Okay, I was hooked by the book’s title. Clearly the title is a deliberate play on the Reformation slogan “saved by faith alone,” which was part of the book’s appeal to me. The title signaled that the author was unpacking what we should mean by the kind of faith that is required in salvation. I judged the book favorably by its cover (title) and I was not at all disappointed.
Matthew Bates writes, “In this book I want to demonstrate that our contemporary Christian culture often comes prepackaged with functional ideas and operative definitions of belief, faith, works, salvation, heaven, and the gospel that in various ways truncate and distort the full message of the good news about Jesus the Messiah that is proclaimed in the Bible.” (2-3). That sentence alone makes this book necessary reading for anyone who wants to grow their understanding of the Christian faith, and especially so for so-called Church leaders.
The problem of course is that we see these words in the Bible and assume, mistakenly assume as it turns out, that we know what they mean. And then we end up using these words with sub-biblical content in ways that truncate the Christian message and hence also deform the Christian life. I thoroughly agree. I’ve worked in university ministry for over 35 years with the last 25+ years being with graduate students and faculty.
I remember many years ago sharing with Christians in a local church what I think the Bible means by “the Gospel” and what I’ve sought to communicate to those who study, research and teach at the University. I was then told (scolded?) that what I shared was “too complicated” and “too difficult to understand.” I was told to “keep it simple”. And by “simple” they meant some form of a reduced “gospel” message that Bates rightly has in his crosshairs. As I listened to them tell me that the Gospel message I proclaimed was too difficult, I reminded them that these students and faculty are used to understanding very difficult ideas. We’ve had very many PhD and masters students in our fellowships. Our non-believing audience likewise study alongside Christians in these difficult subject areas. They understand, for example, science at the deepest levels and even are pushing the boundaries of knowledge, going where no person has gone before (or at least has not published before). Why would these people not understand the rich and robust biblical message about Jesus Christ the King and Lord and his kingship? And why shouldn’t they realize that Jesus didn’t come out of thin air but from a rich historical background of the Jewish nation? I never figured out the concern, other than that they disagreed with my understanding of the Gospel and didn’t want to say so.
Back to Bates. His Salvation by Allegiance Alone gets at all the right issues and seeks to situated them in the right biblical and Christian life contexts He argues, convincingly by my lights, that we need new language to better communicate what is really required in salvation. He wrote: “That is, English-speaking Christian leaders should entirely cease to speak of ‘salvation by faith’ or of ‘faith in Jesus’ or ‘believing in Christ’ when summarizing Christian salvation. For the sake of the gospel we need to revise our vocabulary.” (3). Amen and amen. I agree—and all the more so after finishing Bates’s book.
Bate offers actually a list of preferred words that “aren’t usually associated in our contemporary culture with belief or faith, such as reliability, confidence, assurance, fidelity, faithfulness, commitment, and pledged loyalty.” (3) His preferred choice is that of allegiance to Jesus the King. We are saved when we give our allegiance to Jesus the King.
For Bates, allegiance has three dimensions: mental affirmation, professed fealty (fidelity) and enacted loyalty. (92). One or more of these dimensions are sadly missing in much talk about faith and belief in Jesus. But Bates is right in saying all are necessary for the kind of allegiance that is involved in salvation.
Of course Bates is not original in saying this. I thought immediately of Lesslie Newbigin, N.T. Wright and Brian Walsh among others, who are no strangers of course to Bates. But what Bates does is so very well is to unpack exactly why allegiance is the right way to lead us forward as the Church and as we seek to live out the Christian faith and life, and as we present it to others calling them to give allegiance to “this Jesus” whom God made both Lord and Christ.
Bates offers the following as a Gospel Outline (initially at page 52 but found again and again throughout the book nicely without change):
Jesus the King
1. preexisted with the Father,
2. took on human flesh, fulfilling God’s promises to David,
3. died for sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
4. was buried,
5. was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
6. appeared to many,
7. is seated at the right hand of God as Lord [that part is in italics], and
8. will come again as judge.
Bates demonstrates in the Bible how all these elements are emphasized concerning Jesus as “this single gospel message” (53). Throughout the book he also deeply roots this single gospel message in the larger biblical narrative of the Kingdom of God, of Creation and New Creation.
I found myself agreeing with almost all that Bates said and appreciated gaining a lot more ways to think about and communicate to others the kind of faith the Bible really speaks about—allegiance to Jesus the King.
