The “victory” is achieved because Jesus “gave himself for our sins,” rescuing and forgiving humans and so breaking the deadly grip of the powers they had been worshipping. A mission based on a supposed “victory” that does not have “forgiveness of sins” at its heart will go seriously wrong in one direction. That was the danger of the first view I outlined: triumphalism without forgiveness at its core. A mission based on “forgiveness of sins” where we see things only in terms of “saving souls for heaven” will go wrong in the other direction. That was the danger of the second view: a message of
...more
