Page 90 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 5

Church Traditions for a Christian Psychology

Therefore, the Bible is recognized as the ulti- 3. The language used to describe the transiti-
mate authority in all matters. However, biblical on from pre-follower of Christ to Christian
authority is not viewed with a naïve literalism varies. However, the following phrases are
nor does it reject tradition. Instead, biblical au- commonly used throughout the evangelical
thority employs reasoned interpretation within tradition: “Being born again” (Jn. 3:16), “Be-
the context of tradition and personal belief. lieving in Jesus” (Jn. 3:16), “Accepting Jesus
into one’s heart” (Matt. 4:19), and Accepting
Conversionism Jesus as one’s personal Savior” (Rom. 10:9.)
Yet another core belief of evangelicals centers
around the conviction that salvation, or justi- Solo Christo
fication, can only be obtained through a perso- Salvation establishes a personal relationship
nal decision to accept God’s offer of grace. Neu- with Christ therefore, Christians no longer re-
trality is not an option when choosing whether quire mediators, such as a human priest, in order
or not to respond to the gospel. Each person to have access to the Lord. Jesus, then becomes
must repent, or turn from, their former life, ac- the individual’s high priest therefore, a human
cept God’s gift of forgiveness, and adhere to a priest is not necessary in order to gain access to
life that is modeled after Christ. God (Heb. 4:14-16.) Jesus is all that is needed
Stackhouse correctly observed that, “evangeli- to approach God. Christ indicates in scripture
cals are conversionist in the sense that they be- that he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and
lieve that 1. everyone must trust Jesus as Savior that no one can come to God the Father except
and follow him as Lord; and 2. everyone must through him. (Jn. 14:6) The focus on having a
cooperate with God in a life of growing spiritual personal relationship with Christ is a hallmark
maturity” (Stackhouse, “Defining Evangelical”, of evangelism and can be seen through:
p. 3.) Conversion, then, is a person’s choice to
trust Jesus to save them from eternal damnati- 1. Praying directly to and hearing directly
on. As biblicists, evangelicals believe that this from God (1Tim. 2:1-2.)
concept of salvation is scripturally supported at 2. Sharing the gospel of Christ with others and
several levels. doing good works (1 Thess. 2:8.)
3. Personally reading and interpreting Scrip-
1. Central to the doctrine of salvation is the ture in order to know Christ and his will
belief that all humans are born in sin. To better (2 Tim. 3:14-17.)
support this belief, evangelicals often cite 4. Confessing sins to obtain forgiveness is
Romans 3:23 “All have sinned and fall short made directly to Christ without the need for
of the glory of God.” For this reason, every a human mediator (1 John 1:9.)
person has a desperate need to be redeamed 5. God has bestowed individuals with a varie-
from an eternity apart from God which is ty of gifts of the spirit in order to carry out
the consequence of sin. “For the wages of the work of the church, including ministe-
sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life” ring to the world, and that ministry is con-
(Romans 6:23.) sequently not simply restricted to those in
2. The forgiveness of sin is a fundamental part traditional clergy roles (1 Cor. 12:3-p. 11.)
of salvation. Through Jesus’s death on the (Guretzki, 2012.)
cross, he was punished in our place and thus
atoned for our sins. This atonement is sac- Crucicentrism
rificial because Jesus was completely sinless Central to evangelical doctrine is redemption
and so was punished in our stead. Therefore, that was made possible through Christ’s sacri-
salvation is only possible through the ato- fice on the cross. Some might even suggest that
nement offered by Christ’s death, and thus evangelicals are cross-centered because they are
forgiveness can be offered through faith in Christ-centered. All teaching and preaching
Christ and repentance of sin –both prere- acknowledges that salvation was made possible
quisites to eternal life. through the cross. Indeed, evangelicalism stres-

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