I’m always on the lookout for clear statements about how salvation is given to us freely, through faith in Jesus, apart from our works, or how works relate to rewards, and I am always grateful when I find them outside traditional Free Grace circles. Frankly, I didn't expect a professor from this school to be this clear.

Here are some quotes from a well-known academic theologian. Decide for yourself whether these statements are at least Free Grace friendly:

“64. God rewards our works of love and acts of repentance as his gifts, but this reward pertains only to degrees of glory, and not to the free gift of eternal life itself (1 Cor 15:40-41).

“67. Eternal life is not something that can be merited in any way, for, like our justification, it is solely the free gift of grace.”

“79. Assurance is not based primarily on anything in ourselves—whether faith, works, or evidence of the Holy Spirit—but supremely on Christ and the promises of God.”

“80. If the faithful were to dwell on their sins as they persist after baptism, they would only despair.”

I think each of these quotes is at least Free Grace friendly.

Who is the author?

His name is George Hunsinger, the Hazel Thompson McCord Professor of Systematic Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary, and an ordained minister in the very liberal Presbyterian Church (USA). The quotes come from his article, “Justification: Ninety-Four Theses,” found in Evangelical, Catholic, and Reformed: Doctrinal Essays on Barth and Related Themes. I find Hunsinger (unlike Barth himself) to be a clear and succinct writer.

As I read through his theses, I find much to agree with, and much to think about more deeply. He heavily emphasizes the theme of “union with Christ.” I have spent several years rethinking the nature of the 40+ benefits of salvation received at the moment of faith, and I think better understanding how those benefits are received through union with Christ is important. For example, Hunsinger writes:

“3. He gives us his righteousness by giving us himself, and in giving us himself he gives us his perfect righteousness.”

“4. His person and his benefits are one. He does not give the one without the other.”

“5. Union with Christ is therefore the context within which the benefit of his righteousness is imparted to us.”

I think that line of thought deserves some deep consideration.

When Hunsinger states the condition of salvation, he is sometimes very clear that we are saved through faith:

“50. The Holy Spirit, moreover, adds nothing to the finished work of Christ or to his saving righteousness, but rather ‘applies’ it—or better, ‘actualizes and represents’ it—to faith by grace.”

I think that is right. The Holy Spirit applies Christ’s work to us by grace through faith.

But in other theses, Hunsinger can make a clear statement and then muddy the waters with statements about baptism:

“66. The gift of eternal life is given immediately to faith in union with Christ, in and with baptism, through the impartation of Christ’s perfect righteousness, and so through the gift of our justification before God” (emphasis added).

“68. Eternal life is given freely by grace through faith, in and with baptism. The baptized are not only those who in themselves are unworthy, but even more they are those who, apart from grace, have deserved God’s just condemnation (iustificatio impii)” (emphasis added).

I do not believe eternal life is given in and with baptism, as though faith were not enough. It would have been better for him to write that “eternal life is given immediately to faith” and leave it at that, since baptism might occur weeks, months, or years after someone believes. When would that person receive eternal life? When they believed, not later. The confusion is made worse by the practice of infant baptism.

However, I agree that, ideally, baptism should occur immediately after believing, so it effectively becomes part of the imagery of the one conversion event. I understand presenting salvation as “in and with baptism” if we follow apostolic practice on the timing of baptism. But since we rarely do, that language undermines the primary truth that eternal life is given at the point of faith, whether baptism immediately follows or not.ain and again, but because you need to hear again and again what He’s done for you once-for-all.      

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Shawn Lazar (DPT, McMaster Divinity College) is the pastor of Gateway United Baptist Church in Denton, TX. Purchase his book One-Point Preaching here and his latest book Once Saved Always Saved? here.