Incarnation and Deification

We have been created in the image of God and to be like God, and though it has often been tarnished and obscured, the divine image nonetheless remains. God has never backed away from his purpose. Indeed, Jesus Christ has himself become the image of the invisible God, in whom all the fullness of divinity dwells in bodily form, and in him we are made complete (Colossians 1:15; 2:9-10). 

By his Incarnation, our Lord Jesus Christ has united divinity with humanity, God with humankind, and through the work of the Cross reveals both what it means to be human and what it means to be divine. So the Incarnation shows that human nature was meant to be the bearer of divinity. We are expressly created for it.

Deification is the fulfillment of what it means to be human. It is to become in Christ, “partakers of the divine nature.” To be like God, becoming by grace what Christ is by nature. To be conformed to the image of the Son, who is himself the image of the Father. To be who we truly and inherently are, what God planned for us even from before the foundation of the world. To enjoy in Christ the relationship he has with the Father and the Holy Spirit. For it is the gracious work of the Father, through the faithfulness of the Son and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth.” God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26-27)

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (2 Peter 1:4)

Gratitude is Humility is Happiness

“Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His Love endures forever.” (Psalm 118:1)

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:6-7)

We Cannot Be Saved Without Him

If we do not forgive our brother for his own sake, then we do not yet understand. For he is our brother, with whom we are intimately and inextricably connected — and we cannot be saved without him.

We are all united by Creation and Incarnation. For all are created by Christ, through Christ, for Christ, and in Christ, and all consist and hold together in Christ (Colossians 1:16-17).

By the Incarnation, Christ has united God with all humankind. He became not just one of us but one with us. Indeed, Christ has become Human Being, the only Human Being there is, and of which we all participate. He is precisely what it means to be human.

Christ has become intimately and inextricably with humankind, and so we are intimately and inextricably united with each other. This union we have with each other cannot be undone any more than the Incarnation can be undone. Therefore, we must forgive one another, for we cannot be saved without one another.

The Salvation to Which We Are Called

The Salvation to which we are called and by which we are delivered is the Way of the Cross, the Way of Dying to ourselves and Living unto God.

We see this in the Sacrament of Baptism. St. Paul teaches that in baptism we are immersed into the death of Christ and buried with him, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead, we also may walk in newness of life. For if we have become one with him in the likeness of his death, we will also be one with him in his resurrection (Romans 6:3-5). The early Church understood this as the New Birth. Paul continues:

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that since Christ has been raised from the dead, he is never going to die again; death no longer has mastery over him. For the death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:8-11)

Salvation is not an abstract thing, some other where and other when. It is tangible, livable, even edible. It is the life we live now in the body as we yield to the life Christ now lives in us. This is the paradox Paul declares in Galatians 2:20.

I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 

Salvation is the faithfulness of Christ in us, the life of Christ energizing us, transforming us. It is participating in the divine nature, being conformed to the image and likeness of Christ. So it is always giving up all we have and are, and following Christ. The extent that we have not yet done so is the extent the we have yet to be saved and that our faith is still lacking.

A Retributive Deity is Abominable

A retributive deity is a petty deity, and one that is endlessly retributive even moreso. Such a being is not worthy of worship. It is  not a being who is love, and so not a being that can truly be called God. For the revelation of God we have in Jesus Christ is this: God is Love (1 John 4:8). Love is not merely something God has, or brings into play from time to time. No, Love is what God is. It is the very nature of God to love, at all times and in all circumstances. There is nothing God has created that is not also the object of God’s love.

Our Lord Jesus Christ is the full and final revelation of God. He is the Image of the Invisible God, in whom all the fullness of divinity dwells in bodily form. If we have seen him, we have seen the Father. There is nothing retributive or retaliatory, for God is Love, and love is not retributive or retaliatory. God does not seek revenge. Even as he was being crucified, the prayer of Lord Jesus was, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” 

To view God as a retributive deity, one has to ignore what Lord Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount:

You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:43-45)

Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. This is not retribution. This is the boundless love of the God who is love. St. Paul describes this love of us in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

Retribution and retaliation have no place at all here. That would be self-seeking. That would be keeping record of being wronged, and holding grudges. That is not love but pettiness. But love never fails, never gives up, but perseveres for the sake of the loved one — even for one’s enemies!

Even in Romans 12:17-21, where we read of “wrath” and “vengeance” of God, it is no less about the love of God. For God is love, so even the wrath and vengeance of God must be the manifestation of the God’s love even towards the wicked. It is not retributive but restorative, to put things right.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

It is not our job to put things right; we would skew to self-interest and try to even the score. Leave it to God, who always acts in righteousness. It is God’s to handle.