Where I found myself disagreeing a bit is with his thinking that the Gospel outline includes the points 1-8. And I think my disagreement is just how he states the matter. I don’t think he would disagree with what I will now say—my nuance here. I think the Gospel presented in the Bible is the good news that Jesus Christ is the world’s true Lord and that God now summons all people—Jews and Gentiles alike—to give allegiance to “this Jesus.” I get this understanding of the biblical Gospel from N.T. (Tom) Wright who calls it a “royal announcement” (What Saint Paul Really Said), God’s announcement about a new King who summons the world’s peoples to allegiance to him.
I say Bates might agree with my nuance here because at page 211 he lays side by side the Apostles’ Creed with his Eight-Part Gospel. I like this side by side, but notice that Bates missed an opportunity to add that Jesus is “our Lord” is mentioned in the Apostles’s Creed too and in Bates’s own Eight-Part Gospel. But my point is this, the Apostle’s Creed says, “I believe… in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, WHO…” [my caps there]. What I want to say is that the Gospel is about “this Jesus WHO….[now insert Bates’s Eight-Fold Gospel points perhaps] was conceived by the Holy Spirit” etc as says the Apostle’s Creed.
My nuance here reminds us that we are calling people to give allegiance to “this Jesus” and not quite seeking to present an eight-point outline AS the Gospel. The Gospel IS Jesus who reigns now as the world’s true King. But read on about “this Jesus.”
I have said “this Jesus” several times without explaining the quotation marks I used. That phrase “this Jesus” came to my mind in Peter’s Acts 2:32-33, 36 speech: “32 God has raised THIS JESUS to life, and we are all witnesses of it. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.” …36 God has made THIS JESUS, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” [my caps for emphasis]. What I think Bates’s eight points is doing is adding much-needed content to who this Jesus is.
I continue with these words from the Apostle Paul to the Corinthian believers: “For if someone comes and proclaims ANOTHER JESUS than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you submit to it readily enough” [Again, in caps for emphasis]. What I see Bates doing so well and so powerfully, is reminding us again who THIS JESUS is who reigns now as Lord and to whom all earth’s peoples are to give allegiance. Bates is definitely right that the contemporary Western church has too often presented “another Jesus,” a Jesus not worthy of our allegiance, and so, whatever they may claim about “salvation by faith alone,” they have not presented the Jesus who saves, because allegiance is lacking.
Bates’s Salvation by Allegiance Alone is must reading for all earnest Christians who think they understand what the Bible means by such words as faith and believe, and who think they have a firm grasp of the biblical Gospel, and who think they are rightly handling the Word of God. Bates’s helpfully alerts us to the fresh winds that are blowing through the Church concerning “this Jesus” and what it really means to believe in him and so have life. I urge humility and an openness of heart and mind to receive from God’s Spirit what the Church might need to learn (and re-learn) about Jesus and the Gospel, and about what we should mean when we speak (in the name of Christ) about salvation by faith alone.
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Bates Makes a Powerful and Bold Case for the Biblical Gospel - Faith is Faithfulness
They say you can't judge a book by its cover. And I suppose that's usually true. But there are moments when a book's title seems to leap out at you. Seeing 'Salvation by Allegiance Alone' on Amazon's 'Recommended Reads' list was one of those moments.I immediately knew, by the title and subtitle alone (Salvation by Allegiance Alone: Rethinking Faith, Works, and the Gospel of Jesus the King), that this would not only be a book that I'd enjoy - it would be a book I could have written. And after finishing it, I can only confirm my initial thoughts. Matthew Bates' message here is exactly what the Church needs.For too long, we've been satisfied with a gospel that is less than gospel. We've assumed that scripture was written to us rather than for us. We've demanded answers to questions the Bible doesn't even address. And we have been left with a nice story that fits perfectly in our individualistic culture: Jesus died on the cross so my sins can be forgiven and I can go to heaven when I die. And all I have to do is agree with the statement, 'Jesus died for my sins.'We've traded bold, public confessions of 'Jesus is Lord!' for a hand quietly raised when all eyes are closed and all heads are bowed.May that gospel-that-is-no-gospel die a speedy death!And may it be replaced with the robust, world-transforming, Kingdom-proclaiming, Jesus-Is-Lord-Gospel that Scripture reveals and Matthew Bates sketches in Salvation by Allegiance Alone.If you're unfamiliar with Bates (as I was), you may be interested in knowing a little more about him. He doesn't accept any particular theological label (neither Calvinist nor Arminian, Catholic nor Orthodox). And he draws from a variety of scholars and sources (both N.T. Wright and John Piper are referenced, with agreement, in the footnotes). And though there are places where he sounds New-Perspectives-On-Paulish, he doesn't adhere to everything that people associate with that group (but who does, right? It's really too broad a label to be of much use). For example, he disagrees with Wright's interpretation of 'the righteousness of God' as 'covenant faithfulness.'Bates also reaches his hands out - full of olive branches - everywhere he can, by noting areas of agreement with traditional Protestant