Machen Week 7

In chapter 6 of Machen’s Christianity and Liberalism, Machen deals with the topic of Salvation. Liberalism has diminished the value of the cross and argued the idea of Jesus being able to pay the penalty on the cross. Machen takes this chapter to address these issues with liberalism, and explain much more about Christian salvation.

To address the significance of Jesus’s payment for the penalties of sin, liberalism claims that no man can do this for all. However, as we have come to understand in chapter 5, Jesus was no mere man. In chapter 5, which was about Christ, Machen explained the nature and existence of Christ. Christ is not only a mere man but is Lord. This is integral in understanding why liberalism is incorrect in their assessment of the cross. To assess the cross as invalid because Jesus was a mere man misunderstands the nature of Jesus and of the Christian salvation.

Machen says “When we come to see that it was no mere man who suffered on Calvary but the Lord of Glory, then we shall be willing to say that one drop of the precious blood of Jesus is of more value, for our own salvation and for the hope of society, than all the rivers of blood that have flowed upon the battlefields of history.”

What more then, is there to understand about the Christian salvation? Without a thorough understanding of Christ, we cannot fully understand salvation. The positive effects and confidence that is found with knowing who Christ was, cannot be experienced if we do not acknowledge that Christ was no mere man.

For Liberalism, what is salvation? A lacking understanding of who Christ is creates a lacking understanding of salvation. These lacking areas of the new belief create a lack of joy to be experienced. The Christian can see Christ and the way Salvation works, and find confidence, joy, and peace in their faith in God.