God in Christ by His Spirit empowers, enables,
energizes and enacts all Christian behavior and ministry as
the dynamic expression of the life of Jesus Christ.
Christianity is Christ. Christian living is the life and
character of Jesus Christ lived out through the Christian.
Some would object that this thesis is a form of divine
determinism that impinges upon man’s freedom of choice,
but such is not valid for man is definitely responsible to
exercise the choice of faith that allows for the receptivity of
God’s activity in him, both initially and continually. Others
would object that attributing all Christian activity to Christ
encourages passivism and acquiescence, but notice the
words of Paul, “I labor, striving according to His power,
which mightily works within me” (Col. 1:29). God is an
active God, always acting out of His Being and character,
and those available to Him will inevitably be involved in
active expressions of the Christ-life.
Continuing then, the entirety of this divine, spiritual
reality of Christ’s presence and function as Christianity,
must be understood not only individually in the life of each
Christian (as we have been doing), but also collectively or
corporately in the whole of the Church of Jesus Christ.
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