PENTAD LAYERS

Understanding pentad elements can be present in varying ratios enables us to understand how the Gospel message can be presented with various emphases or layers without contradiction or confusion. For example, in our present context (or scene) our union with Christ (the agent of our salvation) enables the Apostle to set another scene that itself should inform the agency and purpose that we emphasize in our preaching. Our union with Christ is so determinative of our future status that the Apostle Paul says we are already seated in heavenly places (Eph. 2:6). Through the agency of our union with Christ, His scene is ours though we exist in this scene of our present existence (Gal. 2:20).

Though we are acting now with the power of Christ’s Spirit to overcome sin in our lives, God has already reckoned us holy by the agency of his grace embraced through our faith. This positional sanctification (provided by the scene and agency of our union with Christ) gives us the foundation for our progressive sanctification, the purpose that God intends for those who are being renewed in His image until He comes. Future grace awaits us in glory but we already possess its status through the certainty of the promises of God and the guarantee of the Spirit in us (2 Cor. 5:5). Though we are still acting out the implications of our salvation, the scene has already been set by our union with Christ so as to provide the agency for God’s purpose of making us a holy people.

PENTAD PRIORITIES

Hatred of sin, freedom from past guilt, possession of Christ’s righteousness and power, and assurance of future grace combine to equip the Christian for the holy race God calls us to run. However, it is important to remember that all of these truths rest on the person (Agent) and work (Act) of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “Apart from me, you can do nothing” (John 15:5). No sentence in Scripture more underscores the need for Christ-centered preaching.

A message full of imperatives (e.g., Be like … a commendable Bible character, Be good … by adopting these moral behaviors, Be disciplined … by diligence in these practices) but devoid of grace is antithetical to the Gospel. These “Be messages” are not wrong in themselves, but by themselves they are spiritually deadly because they imply that our path to God is made by our works. They indicate the proper actions (obedience) and proper agents (us) but they fail to give proper ratio to the chief agent (Christ) and his agency (provision of grace to do as he requires).

We must always remember the Gospel scene: in our fallen world even our best works deserve God’s reproof unless they are sanctified by Christ (Is. 64:6; Luke 17:10). God delights in our good works only when they are presented in Christ (Rom. 12:1). This means even if we do not mention Jesus by name in the explanation of a text, we must show where the text stands in relation to His grace in order to provide hope that the obligations of the text will be fulfilled. Just as the necessity of a Christ-focus in all preaching is indicated by Jesus words, “Apart from me you can to nothing,” so also the power of such a focus is indicated in Paul’s words, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13).