Scene 1：altar call in exaggeration (characters：pastor, congregation、Paul and NT Wright)
Pastor：Hallelujah, praise the Lord.
Hallelujah, Believe in Jesus and be saved.
Hallelujah, Justification by faith only, Sola Fide,
Hallelujah, it’s your faith in Jesus that counts, not work.
Hallelujah, Just raise you hand to accept Jesus as your personal saviour,
Then your faith will save you.
I see one hand, Hallelujah,
Any more??
Wright: (raises his hand and stands up) Wait a minute.
Pastor：(facing the congregation) Hallelujah, praise the Lord. Here we have a brother who loves Jesus so much that he can’t help but stand up.
(Then facing Wright) Thanks be to God. Dear Brother, do you know that now when God sees you, he sees you through Jesus Christ. And by having faith in Jesus, you are now called righteous.
Wright: Hi Pastor! My name is NT Wright. You know NT? It’s OT’s friend.
Pastor: Sure sure, dear brother. May I welcome you to the family of people who are called righteous by having faith in Jesus.
Wright: Pastor, I’m afraid that’s exactly where my questions lie.
Pastor: Dear brother, what are your questions? A compassionate and good pastor must answer the congregation’s questions.
Wright: First of all, I think that “justification by faith”, that great doctrine we have in the Protestant church, it’s not “our faith” but God’s faithfulness
Listen to what I, NT Wright, have to say on this topic:
“through the faithfulness of Jesus the Messiah, for the benefit of all who believe…from God’s faithfulness to human faithfulness, when God’s action in fulfilment of covenant is unveiled, it is because God is faithful to what has been promised; when it is received, it is received by that human faith that answers to the revelation of God in Jesus Christ, that human faith that is also faithfulness to the call of God in Jesus Christ.”
Pastor: Let me clarify what you are saying: Do you mean we are saved by God’s faithfulness and not because of (or by) our faith?
Wright: Bingo! You are clever than you look, pastor!!!!
Pastor: Oh, thanks for the compliment. But may I ask for your proof about this faithfulness thing?
Wright: Sure. Since we are in the class of Romans, let us ask Paul to read some of his letter to the Romans..
Paul: (Reads Romans 1:17) For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."
Wright: Paul is actually quoting from Habakkuk 2:4 which says “but the righteous will live by his faith”. And by “his faith”, it means God’s faithfulness or Christ’s faithfulness by which we are redeemed.
Pastor: Ok, I see your point, by I’m still not very convinced.
(TBC)
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