Continuing from the post ‘Perfection’ about his father, Adam S. Miller writes:
. . . . I try to imagine my father reading, a few pages each day, something I’d written, something from one Adam’s books.” I try to put myself in his head and see what he would have seen, make what he would have made of all that philosophy and theology mixed with poetry and French theory. I can’t quite do it. Did his eyes glaze over? Did he sometimes nod in agreement? Did he underline things? Did he circle things that didn’t make sense or dog-ear pages that made him worry about me? Surely he did all of these things, at least metaphorically. Regardless, it doesn’t really matter to me. The only reason in the world for him to read those books was because he wanted to know me.
It is clear that, as Believing Christ describes it, God’s grace is what unlocks the possibility of salvation. But is this Grace, on the book’s account, original? As Robinson tells the story, which comes first: sin or grace?
Believing Christ make two central claims about Grace, both which ring true to me. Describing how salvation is accomplished by way of grace, Robinson defines salvation (1) as the work of entering into a covenant partnership with Christ, and (2) as a partnership that begins to take effect—in all its manifold grace—immediately here and now.
Taken together, Christ and I make up a new creature. The old creature, the old me creature, the imperfect me, ceases to exist, and a glorious new creature, a perfect partnership, takes its place. Taken together as a single entity, the two of us, Christ and I, are perfect. I do not mean (this is absolutely crucial!) that we can become perfect later on. I mean that from the moment the partnership is formed in good faith, from the moment we have sincere faith in Christ, sincerely repent of our sins, and receive baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost—from this moment the partnership is celestial. 2
As this crucial passage frames it, God’s offer of grace takes the form of a covenant partnership with Christ. Grace, as a practical matter, is completely expressed in this present-tense partnership. This partnership is, in turn, the means of which salvation is accomplished.
This makes good sense. If salvation means living in the presence of God, then entering into a present-tense partnership with Christ is, itself the substance of salvation. Or if salvation means becoming like Christ and Christ is himself divine because of his partnership with the Father, then again, entering into a covenant partnership with Christ is itself the substance of salvation. Either way, a partnership with Christ isn’t just the means of some other end. A shared life lived in Christ’s presence is the end. It is salvation. ~ Adam S. Miller, Original Grace (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2022) 18-20
