And this is, as we have discussed, the pastoral worry about penal substitutionary atonement. It is the concern that once the status of saved is obtained the believer loses missional motivation. Being found “clean,” there is little left for the believer to do. The psychic experience of being “saved” and “washed clean by the blood of Jesus” can function like those antiseptic wipes in Zhong and Liljenquist’s research—soothing the conscience and, as a consequence, reducing prosocial motivation. This is the pietistic temptation, seeking a personal experience of “cleansing” at the expense of social
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