Dave Armstrong is trumpeting NT Wright and Andrew Sandlin on his blog today. Shouldn’t surprise anyone. Note these two statements from Wright and Sandlin and ponder them well:
They need not know “theology” to be saved; they do need to know that Jesus and His redemptive work is their only hope and that in trusting Him, they are abandoning themselves to Him. (Sandlin)
Comment: Excuse me, but could Andrew Sandlin tell me who Jesus is without using theology to do so? Can he tell me what the phrase “His redemptive work” is, again, without engaging in communicating sound theology? What does “trusting Him” mean, non-theologically? What does “abandoning myself to Him” mean, again, without using theological terms? And, if a person says, “I trust in Christ, but I believe Christ lives in Canada today, and is a vegetarian, and I believe his redemptive work is at Walmart,” is that enough? And if you say, “No, no, no, that’s all wrong,” aren’t you saying that person…must know theology in some fashion? I thought Christian faith had an object, which means there is a need for the sound proclamation of the….truth? This may make me a Neo-Donatist, but …where have I missed the boat?
One is not justified by faith by believing in justification by faith. One is justified by faith by believing in Jesus. It follows quite clearly that a great many people are justified by faith who don’t know they are justified by faith. The Galatian Christians were in fact justified by faith, though they didn’t realize it and thought they had to be circumcized as well. (NT Wright, What Saint Paul Really Said, p159)
Read that a few times over and then think of Paul’s own words:
Galatians 5:2-4 2 Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3 And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. 4 You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
