For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – Ephesians 2:8

Today’s Scripture Reading (January 28, 2015): Ephesians 2

Steven Hawking says that he used to believe in a unified theory, or a theory of everything. The unified theory has long been the “Holy Grail” among physics researchers, one theory that describes, well, everything. And Hawking was among the many researchers trying to puzzle out the goal. But we have not found the theory, and some researchers, and Hawking now stands among them, believe that a unified theory is impossible. And not only is it impossible, but if one is found it would be incomplete. Some even argue that there is a weakness in the idea of a single theory. A single theory would also be less predictive of results, making the theory useless even if one did exist. And yet the search continues.

James Burton Coffman, a pastor who served within the “Churches of Christ,” has argued in his writings about what he calls the “Reformation heresy,” contained within the Latin Reformation phrase “solo gratia, sola fide, soli Deo gloria (by grace alone, through faith alone, to God alone be glory)." Coffman argues that the Reformed Statement is ridiculous on its face because they have tied salvation to too many horses. Apparently Coffman’s issue is with the word alone, used twice with the Reformed statement, and he questions how anyone could be saved through faith alone, and by grace alone – and he wants to know which is it, faith alone or grace alone? Coffman argues that to combine the two (faith and grace) is like saying that I am married to Nelda alone – and I am married to Joanne alone. The statement doesn’t make any sense, I am married to one or the other alone – I can’t be married to both and still apply the word “alone.” (For those of you wondering, in my case the answer is Nelda alone– and I don’t know who Joanne might be.) According to Coffman, a unified theory or a single cause in spirituality makes as much sense as a single theory does in the area of physics.

And while I may not share Coffman’s passion on the issue, I do understand where he is coming from. This chasing after, or reducing everything to the “one,” might be a frailty of the human condition, whether we are talking about a unified theory in physics or the single cause of salvation within Christianity – but it may also reveal an inherent weakness. I have long believed that tracts that describe the “Four Spiritual Laws” are in error. At best, they are a simplistic description that is so simple that they may have the tendency to lead us into heresy. In trying to be simple, we have removed the truth. And this removal of truth might be the end result of any attempt to chase after a unified theory.

So we are left with this dance between faith, grace – and really works, although Paul is extremely clear that works cannot be a basis of salvation, but that does not mean that works should not be a part of our lives. It might be that we have to understand that the idea of alone – unless it is being applied to God – has no place in our spirituality. What we are left with is really a dance, and a dance is always more fun if you have others around to dance with.

With regard to our salvation, the dance might look like this. Grace takes the lead, there is absolutely no way that any of us can earn our salvation, God gives it to us of his own free will. To believe that our salvation is something we can do on our own would be comparable to my almost three year-old granddaughter, Emilina, deciding that she doesn’t need her Mom and Dad anymore and that she is moving out. It is impossible. Next, faith steps in and does the twirl of the dance. Faith is an acceptance on our part to accept what God has done on our behalf. Faith is us admitting that we understand that we need you and we have no plans to run away. Like a child trusting that Mom and Dad will do what is necessary to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table, faith states its trust in the grace that has been offered. And when grace and faith move together, the dance that is left we call works. Works can’t go first – at least not with regard to our salvation, it needs both faith and grace, but without works the dancers stand motionless on the floor – and the music has stopped. Whenever grace and faith are working in our lives, something good is going to happen. We will fight for the equality of the human race, we will be part of movements designed to restore human rights, we will take care of the poor, we will give strength to the lonely – the dance will continue.

But it is never “alone.” Are you taking part in the dance?     

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Ephesians 3