and Catholic theology. This is something I have a great deal of respect for. Error is seldom pure. It usually comes, like a poison, mixed with truth. Too often, we see an error and then assume that the opposite must be true rather than teasing out any truth that may lie under the surface.Bates is careful to tease out truth wherever he finds it.With that said, those Christians who are committed to a traditional reading of the text will have a hard time with what Bates writes here. He shakes things up. But even if you know you're going to disagree, I'd encourage you to read it anyway. If nothing else, he'll force you to think through more clearly what you believe - as well as why.So, what is Bates' argument?He begins, like Inigo Montoya in the Princess Bride, by telling us that though we keep using that word, faith, he doesn't think it means what we think it means. We have, in Bates' view, reduced the idea of faith down to mere mental assent. As if nodding my head after someone asks, "Do you believe Jesus died for your sins?" is all Paul had in mind when he said, "If you...believe in your heart that God raised Him out from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9). This is, in my opinion, one of the strongest parts of the book.Bates marshals all of the ancient evidence available - Scripture and secular sources alike - to paint a more robust picture of faith. Faith isn't the opposite of good works. It isn't mere intellectual agreement. It isn't a positive attitude. Faith - especially in its saving form - is more akin to our modern idea of allegiance. One of the most powerful evidence of this, in my mind, is a story Bates quotes from Josephus' autobiography. Josephus, a general at the time, encountered a rebel leader whom he told "repent and believe in me" - using almost identical language to Jesus. And this isn't the only example of 'belief' or 'faith' referring to fidelity. There are dozens of others.Bates argues that the idea of pistis, the Greek word normally translated 'faith', includes three aspects: "intellectual agreement", a "confession of loyalty", and "embodied fidelity." This understanding is desperately needed in churches where faith has been simplified down to 'agreement.' Honestly, I felt like this part of the book alone is worth the price. If we're going to overcome the idea of 'cheap grace' that has pervaded the church over the past century, we're going to have to seek a fuller picture of faith.Bates also spends a sizable amount of time dealing with the question: what is the gospel?Here, he follows very much in line with N.T. Wright. The gospel is the story of Jesus' incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and enthronement. In other words, the gospel is a cosmic story that God calls us to enter. It isn't three-steps-to-salvation or the Romans Road. It's all about Jesus.Just as contemporary Christianity has flattened its understanding of faith, it's done the same thing to the Gospel. It's simplified and personalized it to the point that it barely reflects the truth behind it. Bates does an admirable job at arguing that Jesus' enthronement as King is central to the gospel - from Matthew through Revelation. Sadly, this central aspect has been largely left behind for many modern Christians. Today, it's all about Jesus' death on the cross.Don't get me (or Bates) wrong, Jesus' death is hugely important. But it would be just another death without his resurrection and enthronement. If we're going to accurately proclaim the Gospel, we must proclaim the whole Gospel.I was also happy to see that Bates included a whole chapter of common questions he gets when explaining his understanding of faith as allegiance. Unfortunately, some of his explanations only made me want to ask him more questions. Especially when discussing assurance and the place of works in the Christian life. Nevertheless, it's a good start.Though again, if you've been reared in traditional Protestant theology, you'll find plenty to disagree with here. Bates argues that we are judged based on our works (though to be fair, so does Paul - see Romans 2:5-8). He adeptly argues that Paul was not against works per se, but works as a system of salvation. I agree with Bates here. You may or may not.The idea of faith as allegiance is everywhere in the first five chapters. The next two, one focusing on 'heaven' and the other on 'the image of God', seem less directly involved in the allegiance discussion - though they are nonetheless excellent. Basically, Bates argues that our eternal home will be the new heaven and new earth; and the image of God is not something we have but something we are. If these ideas seem new to you, all I can say is read these two chapters. They're a great summary of a needed theological course-correction within much of evangelicalism.The eighth chapter focuses on how 'faith as allegiance' fits into the Biblical understanding of justification. I love the way he argues that trying to force scripture to give us an 'order of salvation' is an absurd endeavor. I happen to agree. The New Testament authors (and the Old Testament authors for that matter) were not systematic theologians. They were writing practical documents, not theoretical ones. Again, this is something that modern Christians - especially more theologically inclined ones - need to hear.For Bates, justification is rooted firmly in the idea of union-with-Christ. He deviates from the Calvinistic view of individual predestination (though he leaves the door open for its possibility) and instead points to a corporate view of election. God chose those who are in Christ - though they can enter or leave that union as an employee might join or leave a particular company. As long as one is in union with Christ, he is justified. In this, he commends both Catholics and Protestants