extended salvation

Michael Wittmer:

The postmodern innovator favors a watered down version of inclusivism which extends salvation to those who have not believed in Christ. Machen said that liberals in his day wanted “a salvation which will save all men everywhere, whether they have heard of Jesus or not, and whatever may be the type of life to which they have been reared.” He replied that such openness would remove the offense of the gospel and change its historic meaning. He wrote: “What struck the early observers of Christianity most forcibly was not merely that salvation was offered by means of the Christian gospel, but that all other means were resolutely rejected. The early Christian missionaries demanded an absolutely exclusive devotion to Christ. . . . Salvation, in other words, was not merely through Christ, but it was only through Christ.”

Thus, Machen would probably disagree with those postmoderns who suggest that simply being postmodern enables them to transcend the modern liberal-conservative controversy. Instead, Machen would likely argue that these postmoderns repeat too many of the mistakes of modern liberalism to get very far past it. Their “third way” is too much like the old way to become a new way.

A better way to transcend the liberal-conservative controversy is to incorporate the insights of each. Liberals emphasize ethics and conservatives defend the specific, historic doctrines of the Christian faith. Don’t we need both? Is it even possible to have one without the other? The Apostle John writes that God commands us both “to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commands us” (1 John 3:23).

Conservatives must acknowledge with James that faith without works is dead, for how can we claim to believe in God if we do not pass on his love and serve our neighbor? (Jam. 2:17-26). And liberals must concede with Paul that works without faith are vain. Works without faith give us reason to brag—look what we did—but they are useless in earning any part of our salvation. Paul explains, “If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God” (Rom. 4:2).

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