Then elsewhere he writes,
"...the Christian is in a different position from other people who are
trying to be good. ...the Christian thinks that any good he does
comes from the Christ-life inside him." 15Having previously noted that "God is good," and that
this statement is semantically and philosophically different
than any other statement that refers to goodness, the
distinctive of Christianity begins with the fact that Jesus
Christ is God and therefore Jesus Christ is good. Jesus as
God is the essence of goodness, by nature good, absolutely
good, independently good, the source of all good in the
Christian.
The monotheistic premises noted previously were (1)
Good exists only in God. (2) Good is knowable only as
God reveals His character. (3) Good is do-able only as the
character of God is expressed by the grace of God. In the
Christian assertion that Jesus Christ is God the premises
concerning goodness are defined even more distinctively.
Every Christian has "in Jesus Christ" (1) the presence of the
good within him/her by the indwelling presence of Jesus
Christ, (2) the on-going revelation of the good by the active
enlightenment of the Spirit of Christ, (3) the capability of
expressing God's character of goodness by the energizing,
enabling and empowering of the Spirit of Christ. The