for important contributions to a biblical understanding of justification. Though he also critiques both groups.He ends the book with a chapter on making the idea of 'faith as allegiance' practical. This is something that more theological books need to include. Though Bates doesn't expand nearly as much as I would have liked. He basically argues that we need to proclaim the Gospel as the full story it is and call people to discipleship - not just a sinner's prayer. Finally, he closes with a recommendation that I wholeheartedly endorse: making the Apostle's Creed a regular part of worship.I could say so much more about this book. I loved it.With that said, I feel like the chapters were a little out-of-order. They didn't flow as naturally into each other as they could have. For example, chapter eight should have been chapter five and everything else should have been pushed back.Likewise, his view of assurance felt flimsy to me though I think my disagreement has more to do with his wording than anything else.Ultimately, this is a book you'll either love or hate. If you believe we need to proclaim a more robust, Biblical Gospel - if you believe faith includes more than merely saying "I do" - if you believe Jesus is calling us to faith and faithfulness - if you like the phrase 'King Jesus' - you'll find much to love about this book.But...if your feet are firmly planted in the concrete of Reformed (or any other) tradition, you'll probably want to throw the book down and scream from time to time. But that's okay. Use it as an opportunity to return to scripture and judge your views - and Bates's - by God's revelation.May we all seek THE Gospel. And accept no imitations.
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2017
Matthew Bates writes, “In this book I want to demonstrate that our contemporary Christian culture often comes prepackaged with functional ideas and operative definitions of belief, faith, works, salvation, heaven, and the gospel that in various ways truncate and distort the full message of the good news about Jesus the Messiah that is proclaimed in the Bible.” (2-3). That sentence alone makes this book necessary reading for anyone who wants to grow their understanding of the Christian faith, and especially so for so-called Church leaders.
The problem of course is that we see these words in the Bible and assume, mistakenly assume as it turns out, that we know what they mean. And then we end up using these words with sub-biblical content in ways that truncate the Christian message and hence also deform the Christian life. I thoroughly agree. I’ve worked in university ministry for over 35 years with the last 25+ years being with graduate students and faculty.
I remember many years ago sharing with Christians in a local church what I think the Bible means by “the Gospel” and what I’ve sought to communicate to those who study, research and teach at the University. I was then told (scolded?) that what I shared was “too complicated” and “too difficult to understand.” I was told to “keep it simple”. And by “simple” they meant some form of a reduced “gospel” message that Bates rightly has in his crosshairs. As I listened to them tell me that the Gospel message I proclaimed was too difficult, I reminded them that these students and faculty are used to understanding very difficult ideas. We’ve had very many PhD and masters students in our fellowships. Our non-believing audience likewise study alongside Christians in these difficult subject areas. They understand, for example, science at the deepest levels and even are pushing the boundaries of knowledge, going where no person has gone before (or at least has not published before). Why would these people not understand the rich and robust biblical message about Jesus Christ the King and Lord and his kingship? And why shouldn’t they realize that Jesus didn’t come out of thin air but from a rich historical background of the Jewish nation? I never figured out the concern, other than that they disagreed with my understanding of the Gospel and didn’t want to say so.
Back to Bates. His Salvation by Allegiance Alone gets at all the right issues and seeks to situated them in the right biblical and Christian life contexts He argues, convincingly by my lights, that we need new language to better communicate what is really required in salvation. He wrote: “That is, English-speaking Christian leaders should entirely cease to speak of ‘salvation by faith’ or of ‘faith in Jesus’ or ‘believing in Christ’ when summarizing Christian salvation. For the sake of the gospel we need to revise our vocabulary.” (3). Amen and amen. I agree—and all the more so after finishing Bates’s book.
Bate offers actually a list of preferred words that “aren’t usually associated in our contemporary culture with belief or faith, such as reliability, confidence, assurance, fidelity, faithfulness, commitment, and pledged loyalty.” (3) His preferred choice is that of allegiance to Jesus the King. We are saved when we give our allegiance to Jesus the King.
For Bates, allegiance has three dimensions: mental affirmation, professed fealty (fidelity) and enacted loyalty. (92). One or more of these dimensions are sadly missing in much talk about faith and belief in Jesus. But Bates is right in saying all are necessary for the kind of allegiance that is involved in salvation.
Of course Bates is not original in saying this. I thought immediately of Lesslie Newbigin, N.T. Wright and Brian Walsh among others, who are no strangers of course to Bates. But what Bates does is so very well is to unpack exactly why allegiance is the right way to lead us forward as the Church and as we seek to live out the Christian faith and life, and as we present it to others calling them to give allegiance to “this Jesus” whom God made both Lord and Christ.
