Hi
Hilbrand,
I usually use the juridical lens to view the work of the cross to set people's minds at ease here.
Q: given that Christ died and rose again, how does salvation happen?
A: It happens through the process described in Romans 6.
I quote from the NASB (
Romans 6 NASB):
1What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?
2May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?
3Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
4Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
5For if we have become united with
Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be
in the likeness of His resurrection,
6knowing this, that our old self was crucified with
Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;
7for he who has died is freed from sin.
8Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
9knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him.
10For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
11Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Contemplate verses 3 and 4. We are united with Christ through death and then into resurrection. Paul goes on to say "Do not let sin rule you"; i.e., choose to follow Jesus. Paul remarks elsewhere that the condemnation of sin is fulfilled in the death of Christ (i.e., a typical atonement theology workup). The effective work going on here is Christ's work, not yours. *He* died, so that *you* may be resurrected with him.
But let's not rely on Paul for guidance, as he's but one voice in the biblical symphony...
1 Peter (
1 Peter 1 NASB) gives this quote.
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4to
obtain an inheritance
which isimperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
5who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
I want to highlight several aspects here. Christ caused us to be born again; via the mechanism of the resurrection of the dead - to obtain an inheritance that won't go away & is protected by the power of God. Inheritances are held in reserve for a later delivery to the inheritor, i.e., you.
In other words: you are saved by faith, and that isn't just going to go away because you erred and got, e.g., angry at a driver in traffic (but I'd counsel to work on getting Him to transform that into something better
).
Looking at the Old Testament, it is clear to me via the different lives presented there that a diligent seeking after God all the days of your life, along with repentance and humbleness, is the counseled advice.
I would note that there are some doctrines which really don't observe the above scriptures & teach that you have to be perfect all the time, and they really hurt people.
To sum up: set your heart at ease and consider the prophet Micah :
8He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?