How does God repay? Evil for evil; “You did something against me, now I’ll do something against you”? No, God does not retaliate, does not exact retribution. That would be no better than a petty deity, a Zeus-like being.

“Do not repay anyone evil for evil,” Paul says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Why does he say that? Because that is the way God is, and that is the way of Love. God is Love and so does not repay evil for evil, does not retaliate or seek revenge, but overcomes evil with good. Behold the Cross.

Therefore, with St. Isaac of Nineveh, 7th century Christian Bishop, we say, “Even to think this of God and to suppose that retribution for evil acts is to be found with Him is abominable.”

The Highest Authority for Christian Truth?

Sola Scriptura is the Protestant doctrine that makes one’s own interpretation of Scripture the highest authority for Christian faith and life, and by which interpretation, one is competent to reprove and correct the teaching of the early Church. It is the doctrine by which Protestants allow themselves the right of private interpretation by which they may judge anything and everything in the Church. They may not mean the doctrine to do that; it is certainly not defined that way, but that is how it turns out — the logic of it leads inexorably to that conclusion. 

Now, it is often held in some forms of Sola Scriptura that that there are other forms of authority in the Church, but that they all must be subject to the Scriptures — and indeed they do! But in Sola Scriptura, what this actually ends up meaning, sooner or later, that all other such forms of authority must be subject to one’s private interpretation of the Scriptures. So the interpreter becomes his own highest authority on what must be the faith and life of the Church.

Some have recognized the problem and titled it Solo Scriptura as a safeguard against Sola Scriptura. It is the recognition that, yes, there are other legitimate authorities in the Church that must be considered. But that does not solve the problem because it does not recognize that the nature of Scripture is such that it must be interpreted if it is to have any meaning or have authority. But if Scripture must be interpreted in order to have authority, and there is no authoritative interpretation of Scripture, then it is incoherent to speak of Scripture as being authoritative.

On the other hand, if there are other legitimate Church authorities, as many/most proponents of Sola Scriptura affirm, but they are authoritative only insofar as they agree with Scripture — as I have heard may proponents say — then how does one determine which of those authorities truly agree with Scripture except by comparing it against one’s own interpretation. We may say we are testing it against Scripture, but what does that really mean except that we are testing it against our interpretation of Scripture.

There are yet others who, seeing the problem of Solo Scriptura, but finding Sola Scriptura for whatever reason inadequate, have proposed Prima Scriptura. Whether that is a sufficient view depends on how it is defined:

• It affirms Scripture as primary, but how does it relate to the authority of Church and Tradition (what has been handed down from the beginning)?
• Is Scripture seen as separate from the Church, or as within the Church, arising through and from the Church?
• Is it seen as separate from the Tradition (what has been handed down from the beginning), or as within Tradition, handed down with all the apostles handed down once for all to the saints?
• Is it to be interpreted apart from the Church, or interpreted by the Church, by the "rule of faith," what was handed down (traditioned) from the apostles?

Orthodox theologian Georges Florovsky, in Bible, Church, Tradition: An Eastern Orthodox View, put forth a view that might be an ecclesial Prima Scriptura: Scripture is primary; tradition witnesses to it; the Church interprets; private judgment contrary to the Church is rejected. Not Scripture alone apart from the Church, but Scripture first and always — in the Church and by the Spirit.

It should be worth nothing that the early Church Fathers never had a doctrine of Sola Scriptura or anything like it. They clearly affirmed the sufficiency of Scripture — but only as interpreted by the Church, the “rule of faith,” and what was handed down from the beginning.

Inspiration and Interpretation

The inspiration of Scripture cannot be separated from the interpretation of Scripture, for without interpretation, there is no meaning, and without meaning, inspiration is simply incoherent?

The Mystical Supper

Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all participate in the one loaf. (1 Corinthians 10:16-17)

For I received [paralambano] from the Lord what I also handed over [paradidomi] to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over [paradidomi], took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance [anamnesis] of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance [anamnesis] of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

St. Paul tells us about the Last Supper, the Mystical Supper, in his Letter to the Church at Corinth. This Supper is a participation in the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed, it is a participation in Christ himself, and so, in the Body of Christ. For the Cup of Thanksgiving (Eucharist) is a participation in the Blood of Christ. That is, it partakes of the Blood of Christ, takes part in its reality, making it present. Likewise the Bread we break in Eucharist partakes of the Body of Christ, takes part in its reality, making it present. And we who participate in the One Bread become the One Body, the Body of Christ. Eucharist is where we become the Church.

