharing what we have, in serving others we can come to know the depth of the love of the Saviour. To saw that I don’t have to do anything because He did it all, is a bit shallow I think. The Bible is full of the concept of Grace and Works, you can not have one with out the other. If I expect the have answers to prayer I must pray, if I believe the commandmenst of God I must do them, If I believe in the Atonement of the Savior I must turn myself over to Him, it is the only way to be and the only way to live. I can’t believe that I don’t have to do anything to help his cause along the way? Isn’t that the example we see in the Bible of the apostles, that example of serving, of sacrificing everything? We have to be willing to do that as well as accept the Grace given to us. I already know that I would be nothing with out Grace? But I would be a slothful servant of the blessing I have been given with out being willing to do Good Works, after all did he not Say “Feed My Sheep’?
April 21st, 2006 09:39
You are missing my point. I am not saying that works do not have a place in our lives as believers. The issue is our hearts. I can do all the works in the world and not have the right heart and my works will mean nothing. Works are an expression of our heart. If we believe in Christ and what he did on the cross then our hearts will cause us to want to glorify him by our actions. I know a lot of people who don’t even believe in God but are good people and do many good works. Anyone can do good works, but not everyone can and does choose to accept Christ’s gift. The issue is Christ. Our reason for living is Christ. It’s all about Christ. It’s just not about us and what we do or do not do.
April 27th, 2006 12:51
annegb,
” I think sometimes we confuse worrying with working.”
That is profound. (profoundly true!)
Worrying about salvation is almost like doubting Christ. If we believe in Him, we must believe Him–believe that we all can and will be saved. I’ve been reading “Believing Christ”, and so I’m a little in that mindset right now. I hadn’t tied in worrying to the whole doubt thing until this comment. Thanks.
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Kristen, I agree wholeheartedly. I do not feel that any of us *must* attain perfection in this life in order to acheive salvation or exaltation. That grace is, undoubtedly, in the end what makes up for each and every one of ours’ lack.
To knowingly take that grace and squander it again and again seems to me an ungrateful way to receive it. It’s a little like the rich man’s son who never counts his money because he knows his dad will always cough up more cash. He never truly comes to understand the value of the money. While grace is infinite, I would count it a virtue in anyone who chose to see and recognize its profound value to each of us, and to better respect it. By respect, I mean to truly repent, which means not only to ask forgiveness but to change one’s ways. Think of Anne of Green Gables, paraphrased “That’s the one good thing about me, I never get into the same scrape twice.” We see the sorrow that our sin brings us, and we go to God with it. To knowingly and willingly return to the same sin seems to show a disregard for the grace that we’ve already been shown on that score.
The other side of the issue I brought up, is the hypothetical ‘enlightenment.’ Can you imagine how wonderful it would be to live with a truly Christian heart in this life? No sense of strife, of anger, of jealousy–to love everyone unendingly and meet all their shortcomings with perfect patience. it is not a state any of us will probably come anywhere near acheiving in this life, but it certainly would be neat.
April 27th, 2006 14:37
12 — I think there’s a place where the words of “don’t do the sin again” can be misunderstood. Sometimes, the problem you’re dealing with is one that can’t just be resolved with a period of penance — it may be a lifelong struggle, where you don’t win every round. Some of us need to be knocked to our knees quite a few times to remind us of “oh, yeah, I’m not already God, and the world really doesn’t revolve around me,” so we are given weaknesses that humble us over and over again.
The Atonement is just as much there for those situations as it is for “I’m sorry I stole a Twinkie from 7-11 and I promise to pay for it and never steal again.” It’s an infinite Atonement because some of us need that. Not so we can squander it, but because that’s what it takes to get the job done.
April 27th, 2006 16:17
Naiah, I love this kind of post. I have read it several times since you posted it. You are helping me stretch my mind and spirit, and that feels good. Even the “sore muscle” after-effects are good, because they encourage me to hope I may actually be growing and changing.
Seeing my sometimes half-hearted attempts to improve as “exploiting the Atonement” is shocking me into more concerted efforts. Not to check things off a list, but to actually open myself to the promptings that will help me become more like the Savior, and bring my will into line with his. I am also trying to remember Annegb’s profound observation about confusing worrying with working. With some changes I need to stop ruminating and start running
April 29th, 2006 20:51
“Grace versus Works” is a false dichotomy. It’s not about “grace” _or_ “works”. It’s about grace and obedience. Or substitute “faith” for “grace” if you wish.
Kristen, I note that at the end of your points, you still indicate that you “try to live a life that glorifies Him.” That’s what Mormons call striving for obedience. You (and we too) are doing what Jesus said in John 14:15 (If ye love me, keep my commandments), and Matthew 7:21, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”
Those two verses illustrate what Mormons mean by faith and obedience. This whole debate is framed incorrectly, and is a semantic trap over the definition of “works.” It’s not about faith (or grace) versus “works”.
Moreover, I point out that Paul talked about 4 kinds of “works”. 1) Works of the Law (animal sacrifices and ordinances of the Law of Moses), 2) empty works (outward actions with no sincerity), 3) dead works (sin) , and 4) good works (obedience to the “higher law”, ie, love and service/charity towards our fellow man).
Unfortunately, those who like to beat up Mormons with the “faith versus works” stick are mischaracterizing our emphasis on #4, obedience to the “higher” law that Jesus brought: faith, hope and charity (versus how many turtle-doves you have to sacrifice if you commit sin “X”).
The charge of “you rely on works” are mischaracterizing our attempt to obey John 14:15 and Matthew 7:21.