One of my favorite magazines from years ago is entitled “Credenda/Agenda:"
Things to be believed. Things to be done.
Christianity is about faith and action, both.
I had occasion today to review the first questions of the Westminster (WSC) and Heidelberg (HC) Catechisms, and I found this summarized neatly there. Our only comfort is in believing gospel truths (HC 1), and we have to know (HC 2) and do things in response (HC 86-129!). The Scriptures teach us what to believe about God, and what God requires us to DO (WSC 3).
My main point here, is how hard it is to keep the right balance of these, both in our relationship to God personally, and in our delivering and receiving the preached Word on Sundays. We tend toward faith OR works, trust OR requirements, and usually neglect important things on the other side. It's a false choice, and we need to pursue both credenda and agenda.
Take our personal piety.
One side emphasizes the atonement and forgiveness of sin, based on God's free grace. So "Let go and let God." You are forgiven so forget about it. And this can wind up saying, "If you're trying so hard to obey God, you're not receiving grace." But the Bible doesn't describe the Christian life as a casual and easy walk in the park, just because it's (truly) all of grace.
The other side says, "We need to act out our faith in gratitude to God for His saving us." True. We remain under a moral obligation to obey His will, after we have received His forgiveness for past sins. But this can quickly wind up in ongoing, false, condemning guilt for not obeying enough. If I don't read my Bible every day, if I haven't presented someone with the Gospel evangelistically this week, God is up there shaking His head at me.
The first side we call antinomianism (against the law). The second is a form of legalism.
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As a preacher for the last 20 years, I know the constant struggle to balance credenda and agenda in the sermon. As a newcomer to the pew for a bit now, receiving the word, I have a newfound respect for the importance to get the balance right. When it's there, it's extremely satisfying and I hear the Good Shepherd's voice giving me healing balm and a kick in the pants, both. When it's lop-sided, it's either casual grace or condemning law.
Again most preachers or denominations emphasize one or the other side.
Groups like Ligonier Ministries, which I highly respect, emphasize the first side. I was steeped in this in high school and college and am thankful for the Gospel foundation it gave me. And it isn't that they get the second side wrong. But they talk about it less, and in less detail than people need today. (A Christian newlywed couple today probably needs far more instruction in how to live and relate to each other than 40-50 years ago.)
Other groups spring up in reaction to this with lots of specific solutions on what to DO as a Christian. Some of those I've been exposed to over the years have been parenting techniques, family worship, leadership and submission in marriage, worship service structure, how to be a Christian man, how to think about cultural trends.
Now, none of these are bad things to address. They SHOULD be brought up, in the pulpit. But when done so untethered from the first Gospel side, they tend toward a legalism that places too much reliance on the technique being pressed, to "get the job done." And that last phrase is key. If you get the baby to go down for the night with the technique, then God favors you. If you lobby or pray hard enough, or understand your worldview thoroughly enough so the culture changes for the better (the one I've been most exposed to), then God favors you. No.
Preachers, I urge you to find a way to articulate this Ephesians 2:8-10 balance in every sermon, whatever the passage. Keep Jesus and His grace the root from which every branch/point of your message flows. He isn't a diving board to jump off to wherever else you want to go.
You're not being legalistic if you get too specific, as long as you can show it from Scripture, and it flows from the Gospel.
You're not being antinomian if you ground every call to action in Gospel grace, if you're repeating the basic Gospel of forgiveness every Sunday. As long as that's not ALL you're doing.
Give us both credenda and agenda.
Excellent post, Steve!
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