Peter Riedemann was an Anabaptist leader of the sixteenth century. Pay close attention to how he describes what it means to be saved by Jesus.
We believe in Jesus Christ, that all our salvation and redemption is in Him. We believe He has stilled the Father’s wrath, and that God should reconcile the world through Him (1 Jn. 2), like Paul says: God was in Christ and reconciled the world to himself and counted not their sins to them (2 Co. 5). We are also reconciled with God, and there is no other name in which we might be saved, but the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. (Acts 4)
First, we believe that in Christ we have releasing [redemption], or we could say that Christ has loosened us from the authority and ropes with which the devil had held us (He. 2). He has subdued and overcame the devil and taken his authority from him. The cords with which the devil held us are the sins in which we lay bound. We served him by practicing these very sins, (Ep. 3) until that Christ came into us through faith, to live there. Through His strength and working, He has weakened, quelled, killed, and carried away the sin in us, (1 Jo. 3; 1 Pe. 2) so that we should be freed from sin and live out righteousness. But He himself works and makes this righteousness come to pass in us, because we are not able to do anything without Him. (Jo. 15)
He himself, the Lord, propels the work within us and takes away the sin that we otherwise were not able to loosen ourselves from, but now though Him we are so free! The sins (which we long had served) should not lord it over us as before, (Ro. 6) even if they vigorously stir themselves up in our members. So, He is truly our Releaser!
But whoever persists on and on in sin and still lies in it, or is bound up with it, and yet still says Christ has released him, acts just like a prisoner (who is still bound hand and foot) who says he is loosened. Who wouldn’t count such a thing as foolishness? (Jo. Whoever says that he is loosened, when he is bound, seeks and desires less to be loosened than a bound man does. So then, whoever still says that Christ has loosened him from sin, but nevertheless still lives in it, shows that he even less desires to be loosened. But as was said above, by means of His coming into us, He has freed us from sin so that we should be servants of righteousness. (Ro. 8; Jo. 3; Ro. 6)
But now many say, especially the Lutherans, that Christ is their righteousness and godliness, however, they still live and walk in all kinds of abominations and lewdness, which is nothing other (Is. 29) than to draw near to God with the mouth while the heart is far from Him. (Mt. 15) This is really more of a deviation from Christ than it is a testimony of Christ. For this reason, men will become more detracted from striving after the true righteousness that is in Christ (or that Christ should be their true righteousness), and will remain in their sins until the end.
But we confess Christ as our righteousness and godliness, that He himself works and produces and does the righteousness and godliness (through it we become beloved by God and accepted). (Jo.15, Phil. We have no other godliness, other than that which He alone works and does in us.
Many cry out against us that we seek to become godly through our own works. But we say nothing to that, except we know that all our works, inasmuch as they are ours, are nothing but mere sin and unrighteousness. (Ro. 14; Jo. 16) But inasmuch as they are Christ’s, and Christ does them in us, so much are they true, right, and good, accepted by God and pleasing to Him. And we are not ashamed to preach and to lift them up, because the angel said to Tobias, (To. 12) It is good to be discreet about the secret of kings, but it is honorable to reveal and proclaim God’s work.
So then, through His action-producing strength, or results done in us, He leads us into His character and nature, or His qualities. (2 Pe. 1; Jo. 15) For this reason, it is a godliness that saves and leads to God. So that is how Christ is our righteousness and godliness, (Ga.2) even our life, because not we ourselves, but Christ lives in us.
So then, He is even our resurrection and salvation, our everything. (Lu.2) We also believe that the incarnation of Christ (Ph. 3) is our transfiguration, and that His suffering and death is our salvation and life. And, we believe that we have everything in Him!

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 1st, 2010 at 10:39 pm and is filed under Evangelize, Salvation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.