A Biblical-Theological Review of Michael Allen's Sanctification - Part 9: Chapter Eight - Grace and Nature
Chapter 8: Grace and Nature
Chapter 8 considers “two realities: the promise of the new
creation and the nature of the new creation” (200). Allen addresses “how the
grace of new creation relates to the nature we have been granted, namely, how
regeneration pertains to and informs our thinking of the relationship of grace
and nature” (200). He concludes that “the dynamic of
biblical sanctification … can only be described fittingly in eschatological
terms: the moral tension involved here is neither sequential (as if holiness means the simple transversal
from sinfulness to righteousness, with no remainder), nor partitive (as if some portion of the self were holy,
with others remaining depraved), but
redemptive-historical (wherein the Christian is marked by the sign of
the pilgrim, no longer captive in Egypt yet still sojourning to Canaan)” (211).
Affirmation
Allen uses Hebrews 3-4, 8, and 12 to frame a realized
eschatology in terms of Israel’s journey to Canaan. I applaud his avoidance of typologies
untethered from the text and his refusal to let past typological excesses scare
him away from following what the text endorses. The people of God do journey
between freedom from bondage and entrance into perfect rest. Trials and
temptations beset them, but perseverance in faith will see them through.
Critique
Allen’s approach to evaluating
views of Romans 7:14-25 struck me as even-handed. However, the two reasons he offers
for rejecting the pre-conversion view seemed weak. His first reason is “certain
claims speak of a struggle that is itself a sign of growth and transformation,
and by extension, not fitting one who has yet to be yoked to Christ” (210).
Three texts, I believe, demonstrate that signs of growth and
transformation are indeed fitting for one not yet yoked to Christ (Mark 12:34;
Acts 17:17; Phil. 3:5-6). In Mark 12:34 Jesus tells a scribe he is not far from
the kingdom and that he has properly discerned the chief principal of the law. Nearness
to the kingdom may imply movement or growth. In Acts 17:27 Paul asserts unregenerates
are given revelation “that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for
Him and find Him.” I affirm with Allen, Kathryn Tanner’s analogy:
“We are opened to God by our nature in no more than the way
in which the essential properties of large bodies of water make them … open to
the pull of the moon. At issue here is a purely passive capacity and not an
active orientation toward anything. Although it makes a very big difference to
us when its effects are felt, we do not seek out God's grace of ourselves any
more than the ocean seeks out the moon that produces its tides.” (Christ the
Key, 118-19; cited in Allen, 219)
Yet, since God has built grace into
nature (Rom. 1:18ff) and conscience (Rom. 2:11ff), grace’s pull is responsible
for any seeking of God. Our heart’s rising tide is a response to grace’s gravity.
Again, growth and transformation are fitting for those being drawn to Christ by
the Father.
Perhaps most tellingly, in Phil. 3:5-6, Paul parades his pre-conversion
passion for the law, zeal in persecuting the church, and blamelessness in the
righteousness found in the law. All this gain he discards for the righteous of
God in Christ. Phil. 3:5-6 displays a level of nearness to grace that should be
read in concert with Rom. 7:14-25.[1]
Allen’s second reason for rejecting a pre-christian reading
of Romans 7 is “The pre-christian reading struggles
mightily at a rhetorical level when read in context: why on earth would Paul,
at this point in his argument, turn to describe his pre-christian self?”
(211). In addition to the standard contextual reasons for a pre-christian
reading, I see at least four rhetorical reasons for a turn to describe Paul’s
pre-christian self: 1) In Rom. 7:1, Paul continues his epistle-wide rhetorical
pattern of addressing Jewish concerns (Rom. 2, 4, 7, 9-11); 2) Paul has already
introduced his pre-christian self in verses 7 to 13 as an explanation of our
changed relation to the law because of our marriage to Christ (7:4-6),[2] 3)
Verses 14-25 fill out the experiential dimension of what Paul means when he
says that he was alive prior to the law but when the law came he died (Rom.
7:9), and 4) The description of 7:14-25 sets up a contrast on which Paul
capitalizes as he pivots to the Holy Spirit’s role in our sanctification in Romans 8.
[1] An OT
example of tranformation prior to justifying faith is Abraham’s faith response
to Yahweh’s call in Gen. 12 prior to his justification in Gen. 15.
[2] Allen
rightly rejects the “corporate Israel” reading of the “I” in Romans 7:7-13
(208-209).
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