Bates offers the following as a Gospel Outline (initially at page 52 but found again and again throughout the book nicely without change):
Jesus the King
1. preexisted with the Father,
2. took on human flesh, fulfilling God’s promises to David,
3. died for sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
4. was buried,
5. was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
6. appeared to many,
7. is seated at the right hand of God as Lord [that part is in italics], and
8. will come again as judge.
Bates demonstrates in the Bible how all these elements are emphasized concerning Jesus as “this single gospel message” (53). Throughout the book he also deeply roots this single gospel message in the larger biblical narrative of the Kingdom of God, of Creation and New Creation.
I found myself agreeing with almost all that Bates said and appreciated gaining a lot more ways to think about and communicate to others the kind of faith the Bible really speaks about—allegiance to Jesus the King.
Where I found myself disagreeing a bit is with his thinking that the Gospel outline includes the points 1-8. And I think my disagreement is just how he states the matter. I don’t think he would disagree with what I will now say—my nuance here. I think the Gospel presented in the Bible is the good news that Jesus Christ is the world’s true Lord and that God now summons all people—Jews and Gentiles alike—to give allegiance to “this Jesus.” I get this understanding of the biblical Gospel from N.T. (Tom) Wright who calls it a “royal announcement” (What Saint Paul Really Said), God’s announcement about a new King who summons the world’s peoples to allegiance to him.
I say Bates might agree with my nuance here because at page 211 he lays side by side the Apostles’ Creed with his Eight-Part Gospel. I like this side by side, but notice that Bates missed an opportunity to add that Jesus is “our Lord” is mentioned in the Apostles’s Creed too and in Bates’s own Eight-Part Gospel. But my point is this, the Apostle’s Creed says, “I believe… in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, WHO…” [my caps there]. What I want to say is that the Gospel is about “this Jesus WHO….[now insert Bates’s Eight-Fold Gospel points perhaps] was conceived by the Holy Spirit” etc as says the Apostle’s Creed.
My nuance here reminds us that we are calling people to give allegiance to “this Jesus” and not quite seeking to present an eight-point outline AS the Gospel. The Gospel IS Jesus who reigns now as the world’s true King. But read on about “this Jesus.”
I have said “this Jesus” several times without explaining the quotation marks I used. That phrase “this Jesus” came to my mind in Peter’s Acts 2:32-33, 36 speech: “32 God has raised THIS JESUS to life, and we are all witnesses of it. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.” …36 God has made THIS JESUS, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” [my caps for emphasis]. What I think Bates’s eight points is doing is adding much-needed content to who this Jesus is.
I continue with these words from the Apostle Paul to the Corinthian believers: “For if someone comes and proclaims ANOTHER JESUS than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you submit to it readily enough” [Again, in caps for emphasis]. What I see Bates doing so well and so powerfully, is reminding us again who THIS JESUS is who reigns now as Lord and to whom all earth’s peoples are to give allegiance. Bates is definitely right that the contemporary Western church has too often presented “another Jesus,” a Jesus not worthy of our allegiance, and so, whatever they may claim about “salvation by faith alone,” they have not presented the Jesus who saves, because allegiance is lacking.
Bates’s Salvation by Allegiance Alone is must reading for all earnest Christians who think they understand what the Bible means by such words as faith and believe, and who think they have a firm grasp of the biblical Gospel, and who think they are rightly handling the Word of God. Bates’s helpfully alerts us to the fresh winds that are blowing through the Church concerning “this Jesus” and what it really means to believe in him and so have life. I urge humility and an openness of heart and mind to receive from God’s Spirit what the Church might need to learn (and re-learn) about Jesus and the Gospel, and about what we should mean when we speak (in the name of Christ) about salvation by faith alone.
Excellent book exploring a missing aspect of Christian faith
Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2017
Okay, I was hooked by the book’s title. Clearly the title is a deliberate play on the Reformation slogan “saved by faith alone,” which was part of the book’s appeal to me. The title signaled that the author was unpacking what we should mean by the kind of faith that is required in salvation. I judged the book favorably by its cover (title) and I was not at all disappointed.Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2017
Matthew Bates writes, “In this book I want to demonstrate that our contemporary Christian culture often comes prepackaged with functional ideas and operative definitions of belief, faith, works, salvation, heaven, and the gospel that in various ways truncate and distort the full message of the good news about Jesus the Messiah that is proclaimed in the Bible.” (2-3). That sentence alone makes this book necessary reading for anyone who wants to grow their understanding of the Christian faith, and especially so for so-called Church leaders.