This is not some doctrine Paul devised. It was something that was handed down to him (paradidomi), something he received (paralambano), and he in turn handed it on. This language of handing down, and receiving, and handing on, is language of tradition. It is precisely what tradition is. And so it has been handed down to us, generation after generation, in the Church.

Paul tells us about the night Lord Jesus was handed over and betrayed. At the Last Supper, our Lord took the Bread and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in anamnesis of me.” Likewise, he took the Cup, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in anamnesis of me.”

Anamnesis, the Greek word rendered as “remembrance” in this passage, is not merely a mental recollection. Much more than that, it is the making present and participating in the reality of a thing. The Bread and Wine of the Eucharist makes present and participates in the reality of Christ, in the Body and Blood of Christ. When we eat the Bread and drink the Cup, we are not merely remembering something that happened a long time ago, we are sharing in it in the present, for it is made present to us (or we are made present to it) in those elements. 

It is sacrament and mystery. It is mystical participation in the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, Crucified and Risen. And in partaking of it, we are the One Body of Christ.

Unconditional and Non-Transactional

The Love of God is unconditional and non-transactional. God is Love, and in Jesus Christ we see exactly what that looks like: self-giving, other-centered and cross-shaped. We hear it in the words of Jesus, in his Great Sermon:

But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. 

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:27-36)

There are no conditions here, no transactions, no negotiations. There is only love and grace and mercy, freely extended. This is how God is with us. St. Paul understands this very well — how deeply he has experienced it himself. Listen as he lays out the way of grace and of God in dealing with others, even with enemies:

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:17-21)

What is God’s way of “repaying?” Evil for evil? No! Rather, overcoming evil with good. That is the way of Love, and so of God, for God is Love. Paul again shows us the unconditional, non-transactional nature of love in one of his most famous chapters:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).

Yes, faith is important, yet it is not our faith that saves us. Paul tells us this expressly in Ephesians 2:8. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Yes, we are saved through faith, but it is not our faith. None of it comes from us; none of it is our own initiative. Faith is not a condition we must, or even can, meet. Rather, it is through the faith and faithfulness of Jesus Christ that we have been saved. “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). Our faith is but grateful recognition of the divine grace and faithfulness of Father, Son and Holy Spirit that has set us free.

A conditional salvation and transactional gospel utterly misunderstands the grace of God.

The Only Thing That Matters

The only thing that matters is faith working through love. (Galatians 5:6) 

This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. (1 John 3:11-16) 

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. (1 John 4:7-12)

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. 

But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. 

Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:1-13)

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:8-10)

Part of the Plan or Unintended Consequence?

It is really a question about the character and sovereignty of God: If Eternal Conscious Torment were part of God’s plan from the beginning, then what would that say about the character of God? On the other hand, if it were an unintended consequence, then what would that say about the sovereignty of God?

God is Love. Whatever the sovereignty of God is, it cannot be anything other than a manifestation of the love of God. In St. Paul’s wonderful description of  Love in 1 Corinthians, we know that love is not coercive. From the same source, we also know that love never fails, never gives up. Love always perseveres.

Did God choose to create a world in which some would suffer eternal conscious torment, knowing full well that such would be the case? Knowing the end from the beginning — indeed, the end is in the beginning — did God choose to create some who would suffer eternally? That does not sound like the God who is Love (1 John 4:8) but rather a monstrous deity, not worthy of worship.

Or imagine a scenario where God really did not know who would accept or who would reject God. To proceed to create in that situation would mean that the eternal torment of any soul — any one of us — would be an acceptable risk, therefore an acceptable loss, to God. Surely that is not the way of Love.

For God to create a world in which all finally turn to God does not require that God must overcome human will, for the problem of human will has never been anyone freely choosing to act against God and the good. Free will is not the ability to choose against one’s inherent nature, for there would be nothing to distinguish such from random event. But free will is the ability to act according to one’s true and inherent nature. 

What is the true and inherent nature of humans? It is that of creatures created in the image of God, to be like God. But the problem of the will is that because of darkness, deception, sin, and ignorance, the human will was impaired, defective, and in bondage. Shall we then imagine that God would allow anyone whose will is defective because of darkness, deception, sin, bondage, or ignorance to suffer eternal torment because of the defective choice of a impaired will is to imagine God as a pitiless and petty being.

