Spring 1999 - Quarterly Review

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Jesus promises that those people who may no longer expectanything from the society they live in may expect everything fromGod; that their lives will be enriched by the communion with God inhis Kingdom and under his gracious rule. Their daily needs will not beforgotten; those who are hungry and weep are blessed and, therefore,promised that they will have enough to eat and will be able to laughagain. But whereas this bounty is promised for the future, the verbtense of the blessing of the poor is open. This may indicate that thepromise is already beginning to be realized by the proclamation of thenearness of the kingdom of God.Jesus shows the present reality of salvation through the immediatecoming of the kingdom in another instance. The saying "But if it is bythe finger of God that I cast out demons, then the Kingdom of God hascome to you" (Luke 11:20) is very important for understanding Jesus'calling. The Greek text indicates that Jesus may well have originallyused a particular Aramaic word which expresses almost graphicallythe idea that God's reign stretches out so close to human beings that ittouches this world and its needs. Although it still does not embrace allthings, in Jesus' healing and liberating actions the kingdom hasalready come.These and similar words outline the need to which Jesus' savingactivity responds: alienation from God which results in enslavement tothe destructive power of evil. This alienation may manifest itself indiseases and also in the social ostracism and marginalization of peoplewith problems or in need. The personal guilt of these afflicted personsis not ignored or trivialized. But their personal guilt does not affectthis larger view of human need: men, women, and children come intothe picture not only as perpetrators but also as the victims of morecomprehensive structures of evil from which God's reign liberates andsaves.In Jesus' teaching and action, therefore, two things are happening:first, people are already experiencing in their lives the saving power ofGod's kingdom. At the same time all that they now witness is only anincomplete token of a future fulfillment, the beginning of theoverwhelming abundance of the kingdom of God.The Word of the Cross. "God has raised Jesus from the dead." As thefundamental experience and confession given to the disciples afterJesus' violent death, this sentence became the central confession of theearly church and the foundation of its calling. It speaks first about22 QUARTERLY REVIEW/SPRING <strong>1999</strong>
God's act toward the Crucified One but obviously includes the notionthat, with the raising of Jesus, God's eschatological work of raising allthe dead has begun.But this statement in itself does not explain the meaning of Jesus'death. Early Christians, guided by scripture (especially Isaiah 43 and53) and probably by the recollection of Jesus' own comments, soonbegan to understand Jesus' death as the vicarious sacrifice of his life.Through the acceptance of our guilt and sin by Jesus as God'sanointed one, his death effected atonement and reopened ourcommunion with God. The confession quoted by Paul in 1 Cor. 5:3-5shows that this notion of Jesus' death and resurrection becamefundamental for the Christian conception of "salvation in JesusChrist."The problem of guilt becomes crucial in this context. Especially forPaul, this means more than simply resolving difficulties brought aboutby transgressions of the law. After all, such transgressions are only thesymptoms of the fundamental sin of all human beings since Adam,that is, rebellion against God in which they place their own being—inall its fragility and transitorincss (or, as Paul calls it, their "flesh")—atthe center of their existence and therefore miss their true vocation tolive their lives in the presence of God.Because Jesus died the death of a sinner and thus acceptedalienation from God and the curse of the law, he took upon himself(that is, he "bore") the deadly consequences of unsettled guilt. At thecenter of God's saving activity is forgiveness of sin; but forgiveness isonly part of the much more comprehensive process of reconciliation,as well as the inauguration of a new communion with God (2 Cor.5:18-21). This same concept can be expressed with the terminology ofjustification. In Hebrew-biblical legal thought justification means averdict of not guilty; but the declaration "He or she is justified"includes also a positive judgment: "He or she belongs to ourcommunity."On the theological level this means that when we are justified Godacquits us, for the sake of Jesus Christ, from the charge of havingfailed to reach the goal of our life (which is to live in God's presence).He abolishes our failure by accepting us into God saving communionand by giving our lives the right direction and the right goal,It is important to notice that this theologically based notion offailure can assume different forms in a human life. Some maytransgress the law outright, violating both God's will and the rightsPROCLAIMING SALVATION—MAKING DISCIPLES 23
Page 2: Editorial BoardTed A. CampbellWesle
Page 8 and 9: add to it add to it To add complete
Page 11 and 12: Thomas E. FrankMinding What We Say:
Page 13 and 14: ulbs into the bright sunshine. But
Page 15 and 16: and reinforces the individual's ide
Page 17 and 18: question is not whether all persons
Page 19 and 20: marketed to consumers. To achieve t
Page 21 and 22: Kairos is also a word central to Je
Page 23: Notes1. "Large Minutes" of the Meth
Page 26 and 27: You have nothing to do but to save
Page 30 and 31: and living space of others. Others
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Page 34 and 35: than just recruiting new church mem
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Page 38 and 39: eaches out to those who desperately
Page 40 and 41: 7. Coll and Response: Biblical Foun
Page 42 and 43: does in his "Letter to Dr. Middleto
Page 44 and 45: God's will, but because he resists
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Page 48 and 49: forms of evangelism and revivalism
Page 50 and 51: Christ." 31The topic here is knowle
Page 52 and 53: conclusion: "By this means, on the
Page 54 and 55: Whether we can be happy at all here
Page 56 and 57: idea of "getting saved" that usuall
Page 58 and 59: Anderson, ed., Methodism (Nashville
Page 60 and 61: seemed to me that both projects cal
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Page 64 and 65: he applies Christ's words to one li
Page 66 and 67: PERIOD Phase 1: Phase 2: Phase 3: P
Page 68 and 69: and 1745 to the effect that works a
Page 70 and 71: tension between the Wesleyan herita
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Douglas W. RuffleHoliness and Happi
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holiness and happiness, shall cover
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letter that he would send financial
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emphasis on a "lifestyle" evangeliz
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Wesley saw the need to bring "real"
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Kenneth G. DavisStill Gringo after
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considered her casual demeanor to b
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like to give attention to the lumin
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into the light of these luminarias.
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ecause I cannot be other than what
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one might choose to look at the som
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Jesus was not, however, a crowd-ple
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coming of the kingdom (9:35), they
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about Jesus has been forever known
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Although the message comes from the
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would strike at the very fabric of
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these little ones." The parallel an
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(16:18-19) was vying for recognitio
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July 18,1999—Eighth Sunday after
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Matthew's "little apocalypse" descr
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Spring 1999 - Quarterly Review

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