Executing God Rethinking Everything Youve Been Taught About Salvation And The Cross – Sharon L Baker

Hatred cannot be met with hatred. It has to be met with love.” If Darrol had set his heart on retribution, restoration might not have taken place in that neighborhood.27 Justice born from love restores; justice born from hatred breeds and seeks retribution. So we see that the kind of justice that leads to non-retaliatory forgiveness may have profound consequences for the one forgiven with such sacrificial abandon. In fact, the expenditure of forgiveness often results in a response of repentance that proves just as costly.

Thomas Aquinas comments that “an equal gift of grace means more to the penitent who deserves punishment than to the innocent who has never incurred it.”28 In other words, God’s extravagant grace more profoundly tears at the heart of a person who has committed the most horrible sins than it does the person who has sinned little.

In the same light, according to theologian Gil Bailie, “Jesus seems to have understood that the only real and lasting contrition occurs, not when one is confronted with one’s sin, but when one experiences the gust of grace that makes a loving and forgiving God plausible.”29 Reconciling justice and non-retaliatory forgiveness form two sides of the same coin that call the guilty to account and yet redeem peacefully with love.

Justice, therefore, does not mean “getting let off the hook,” or “getting away with murder.” Instead, it means realizing the shameful magnitude of our personal sin by coming face to face with the one who has the right and the power to punish but who instead loves and forgives. Love and forgiveness instead of anger and punishment bring repentance and redemption. And of course, we all know that the one who has been forgiven much, loves in even greater measure (Luke 7:47).

In this manner, justice is served.30 The biblical witness testifies to this picture of divine justice that casts out fear of judgment and punishment through forgiving love: So we have known and believe the love God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.

Published in association with the literary agency of Daniel Literary Group, Nashville, TN. 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22—10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Westminster John Knox Press, 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202- 1396.

Or contact us online at www.wjkbooks.com. Material used from Sharon Baker, “The Repetition of Reconciliation: Satisfying Justice, Mercy, and Forgiveness,” in Stricken by God: Nonviolent Identification and the Victory of Christ, eds. Brad Jersak and Michael Hardin, © 2007 Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Reprinted by permission of the publisher, all rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible and copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.

and are used by permission. Scripture quotations identified as NIV are from The Holy Bible, New International Version, copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers. Scripture quotations identified as NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Scripture quotations identified as AMP are taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation.

Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org) Scripture quotations from The Jerusalem Bible, copyright © 1966, 1967, 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd., and Doubleday & Co., Inc. Used by permission of the publishers. Book design by Drew Stevens Cover design by Dilu Nicholas Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC. ISBN: 978-0-664-23810-0 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48- 1992.

Most Westminster John Knox Press books are available at special quantity discounts when purchased in bulk by corporations, organizations, and special-interest groups. For more information, please e- mail [email protected]. OceanofPDF.com To my mother, Helen Crosby, whose life and love taught me about the God of love OceanofPDF.com Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1. God Gone Bad?

Religion Gone Bad? 2. Truth in Metaphor 3. Traditional Doctrines—the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly 4. The Problem of God in the Atonement 5. What Is Justice? 6. An Economy of Forgiveness 7. The Costly Sacrifice: Nothing but the Blood 8. Re-Tuning At-one-ment 9.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

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