The doctrine of Eternal Conscious Torment is not a biblical one but is cobbled together from various strains. Nor is it a benign doctrine but one that does great damage to both the character and sovereignty of God — and so also to God’s holiness.

Christ and the Fullness of Time

By the Incarnation, Christ has united divinity with humanity, God with humankind, heaven with earth — and eternity with time, in such a way that time is transfigured. It is not so much what happens in time as it is what happens to time. 

Our Lord Jesus Christ did not merely come in the fullness of time. Rather, he is the fullness of time, the fulfillment of time. He is the end of time, the reason for which time was created. All of creation, including time, consists and coheres in him.

When the fullness of time had come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive adoption as sons. (Galatians 4:4-5)

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end! (Revelation 22:13).

Christ is the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8), and we are chosen in him from before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). He is the starting point and the ending point. He is at once the Origination and the Conclusion, the Purpose and the Fulfillment of time, and of all things.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will — to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. (Ephesians 1:3-6)

God made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment — to bring unity to all in heaven and on earth under Christ. (Ephesians 1:9-10)

He has saved us and called us to a holy life — not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. (2 Timothy 1:9-10)

Christ is the singularity of time and space and all creation. Though we experience time in linear fashion, there is no temporal sequence in eternity, no before or after. There is, then, no pre-Incarnate Christ; there is simply Christ the Eternally Incarnate One. 

The First and the Last,
The Beginning and the End,
The Fullness of All,
Ever the Same.

The Authority of Church and Scripture

Holy Scripture cannot be separated from its interpretation. Without the proper interpretation, the inspiration of Scripture is incomplete. The Scriptures must be unveiled for us, and our understanding of them must be opened by our Lord Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit. As St. Paul said:

The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:14-16)

We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. (2 Corinthians 3:13-14)

And in Luke 24, we see Christ precisely that with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and then latter in the Upper Room with other disciples: 

He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. (Luke 24:25-27)

They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32)

He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. (Luke 24:44-45)

It is to the Church and through the Church that Christ reveals himself, and it as the Church that we receive that revelation. For the Church is the only body commissioned and authorized by Christ to preach the gospel, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that our Lord Jesus has commanded (Matthew 28:18-20). It is the only body empowered by the Holy Spirit for that purpose (Acts 1:8). It is the  only body given the promise of our Lord Jesus that the Holy Spirit would lead it into all truth (John 16:13). And it is the only body identified in Scripture as the Pillar and Foundation of the Truth (1 Timothy 3:15).

Scripture cannot be separated from interpretation, for without interpretation, it has no meaning. Without meaning, it has no authority. That being so, the authority of Scripture can be no greater than its interpretation. The question then becomes whether there is a normative, authoritative interpretation of Scripture — and whether such an interpretation can be separated from the authority of the Church. 

It cannot, for our Lord has uniquely authorized the Church to teach all that pertains to himself and the gospel. Further, because Scripture has no meaning apart from interpretation, and therefore no authority apart from interpretation, then it can have no authority greater or more normative than that of its interpretation — or of only Body that is authorized to interpret it. 

What we have been given is Scripture, which requires interpretation, and the Church, which is authorized to preach and teach the gospel, so is authorized to interpret Scripture and tell what it means, and what is normative for Christian faith and life.

The True Light is Already Shining

Jesus Christ is the True Light who gives light to everyone in the world. We did not know how deep was the darkness until the Light came and shone in the world. Today, the darkness is passing away, for the True Light has come into the world and is already shining.

Eternally and Inextricably United

The Incarnation cannot be undone. If it could, it would be the undoing of our salvation, for the Cross and Resurrection would be of no benefit to anyone. Nor could it be undone for some without undoing it for all. It is all of one piece, just as humankind is, for we all partake of human being, the one and only way of being human.

When Christ the Word became “flesh” and dwelt among us (John 1:14), he did not merely put on human being as a suit, which could later be discarded when it served its purpose. No, he became human being, and is so eternally. He defines what it means to be fully human — yet he did not cease to be fully divine.

Nor did Christ become merely a singular instance of human being. That, too, would have done us no good, for his actions would have been of benefit only to himself. But he became human in such a way that in his death all died, so that in his resurrection all might be raised.

In Romans 5:18, St. Paul compares/contrasts Adam and Christ. “Consequently, just as one trespass [Adam’s] resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act [Christ’s] resulted in justification and life for all people.” Just as the connection between Adam and humankind was universal, such that Adam’s disobedience resulted in condemnation for all, so also the connection between Jesus Christ and humankind is universal, such that Christ’s obedience has resulted in justification and life for all.