The problem of course is that we see these words in the Bible and assume, mistakenly assume as it turns out, that we know what they mean. And then we end up using these words with sub-biblical content in ways that truncate the Christian message and hence also deform the Christian life. I thoroughly agree. I’ve worked in university ministry for over 35 years with the last 25+ years being with graduate students and faculty.
I remember many years ago sharing with Christians in a local church what I think the Bible means by “the Gospel” and what I’ve sought to communicate to those who study, research and teach at the University. I was then told (scolded?) that what I shared was “too complicated” and “too difficult to understand.” I was told to “keep it simple”. And by “simple” they meant some form of a reduced “gospel” message that Bates rightly has in his crosshairs. As I listened to them tell me that the Gospel message I proclaimed was too difficult, I reminded them that these students and faculty are used to understanding very difficult ideas. We’ve had very many PhD and masters students in our fellowships. Our non-believing audience likewise study alongside Christians in these difficult subject areas. They understand, for example, science at the deepest levels and even are pushing the boundaries of knowledge, going where no person has gone before (or at least has not published before). Why would these people not understand the rich and robust biblical message about Jesus Christ the King and Lord and his kingship? And why shouldn’t they realize that Jesus didn’t come out of thin air but from a rich historical background of the Jewish nation? I never figured out the concern, other than that they disagreed with my understanding of the Gospel and didn’t want to say so.
Back to Bates. His Salvation by Allegiance Alone gets at all the right issues and seeks to situated them in the right biblical and Christian life contexts He argues, convincingly by my lights, that we need new language to better communicate what is really required in salvation. He wrote: “That is, English-speaking Christian leaders should entirely cease to speak of ‘salvation by faith’ or of ‘faith in Jesus’ or ‘believing in Christ’ when summarizing Christian salvation. For the sake of the gospel we need to revise our vocabulary.” (3). Amen and amen. I agree—and all the more so after finishing Bates’s book.
Bate offers actually a list of preferred words that “aren’t usually associated in our contemporary culture with belief or faith, such as reliability, confidence, assurance, fidelity, faithfulness, commitment, and pledged loyalty.” (3) His preferred choice is that of allegiance to Jesus the King. We are saved when we give our allegiance to Jesus the King.
For Bates, allegiance has three dimensions: mental affirmation, professed fealty (fidelity) and enacted loyalty. (92). One or more of these dimensions are sadly missing in much talk about faith and belief in Jesus. But Bates is right in saying all are necessary for the kind of allegiance that is involved in salvation.
Of course Bates is not original in saying this. I thought immediately of Lesslie Newbigin, N.T. Wright and Brian Walsh among others, who are no strangers of course to Bates. But what Bates does is so very well is to unpack exactly why allegiance is the right way to lead us forward as the Church and as we seek to live out the Christian faith and life, and as we present it to others calling them to give allegiance to “this Jesus” whom God made both Lord and Christ.
Bates offers the following as a Gospel Outline (initially at page 52 but found again and again throughout the book nicely without change):
Jesus the King
1. preexisted with the Father,
2. took on human flesh, fulfilling God’s promises to David,
3. died for sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
4. was buried,
5. was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
6. appeared to many,
7. is seated at the right hand of God as Lord [that part is in italics], and
8. will come again as judge.
Bates demonstrates in the Bible how all these elements are emphasized concerning Jesus as “this single gospel message” (53). Throughout the book he also deeply roots this single gospel message in the larger biblical narrative of the Kingdom of God, of Creation and New Creation.
I found myself agreeing with almost all that Bates said and appreciated gaining a lot more ways to think about and communicate to others the kind of faith the Bible really speaks about—allegiance to Jesus the King.
Where I found myself disagreeing a bit is with his thinking that the Gospel outline includes the points 1-8. And I think my disagreement is just how he states the matter. I don’t think he would disagree with what I will now say—my nuance here. I think the Gospel presented in the Bible is the good news that Jesus Christ is the world’s true Lord and that God now summons all people—Jews and Gentiles alike—to give allegiance to “this Jesus.” I get this understanding of the biblical Gospel from N.T. (Tom) Wright who calls it a “royal announcement” (What Saint Paul Really Said), God’s announcement about a new King who summons the world’s peoples to allegiance to him.
