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| Copyright © 2012 Karl Barth Foundation |
As part of Bellingham's theology and discussion group, the Forge, I've been preparing a presentation on "Karl Barth Today". Specifically, I'll be talking about Karl Barth on election. As part of my preparation I've been going through old notes. This is something I found that I wrote a few years back after reading IV/1 of Barth's magisterial Church Dogmatics on "The Doctrine of Reconciliation." This is what I wrote.
Karl Barth rightly observes that a person’s conversion to
God is a big deal. It’s a watershed moment. I think it’s something that he and American
evangelicals would have much in common. However, how he goes about this
discussion would be very different.
Considering our conversion to God, Barth notes that in some
dogmatics, some theologies, this is the beginning of the doctrine of
reconciliation and not the end. That is,
it is placed before humanity’s justification.
We “convert” and therefore we are justified. In terms of a ladder,
conversion leads to the next step justification. And to make it clear, I’m
grossly generalizing here. There’s many ways to talk about this amongst the
evangelical camp.
For Barth, the truth of humanity’s conversion to God begins
and ends with God’s turning toward us in Jesus Christ. Our conversion can only be understood as a
subjective response to humanity’s justification before God brought about by the
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in which Jesus Christ as our
representation totally displaces sinful humanity and thereby brings about our
justification. In our ladder illustration, our accomplished reconciliation brought
about in Jesus Christ is the lower step on the ladder. By virtue of this lower “step”,
we might “be converted”.
As sinful humanity is justified before God we are summoned
to a positive response of faith in God. That is, we are called to repent and
believe. This justifying faith is
properly the work of the Holy Spirit.
Barth writes: “The Holy Spirit is
the power in which Jesus Christ the Son of God makes a man free, makes him
genuinely free for this choice and therefore for faith.”
But lest Barth be misunderstood, the summons to faith is
never to be understood in a solely individualistic manner. The summons takes place within the context of
the one holy catholic and apostolic Church which is the earthly-historical form
of Jesus Christ.
What then does this mean for the Church and her proclamation
of the free grace of God executed through Jesus Christ?
First, it does not mean the Church begins with a
proclamation of sinful humanity. To be
sure, humanity is sinful, i.e. we are exposed in our pride, sloth, and
falsehood. However, our sinfulness is seen most clearly in the gracious
justifying act of Jesus Christ. The humble
and obedient act of Jesus Christ in his incarnation, life, death, and
resurrection exposes us as sinners. Nevertheless,
this is not the first nor is it final word.
Second, it means the Church begins with the proclamation of
the work of Christ who accomplished the full justification of humanity in his
life, death, and resurrection. As a
congregation of pardoned sinners, the emphasis falls squarely on the word
pardoned. The justifying work of Jesus
Christ has objectively displaced sinful humanity before God. The Church loudly and clearly hears the “yes”
of God. God the Father ruled in favor of
the Son and as our representative, God the Father so too rules in our favor.
Third, the Church calls men and women into faith in this God. We are called to acknowledge Jesus as
Lord. We are called to recognize our
place as pardoned sinners. We are called
to confess the saving work of Jesus Christ.
Fourth, this faith does not precede the justification of
humanity. In fact our faith is in the
God who has accomplished this in Jesus Christ.
Our faith is an empty hand that is able to offer God nothing and a
self-demonstration of our very selves as pardoned sinners.
In short the message is this: become who you already are in
Jesus Christ.
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