#Values: Values are definitions of what we hope will identify us. These articles are primarily intended for those who wish to join us in this project—whether through prayer, donations, or collaboration.
Salvation is not just the forgiveness of sins, but a union with Christ in a covenant relationship. Jesus Christ reveals the loving character of God, who seeks us out and calls us to be reconciled to Him.
Beta Values #3: Union with Christ
A common phrase among Christians is, “Repent, sinner.” While there’s truth in this expression—since salvation includes the forgiveness of sins—it goes further. Salvation is primarily about reconciliation: entering into the new covenant relationship with God through the love of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 11:25; Hebrews 9:11–15). The mistake lies in thinking of salvation as merely a set of ideas disconnected from Christ, when it should be understood as a relationship with Him. To understand this more fully, we must first grasp the need for salvation.
The story in Genesis tells us that the moment we turned our backs on God, something within us withered and died; a long freefall away from the fullness of life began, guided by death itself. For in turning away from the God of life, we turned toward death. Sin has thus become embedded in our society, and we see its marks everywhere. At its core, sin is distancing ourselves from God and His ways—removing Him from the center of our hearts and replacing Him with ourselves or something else. This shift causes our identity to be shaped by whatever has taken His place. For example, when we place ourselves at the center, we often do so at the expense of others. The cure is Christ, who leads us to reconciliation with God by rightly placing Him at the center of our hearts.
When in Christ we become a “new creation,” we experience a new beginning that affects all relationships touched by sin. Our relationship with God is restored (2 Corinthians 5:14–21). Our relationships with others begin to be restored in the church (Galatians 3:28). And our relationship with the rest of creation will be restored at Christ’s return (Colossians 1:20; Acts 3:21; Revelation 21:1; 2 Peter 3:10).
The New Testament describes salvation in relational terms. Christ is the vine and we are the branches (John 15); He is the head and we are the body (Ephesians 4:15–16); and several times, He is described as the bridegroom and the church as the bride (John 2–4; 1 Corinthians 6:16–17; Ephesians 5:31–32; Revelation 21:1–2). As Phillip Cary puts it: “The Gospel gives us more than grace or forgiveness of sins. More fundamentally, it gives us Jesus Christ Himself, God incarnate.”
However, today the gospel is often centered on the individual—their feelings and experiences, on how Christ fits into our lives—rather than showing that Christ transforms everything.
“Faith must be taught correctly, namely, that by it you are so closely united with Christ that He and you become as one person, which cannot be separated but remains united to Him forever and declares: ‘I am as Christ.’ And Christ, in turn, says: ‘I am as the sinner who is united with me and I with him. For by faith we are joined together into one flesh and bone.’ Thus Ephesians 5:30 says, ‘We are members of Christ’s body, of His flesh and bone,’ so that faith unites Christ and me more intimately than a husband is united to his wife.”
— Martin Luther
“Sin keeps us from being all that God has created us to be—as individuals and in relationship with God and others.”
— Diane Leclerc in Essential Beliefs
“God kept returning to us, with constant loving guidance, through the words of the Law, the testimony of the prophets, the apocalyptic visions of a better future—and finally came to us as the very Son of God. Since we could not go to God, because we showed again and again that we were powerless to fix our broken relationship with Him, God came to us and healed the breach as only God could.”
— William H. Willimon in This We Believe
“Not by works but solely on the basis of God’s grace and in union with Christ, through faith sinners are forgiven and made righteous, even though the struggle with sin and the pursuit of renewal remain daily tasks.
Those renewed produce good works and can be confident that the just and faithful God will attend to their final salvation.
In short: there was a consensus about God’s grace as the foundation of salvation, justification by faith as both a declaration and an inner transformation, and good works as the natural fruit of the justified life.”
— Summary of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification by Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen
“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so death came to all people, because all sinned.”
— Romans 5:12
“Although convinced of our sin, Wesley was even more convinced of God’s power to save. We are given a new birth that enables us to turn around, start over, and have the image of God restored in us—because Christ dies for us and rises again so that He may accompany us into the Kingdom.”
— *William H. Willimon in This We Believe
