"Moral theology is about a life of holiness. After baptism we seek to walk "in holiness and righteousness all our days." In moral theology, we seek to describe and commend a life worthy of our calling." (Chapter 1)
Stephen Holmgren is flipping the customary viewpoint in this axiom. Rather than live a holy and righteous life in order that we might be saved, he suggests that we live a holy and righteous life because we have already been saved.
This stands in the cross current of many of our current debates on how we live our lives, even to the point that denominations like The Episcopal Church are finding it difficult to maintain common ground and structure. The root of the disagreement is in many ways what this axiom calls us to do individually and corporately.
I am saved by God's grace, freely given, in the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ. I am inspired by the Holy Spirit to receive that grace, and I cannot help but respond to that selfless love in offering the same to others. It seems so simple, and yet it is very natural for our human selves to be caught in the quid pro quo argument that seems to be as pervasive in our consumer driven economy as any other axiom. "Why would God simply SAVE me? Doesn't he demand something up front? What kind of business man is this God?!?"
Well, brothers and sisters, he is a business man who cashed in all of his savings and trust, laid it in the hands of his oppressors, and willingly went empty handed to the Cross, to prove to us first that he wasn't going to accept the quid pro quo arrangement any longer, and that he wanted us, too, to turn our backs on trying to negotiate with God for our salvation. It is given, it is offered, and it is free. And if we REALLY believe this, then we cannot help but respond with the same love toward others.
John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life." So simple that it's nigh impossible to live this first of Holmgren's axioms!
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