Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Salvation 'in' and 'from'

The revelation of a higher code of morals is no Gospel. By works of law no flesh shall be justified in the sight of God. We are not Christians because we have attained to a standard of morals which can truly be called Christian, but because Christ has given us His Spirit. Our hope now, and for the future, lies not in the attainment of a standard which shall make us fit for His grace; but in the assurance that acceptance of His grace will raise us. We often say that "His name shall be called Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins", with the addition: "not in their sin but from their sins." In so saying, whilst we express one truth, we suppress another; for if Christ does not save us in our sins we shall never be saved from our sins. He comes to us in our sins to save us from them. It is of the essence of the Gospel that Christ comes to men in their sins. He came to save sinners.
- Roland Allen, p. 69, The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church, 1927.