The Theology of the Cross
by Rev. Richard A. Bolland
as published in the Pagosa Springs Sun
With the month of March comes the beginning of Lent. Usually only liturgical churches observe this season of somber hymns, purple paraments, and increased emphasis on the curse of sin and the great cost paid by Christ for our redemption in response to our sin. There’s actually a good theological reason why this difference exists. In short, it is the difference between the theology of the cross and the theology of glory.
The theology of the cross does not focus on the “Victorious Christian Life” as many reformed Christian churches do. In those congregations, the emphasis is on Christian obedience in order to overcome sin in one’s life. This, sadly, is a set-up for failure. Christian self-help books are plentiful in Christian book stores abounding in the theology of glory. If one only follows these specific steps, then whatever problem which is being addressed will be overcome and the individual can then know that they are leading the “Victorious Christian Life”. Of course this will never happen because such books only point up that we cannot do what they ask with any consistency.
Think of the last three diets you were on. Unless you are one of God’s people truly blessed with an over active metabolism rate, you’ve probably tried somewhere between three and fifty different diets. The promoters of each and every diet plan tell us if we will only follow every requirement for that particular diet, then we will achieve the result we are seeking. So, how’d it go? If you’re like me it went fine for a while and now you’re probably back to where you started. Why? Because we simply cannot always maintain obedience to such a list of requirements. What is true for diets is also true for the often advertised but never achieved “Victorious Christian Life!”
Lent sets the record straight. Consider the victorious Christian life of our Lord Jesus Christ. As Dr. Gene E. Veith writes in his wonderful little book, The Theology of the Cross: The Way of the First Evangelicals, (Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO):
“The theology of the cross cuts against the grain of all natural religion, all of what we expect and want in a spiritual system. God manifested Himself not as an abstract principle, but He came down from heaven. Not as sheer energy, but as a baby. He was born, in a rather scandalous way, of a poor virgin, not in a king’s palace, but in a stable for animals. To be sure, the angels celebrated His coming, but they announced it not to the king, but to shepherds. Throughout His life, the Son of God emptied Himself of glory (Phil. 2:6-8) To be sure Jesus was powerful, healing the sick and ruling nature itself, but He remained unpopular, scorned, homeless…Strange for the Son of God to come like this. And then this Jesus was arrested, tried, and executed, nailed to a cross.” (p. 59)
Seeming success is not our hope, nor our goal. In Lent we see the reality of faith’s true nature. It is in Christ’s suffering that He reveals His heart to us! Indeed, being utterly helpless before sin, death and Satan is an accurate description of our spiritual condition without Christ. We are utterly dependent on God to save us. The reality is that we have no achievements, merits, and accomplishments which God finds admirable, so as to move Him to save us. Rather, He chooses to love the unlovable and to redeem the otherwise unredeemable. Our strength is not at all our ability to be obedient Christians rather it is an ever-increasing dependence on Jesus Christ as our only hope and our only Redeemer. Likewise, any success we find in living as Christians is always and only attributable to the grace of God in our lives, not to our alleged innate ability to behave well and be obedient. Once again Veith writes:
“Over and over in his writings, [Martin] Luther tells those who are doubting whether they have been saved, those who question whether God loves them, those who think they have committed a sin that God will not forgive, to read God’s promises in the bible and to hold Him to His Word – to remember the objective fact that they have been baptized – to receive Christ’s body and blood in Holy Communion – to cling to the cross of Jesus Christ… To believe in God’s Word of promise, despite one’s feelings, is faith. (p. 65)
To travel our Lenten journey is to know the theology of the cross. While in this world and in this flesh, our “victory” is hidden in Christ, just as His victory over sin was hidden in the cross. Do not be misled by the theology of glory for we cannot judge by appearances of “success” for our human flesh does not know such success, rather, let us look “…to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” (Heb. 12:2)
