With N. T. Wright doing battle over “Justification by Faith” at the upcoming ETS annual meeting (Nov, 16-19), I thought this quote is tellingly apropos.
Everything I’m going to say about the moral life, about moral effort, about conscious shaping of our patterns of behavior, takes place simply and solely within the framework of grace—the grace which was embodied in Jesus and his death and resurrection, the grace which is active in the Spirit-filled preaching of the gospel, the grace which continues to be active by the Spirit in the lives of believers. It is simply not the case that God does some of the work of our salvation and we have to do the rest. It is not the case that we begin by being justified by grace through faith and then have to go to work all by ourselves to complete the job by struggling, unaided, to live a holy life. (After You Believe, p. 60)
For other comments on Wright’s After You Believe see my “Worshipping and Being Human: Connecting the Dots“.
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