I say Bates might agree with my nuance here because at page 211 he lays side by side the Apostles’ Creed with his Eight-Part Gospel. I like this side by side, but notice that Bates missed an opportunity to add that Jesus is “our Lord” is mentioned in the Apostles’s Creed too and in Bates’s own Eight-Part Gospel. But my point is this, the Apostle’s Creed says, “I believe… in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, WHO…” [my caps there]. What I want to say is that the Gospel is about “this Jesus WHO….[now insert Bates’s Eight-Fold Gospel points perhaps] was conceived by the Holy Spirit” etc as says the Apostle’s Creed.
My nuance here reminds us that we are calling people to give allegiance to “this Jesus” and not quite seeking to present an eight-point outline AS the Gospel. The Gospel IS Jesus who reigns now as the world’s true King. But read on about “this Jesus.”
I have said “this Jesus” several times without explaining the quotation marks I used. That phrase “this Jesus” came to my mind in Peter’s Acts 2:32-33, 36 speech: “32 God has raised THIS JESUS to life, and we are all witnesses of it. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.” …36 God has made THIS JESUS, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” [my caps for emphasis]. What I think Bates’s eight points is doing is adding much-needed content to who this Jesus is.
I continue with these words from the Apostle Paul to the Corinthian believers: “For if someone comes and proclaims ANOTHER JESUS than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you submit to it readily enough” [Again, in caps for emphasis]. What I see Bates doing so well and so powerfully, is reminding us again who THIS JESUS is who reigns now as Lord and to whom all earth’s peoples are to give allegiance. Bates is definitely right that the contemporary Western church has too often presented “another Jesus,” a Jesus not worthy of our allegiance, and so, whatever they may claim about “salvation by faith alone,” they have not presented the Jesus who saves, because allegiance is lacking.
Bates’s Salvation by Allegiance Alone is must reading for all earnest Christians who think they understand what the Bible means by such words as faith and believe, and who think they have a firm grasp of the biblical Gospel, and who think they are rightly handling the Word of God. Bates’s helpfully alerts us to the fresh winds that are blowing through the Church concerning “this Jesus” and what it really means to believe in him and so have life. I urge humility and an openness of heart and mind to receive from God’s Spirit what the Church might need to learn (and re-learn) about Jesus and the Gospel, and about what we should mean when we speak (in the name of Christ) about salvation by faith alone.
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Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2020
I just finished "Salvation by Allegiance Alone: Rethinking Faith, Works, and the Gospel of Jesus the King," by Matthew Bates.
How we hear "faith" and "belief" due to our culture and upbringing in the church, and what the Biblical writers intended for us to hear are two different things. Were we to more often hear "loyalty" and "Allegiance" to Jesus, rather than just holding orthodox Doctrine, knowledge, or fideism, we would be much closer to correct. Not to mention Allegiance or loyalty would embody Jesus' "follow me" in discipleship as our obedient response. Bates makes a profound point in faith equaling knowledge ("my right belief is my faith...") is Gnostic.
Bates rolls through what the Gospel is beautifully. This cosmic good news story about God's Son begins with the Incarnation in the Davidic line and extends to the enthronement of the Son-of-God-in-Power. Or the "V" shape of Ph. 2:6-11/Rm. 1:1-5. The heart of the Gospel is: "Jesus has been enthroned as the King. To Him Allegiance is owed," p 37.
Jesus proclaims the Gospel? Bates uses the Gospels to show that Paul was saying the same as was proclaimed by Jesus. That the Gospel and the Kingdoms arrival are parallel is quite important. There are eight points to the Gospel and Bates covers them all well from Gospel accounts. (Though under the "buried" part am I mistaken that this was seen as the descent into hades by the early church and the creed?)
(I appreciate how Bates corresponds faith to pistis and then greatly reduces use of "faith" for "pistis" in the book. Ones mind begins to see this word as faith/allegiance or allegiance alone, but not merely intellectual affirmation.)
In his chapter on faith as Allegiance Bates shows correspondence for pistis as allegiance in texts contemporary with the NT: "In brief, the pistis word group has a large range of meanings during the New Testament Era, but it does frequently mean allegiance," p 80.
The only proper response to the Gospel that is Jesus is the enthroned King is obedient Allegiance to him. "This is not an attempt to establish self-righteousness but a posture of servant-minded loyalty," p 87.
Q&A chapter has some great comments:
"The offer of salvation is free, but it absolutely does come with strings attached. Obedient loyalty to the King is required as a condition of acceptance," p 104.
"So there is not a simple cause-and-effect relationship between 'faith' and 'works'; rather pistis is quite simply not pistis at all if it is not embodied and embedded in the allegiant community," p 121.
Bates runs through a (meta?) narrative Eschatology that is very well done--"We do not go to God, but He comes to us," p 140--and accurate; he doesn't bog down his eschatology with a Platonic dualism of escapist body-hate.
