Jesus and Salvation Series (Part 18-B)

Welcome to the Summer 2006 study for the Koinonia Class of Calvary Baptist Church, Denver, Colorado. We’re looking at the issue of Jesus and Salvation, using the book “Is Jesus The Only Savior” [James R. Edwards, Is Jesus The Only Savior? (Grand Rapids/Cambridge: 2005)]. We encourage each person to buy a copy and follow along.

Does an Exclusive Savior Threaten World Peace? (continued)

I discussed the first part of this chapter in the last post (Part 18-A). The major reason this question is asked inside the church as well as outside the church is that after 9/11 “we fear that the misuse of one religion or ideology will lead to violence, and that the violence of one jeopardizes the peace and unity of all.” Therefore, some feel, “If Jesus can be demoted from the sole savior of the world to one savior among others, that is one less match to ignite the powder keg.” (page 185)

The question, “Does an exclusive savior threaten world peace?”, is vital to ask and answer if we are to avoid the extremes of either a theocracy or a watered-down, lowest-common-denominator gospel of a Jesus who could never be a threat to anyone. And, let’s face it, the message of the Gospel can be divisive. Even Jesus said it could be divisive (see Luke 12:51 where Jesus predicted division over Him even within families). We’ve seen instances even today of someone being ostracized from his or her own family, or even killed in some societies, because they became a Christian.

Any religion that claims exclusivity perceives a threat when another exclusive religion is preached. Sometimes adherents react violently. In this regard, presenting Jesus as the Savior of the world does threaten world peace. So the way Jesus is presented is important.

Having shown the perceived danger which keeps many Christians from presenting Jesus as an exclusive savior, Edwards shows in the last half of chapter 10 how that danger is minimized by focusing on grace, Jesus as redeemer of all, and how the Gospel is God’s message of peace for all.

God’s grace is not the privilege of a few, but the gift God offers to all peoples. “The entire New Testament declares and repeats that in the particularity of Jesus, Israel reduced to one, that salvation has been accomplished for and is now offered to all creation.”

The term “offered” comes up again and again. Some Christians claim that grace and salvation are given to all with no response required. For them the question of free will is answered by saying that somehow in the end God will save everyone whether they accept Christ now or not. Edwards says the gift is offered to all, but that the gift must be received. God does not force it on anyone (and, of course, we should not use force in evangelistic efforts either). Thus the threat to peace is lessened.

Six pages are devoted to the New Testament concept of God offering salvation to everyone. Special care is taken in the New Testament to show that not only Jews could receive salvation through Jesus. “The Cornelius episode [in Acts 10 and 11] entered the bloodstream of the early church, and has never left it. It illuminated something that in the long history of Israel had lain in the shadows: the offer of salvation to all peoples.”

Walls were broken down for the Church to receive all who would come, not only from other nations, but “all people—“Jews and Greeks, slave and free, male and female—may be baptized by the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ (Galatians 3:28; 1 Corinthians 12:12-18; Colossians 3:11).”

We should notice also that God’s redemption through Jesus is intended for all creation, including “the elemental spirits of the universe” (Colossians 2:20). That, of course, is a mystery we won’t solve, but it is important to know that Jesus is Lord of all.

In the section “Jesus the Peacemaker of God” Edwards re-emphasizes that there is no coercion behind the redemption of all. The focus is on Jesus breaking down the walls that divide so there is now nothing that artificially separates people. By breaking down the walls that divide, Jesus created the peace.

It’s important to know, however that:

• the “peace” Jesus created is not what the world thinks peace is (the absence of conflict or a state of tolerance)
• this peace is created by Jesus; it is not something humans make
• this peace is not a personal mental state or attitude—it’s corporate rather than individual
• peace refers to the reconciliation between God and His creation, and
• it refers to the corporate peace Jesus creates within His Body

In one long sentence Edwards summarizes all of this: “The peace that attends the proclamation of the gospel is thus the announcement of a condition produced and delivered by God, not by human effort; it is a condition effected by the work of Jesus and declared in his name; and finally, it is communal rather than private or primarily emotional, affecting in material ways the relations of Christians with the world.” (page 200)

Since the point cannot be made too often, Edwards repeats the concept (on page 202): “The peace announced in the gospel is not achieved by an imposition of power on others but by the self-sacrifice of Jesus…The Gospel does not destabilize and threaten the world. It reconciles the world.”

In spite of this truth, we are often reluctant to talk about the gospel, the self-sacrifice of Jesus, and the salvation He offers to the world. Because we personally now encounter people from other religions, we would like to focus on the Great Commandment (to love God and each other) and forget about the Great Commission (to go and make disciples of all peoples). We don’t want to disturb the peace. If only all paths did lead to the same place, all would be well. So in the next post we will move on to the next chapter, “How should Christians think about other religions”.