Falling from Grace

Part 2, Sin Does Not Imply Separation

In the last post, I described some of the issues at stake in the old debate about the doctrine of “once saved, always saved.”

The specific tension I want to highlight is the very clear and pressing Biblical concern about endurance and perseverance in light of the possibility of falling away from the faith. Faith is, at root, a commitment to fidelity—the long obedience. And the Bible is very concerned that some people will not persist. As Jesus says in Matthew 10, “the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

At the same time, the Bible calls us to confidence in our salvation. Grace is rock solid. As Paul says, “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Salvation is not a precarious or tenuous thing.

What tends to happen in the old debate is that Scriptural passages on both sides are marshaled and pitted against each other. Hermeneutics becomes a zero-sum game, where some passages of Scripture must win over others. For one part of the Bible to win, another part has to lose.

I think the better way forward is simply to admit that there is a real tension here. Salvation is solid and secure—there is no anxiety in grace. And yet, it is also possible to fall from grace. Endurance and faithfulness are real challenges. Given this, the issue is not picking and choosing passages or rehashing the old debate in a zero-sum hermeneutical contest, but embracing a Biblical vision that holds these tensions together.

Let me sketch what I think such a vision would look like.

The first thing to do is go back to Leviticus. What is very clear in the book of Leviticus is that moral perfection is never expected. Sin is the norm. Failure is anticipated. If an ancient Israelite sinned, there was no existential panic that God would zap them on the spot, nor were they fearful of being excommunicated from the community. The reason there was no panic was that God, in His mercy, provided means of repair and atonement. A series of purification and guilt offerings were available to address sin and impurity. And annually, the Day of Atonement ritual cleansed the community. A moral spring cleaning, so to speak.

The point is that sin is expected, and means are provided to keep Israel in constant communion with the holiness of God. Here’s the key insight: the sacrificial system did not move someone from “lost” to “saved.” The sacrificial system presupposed a saved relation—communion with God—and worked to maintain that ongoing relation.

This insight was lost in my tradition, where we felt that any sin would change our status from saved to lost. This created a back-and-forth dynamic, where the line demarcating God’s grace versus wrath was crossed multiple times a day. But once we appreciate the Levitical backdrop, the following things become readily apparent:

1. Perfection is never assumed. Sin is expected.

2. In anticipation of sin, provision is graciously provided.

3. This gracious provision doesn’t restore but maintains ongoing intimacy with God.

In short, because of grace sin does not create separation.

The issue in the book of Hebrews, regarding the provision for sin, concerns the weakness of the blood of bulls and goats in cleansing efficacy within the Levitical system versus the “once for all” cleansing provided by the blood of Christ. Again, the issue is not penal or forensic substitution, but the provision of (1) an on-going cleansing that (2) addresses the inevitability of sin in order to (3) maintain intimacy and communion with God. In the past, God provided this provision through the Levitical sacrifices, which had to be repeated over and over. But now this provision has been fulfilled in Christ’s sacrifice, done once for all, providing permanent and ongoing cleansing. When we sin, we do not have to beat a hasty retreat from God’s presence in the Holy of Holies because the blood of Christ has wiped that space clean—and continually does so. Thus the exhortation of Hebrews 10: “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

This is precisely why there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 1 John 1 describes it this way:

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Notice the Levitical framework. Sin is expected. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. The issue, just like in the Levitical system, is to recognize and confess our sin. When we confess, the blood of Jesus cleanses us, and we maintain fellowship with God. When we sin, we do not need to sacrifice a bull or goat, nor wait for the annual Day of Atonement. Critical here is the verb tense of “cleanses.” The Greek verb is present tense. This cleansing is not in the past tense, as in a forensic situation. The cleansing is present and ongoing—a continuous washing, a standing and perpetual purification. The imagination here is that as sin emerges, it is immediately wiped away, over and over. All that is required of us is a humble and confessional posture.

So, can you ever fall from this grace? I’ll turn to that issue in the next post.