The previous chapter with heaven coming to earth brings up questions of what will we--glorified humans--do? Which lead into the chapter of us being made in the image of God, and is that image because of our being/essence or because of our purpose? These two chapters fit together well in a way that shines light on individual salvation.
"In short, it is crucial that we recognize the primacy of God's choice of the Son as Messiah, and the church in the Son, as central to Biblical theology," p 172.
This section dealing with corporate election and her justification is quite thought provoking. It helps reframe the thrust of the story, how one's sees ones self in that story while also viewing how one sees their relationship with the church.
This is a phenomenal and ecumenical work. I'm really glad I got it; this will be on my mind, and a topic of discussion with friends, for the foreseeable future. I hope it draws the churches in the west closer together while pressing us to make disciples rather than giving them a "saved" barcode.
If I had to critique this work the only thing worth mentioning would be if "The Gospel is the transformative story about the career of Jesus--namely how he became Jesus the Christ, that is Jesus the King, Lord of heaven and earth," (p 213) then his teachings get placed up front regardless of the Apostles Creed. I'm sure it's just my inner J. H. Yoder screaming.
How we hear "faith" and "belief" due to our culture and upbringing in the church, and what the Biblical writers intended for us to hear are two different things. Were we to more often hear "loyalty" and "Allegiance" to Jesus, rather than just holding orthodox Doctrine, knowledge, or fideism, we would be much closer to correct. Not to mention Allegiance or loyalty would embody Jesus' "follow me" in discipleship as our obedient response. Bates makes a profound point in faith equaling knowledge ("my right belief is my faith...") is Gnostic.
Bates rolls through what the Gospel is beautifully. This cosmic good news story about God's Son begins with the Incarnation in the Davidic line and extends to the enthronement of the Son-of-God-in-Power. Or the "V" shape of Ph. 2:6-11/Rm. 1:1-5. The heart of the Gospel is: "Jesus has been enthroned as the King. To Him Allegiance is owed," p 37.
Jesus proclaims the Gospel? Bates uses the Gospels to show that Paul was saying the same as was proclaimed by Jesus. That the Gospel and the Kingdoms arrival are parallel is quite important. There are eight points to the Gospel and Bates covers them all well from Gospel accounts. (Though under the "buried" part am I mistaken that this was seen as the descent into hades by the early church and the creed?)
(I appreciate how Bates corresponds faith to pistis and then greatly reduces use of "faith" for "pistis" in the book. Ones mind begins to see this word as faith/allegiance or allegiance alone, but not merely intellectual affirmation.)
In his chapter on faith as Allegiance Bates shows correspondence for pistis as allegiance in texts contemporary with the NT: "In brief, the pistis word group has a large range of meanings during the New Testament Era, but it does frequently mean allegiance," p 80.
The only proper response to the Gospel that is Jesus is the enthroned King is obedient Allegiance to him. "This is not an attempt to establish self-righteousness but a posture of servant-minded loyalty," p 87.
Q&A chapter has some great comments:
"The offer of salvation is free, but it absolutely does come with strings attached. Obedient loyalty to the King is required as a condition of acceptance," p 104.
"So there is not a simple cause-and-effect relationship between 'faith' and 'works'; rather pistis is quite simply not pistis at all if it is not embodied and embedded in the allegiant community," p 121.
Bates runs through a (meta?) narrative Eschatology that is very well done--"We do not go to God, but He comes to us," p 140--and accurate; he doesn't bog down his eschatology with a Platonic dualism of escapist body-hate.
The previous chapter with heaven coming to earth brings up questions of what will we--glorified humans--do? Which lead into the chapter of us being made in the image of God, and is that image because of our being/essence or because of our purpose? These two chapters fit together well in a way that shines light on individual salvation.
"In short, it is crucial that we recognize the primacy of God's choice of the Son as Messiah, and the church in the Son, as central to Biblical theology," p 172.
This section dealing with corporate election and her justification is quite thought provoking. It helps reframe the thrust of the story, how one's sees ones self in that story while also viewing how one sees their relationship with the church.
This is a phenomenal and ecumenical work. I'm really glad I got it; this will be on my mind, and a topic of discussion with friends, for the foreseeable future. I hope it draws the churches in the west closer together while pressing us to make disciples rather than giving them a "saved" barcode.
If I had to critique this work the only thing worth mentioning would be if "The Gospel is the transformative story about the career of Jesus--namely how he became Jesus the Christ, that is Jesus the King, Lord of heaven and earth," (p 213) then his teachings get placed up front regardless of the Apostles Creed. I'm sure it's just my inner J. H. Yoder screaming.
Images in this review
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