Likewise, in 1 Corinthians 15:22, “For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.” Just as the connection between Adam and humankind was universal, such that in Adam all die, so also the connection between Jesus Christ and humankind is such that in him all will be made alive.

By the Incarnation, Christ is united, eternally and inextricably, with us all. For humankind, which was once headed up in Adam, is now headed up in Christ.

That We May Become What He Is

Our Lord Jesus Christ became human, that humankind may become divine. Though Christ was rich, for our sake, he became poor, just as we are, that through his poverty we might become rich. Christ had no sin, and knew no death or corruption, but he became what we are and shared in our condition, that we might  become the righteousness of God in him, escaping the power of death and know divine life. In Jesus Christ, we become partakers of, participants in, the divine nature.

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death — that is, the devil — and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. (Hebrews 2:14-15)

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (2 Peter 1:3-4)

The early Church Fathers grasped this well, and taught it without hesitation. It is what they understood the Scriptures and the Gospel to mean concerning Christ, the Cross, and our Salvation.

• “Our Lord Jesus Christ, who did, through His transcendent love, become what we are, that He might bring us to be even what He is Himself.” (St. Irenaeus of Lyon, Against Heresies)
  
• “For we hold that the Word of God was made man on account of our salvation, in order that we might receive the likeness of the heavenly, and be made divine after the likeness of Him who is the true Son of God by nature, and the Son of man according to the flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ.” (St. Gregory the Wonderworker)
• “For He was made man that we might be made God.” (St. Athanasius, On the Incarnation)
  
• “He Himself has made us sons of the Father, and deified men by becoming Himself man.” (St. Athanasius, Against the Arians)
• “For therefore did He assume the body originate and human, that having renewed it as its Framer, He might deify it in Himself, and thus might introduce us all into the kingdom of heaven after His likeness.” (St. Athanasius, Against the Arians)
• “For as the Lord, putting on the body, became man, so we men are deified by the Word as being taken to Him through His flesh, and henceforward inherit life everlasting.” (St. Athanasius, Against the Arians)
• “But the Incarnation is summed up in this, that the whole Son, that is, His manhood as well as His divinity, was permitted by the Father’s gracious favor to continue in the unity of the Father’s nature, and retained not only the powers of the divine nature, but also that nature’s self. For the object to be gained was that man might become God.” (St. Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity)
• “Believe that the Son of God, the Eternal Word, Who was begotten of the Father before all time and without body, was in these latter days for your sake made also Son of Man, born of the Virgin Mary ineffably and stainlessly (for nothing can be stained where God is, and by which salvation comes), in His own Person at once entire Man and perfect God, for the sake of the entire sufferer, that He may bestow salvation on your whole being, having destroyed the whole condemnation of your sins: impassible in His Godhead, passible in that which He assumed; as much Man for your sake as you are made God for His.” (St. Gregory Nazianzus, Oration 40:45)
• “If the divine Logos of God the Father became son of man and man so that He might make men gods and the sons of God, let us believe that we shall reach the realm where Christ Himself now is, for He is the head of the whole body, and endued with our humanity has gone to the Father as forerunner on our behalf.” (Maximus the Confessor, The Philokalia, On Theology)

Through the Incarnation, in which our Lord Jesus Christ has united divinity with humanity, God with humankind, He has become what we are, that we may become what He is.

The Last, the Least and the Lost

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted. 

Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth. 

Blessed are those who hunger
and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled. 

Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy. 

Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God. 

Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God. 

Blessed are those who are persecuted
because of righteousness, for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven. 

Blessed are you when people insult you,
persecute you and falsely say all kinds
of evil against you because of me. 

Rejoice and be glad,
because great is your reward in heaven,
for in the same way they persecuted
the prophets who were before you.
(Matthew 5:3-12)

Come to me,
all you who are
weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you
and learn from me,
for I am gentle
and humble in heart,
and you will find rest
for your souls.
For my yoke is easy
and my burden is light.
(Matthew 11:28-30)

For the Son of Man
did not come to be served,
but to serve, and to
give his life as a
ransom for many.
(Mark 10:45)

Our Lord Jesus Christ
has come for the
Last, the Least
and the Lost.

God is Love!

