I could probably say at the point of Grace. I have in mind the confession of St. Paul in Gal 2:20-21
20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”
When did Paul's crucifixion with Christ happen? At the Cross? On the road to Damascus? Or at Damascus when Ananias baptized him (or in our language when God baptized him)?
I cast my vote for the last one because of what he wrote in Romans 6:1-6. I am fairly convinced of this, that it happened at Damascus with Ananias. What about you?
I would have agreed or asserted this probably 3-4 years ago, but one thing I learned with Concordians is that they simply say what Scripture says without excuse or rational summersaults.
2 comments:
Dear Big Bro. Lito,
Yes, we are baptised into the death and resurrection of Jesus. Baptism is the Cross made personal for me (pro nobis). Baptism bridges the time gap between the Cross as a historical event and the living present.Baptism is therefore an eschatological event breaking into my life and invading my life. The Cross is extended in time and space through Baptism as a Sacrament of the Gospel. Baptism is a Sacrament of the Gospel only because the Cross is "once-for-all". The Cross is NOT re-presented in Baptism, but applied, contra Rome, which conflates or confuses the both.
This means that our faith is not a faith in the Cross as an abstract historical event in the past, but faith in a concrete, here and now, in the living present event which is in terms of I to you - the revelation of the will of the sovereign of God for YOU. In Baptism, Jesus says "I died for you", and so, you have died too.
Baptism is the passing away of the Old Creation, and the emergence of the New Creation.
Bro. A.S.
The Cross is extended in time and space through Baptism as a Sacrament of the Gospel. Baptism is a Sacrament of the Gospel only because the Cross is "once-for-all". The Cross is NOT re-presented in Baptism, but applied, contra Rome, which conflates or confuses the both
I so appreciate the way you have stated that, that was quite useful.
Helped me a lot in making precise what I believe, it is the application, and extension of the Cross to my space time continuum ( to use the words of Back to the Future character).
Amen.
LPC
Post a Comment