Repentance and the Perception of God

God is Love, as St. John tells us (1 John 4:8). Love is not merely something God has or does under certain conditions. No, Love is what God is. We see this revealed in Jesus Christ, who is “the Image of the Invisible God,” in whom “all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Colossians 1:15; 2:9). Through his self-giving, other-centered death on the Cross, we see exactly what Love looks like and so what it means to be God (and because of the Incarnation, we also see what it means to be human).

God is Simple, not a being of parts with each balancing out the others. This means that the love of God is never in tension with the holiness of God, or the justice of God, or even the “wrath” of God. These are but different ways of speaking the same thing: the love of God. 

When John declares that God is Love, there is no “but” that can walk it back even one tiny step. Everything God does is a manifestation of the love of God that is revealed in our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross. God will never do what Love would not do. In 1 Corinthians 13, St. Paul gives us a wonderful description of how love behaves, and God will never do anything that is contrary to that.

God is Love, and those who are properly oriented toward God perceive Him as Love, but those who are not perceive Him in terror and dread. The real problem is the mind that has been deceived and is in bondage to dark passions. As St. Paul tells us, “The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace ” (Romans 8:7). “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior” (Colossians 1:21). 

The mindset (perception, outlook, orientation) of the flesh is bondage, corrupting how we understand God, ourselves, and the world. What is needed is a new orientation, a reorientation toward God. Another word for this is repentance. Repentance is allowing our perception to be properly oriented by the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. 

We cannot reorient ourselves — that would require having the proper orientation in the first place. But it comes to us as a gift, the goodness and kindness of God leading us into a new way of seeing God. It comes to us in the word of the gospel, the message of Christ, through the Holy Spirit. For the Cross of Christ reveals to us what God is really like: self-giving, other-centered, cross-shaped Love.

Yielding to the Life of Christ

Faith in Christ is not merely mental acquiescence to some proposition about him. More than that, it is personal engagement with Christ, entrusting ourselves to him, yielding ourselves into his hands. That is the substance of repentance, abandoning false mindsets and perceptions that are at odds with God and the truth of our being, and giving ourselves over to God revealed in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The false mindset we have long suffered under is that we are separated from God. The reality is that we have never been separated from God, for all have been created by Christ, through Christ, for Christ and in Christ — indeed, all of creation holds together and continues to have its being in Christ (Colossians 1:16-17). So, it is impossible that we could ever have been separated from Christ, or else we would have simply ceased to be. 

Even more, by the Incarnation, Christ has united himself to us, divinity with humanity, God with humankind, becoming not just one of us but one with us. Christ became not merely an individual instance of human being, he became Human Being itself, of which we all partake.

But the mind darkened by demonic deceit, by death and the fear of death, and so, by the enslaving power of sin, rejects the reality of our being, the truth that we have always been in Christ. And so we have lived as though we are fundamentally apart from God. Yet the only apartness there has ever been between us and God has been in our own compartmentalized minds. St. Paul says, “The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace ” (Romans 8:7), and, “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior” (Colossians 1:21). 

We were at enmity with God, but God has never been at enmity with us. Rather, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting our sins against us (2 Corinthians 5:19). Notice the directionality of that: God was not reconciling himself to the world — he had never turned away — but has reconciled the world to himself. And Christ has broken the power of all that darkened our minds and held us in bondage:“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death — that is, the devil — and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (Hebrews 2:14-15).

This is the truth of the gospel, and those who have come to know Christ, have the privilege of making him known to others. “To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). It is the joyful anticipation, the positive expectation of participation in the divine glory, for in Jesus Christ, we become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4).

Christ in you! This is true of all, not by our own faith but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ — in the Creation, the Incarnation, and the Cross. But it is by faith that we yield ourselves to Christ in us, and confess with Paul: “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20 NET).

What is Faith?
It is Yielding to the
Life of Christ in You.

Dying Your Best Death Now

We are not here to live our best life but to die our best death, to deny ourselves in self-giving, other-centered, cross-shaped love. So shall we find our life. For this is the life of Christ, and our life is in him. Lord Jesus said, 

Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? (Mark 8:34-37) 

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mark 8:45)

And St. Paul answered, 

I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20 NET)

This is for all of us, the way of life for everyday saints and everyday living. It is the way of True Being, for it is the Way of Christ, in whom we have our being. 

It is the way of marriage and family and home. For though it may seem funny, it is nevertheless true that marriage is a martyrdom: we lay down our lives for the other. Parenthood, also, is a martyrdom: we lay down our lives for our children. 

Dying our best death is the only way of truly living our best life — dying and living with Christ for the sake of others. And so we discover the love of God, the life of Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit at work within.