the Christian’s bodily behavior, whereby the Christian
might bear (not produce) the fruit of His character. The
character of Christ lived out in Christians is the “fruit of the
Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Gal.
5:22,23).
The fruit of Christ’s character is also the “fruit of
righteousness” (Phil. 1:11; James 3:18). The divine
character of righteousness (I John 2:29; 3:7) personified in
“the Righteous One” (Acts 3:13; 7:52; 22:14;I John 2:1),
Jesus Christ, allows the Christian to “become righteous” (II
Cor. 5:21) and “be made righteous” (Rom. 5:19), as “Christ
becomes to us...righteousness” (I Cor. 1:30). The
understanding of righteousness must not be objectified only
in “positional truths” of declaration, imputation, reckoning
and reconciliation, with no practical implication of our
bodily members being “instruments of righteousness”
(Rom. 6:13) in the conveyance of Christ’s character.
“Having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life”
(Rom. 5:10), Paul explains. Christians live by “the saving
life of Christ.” 25 That is why Paul could also say, “for me to
live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21). Salvation is not simply a static
event of regenerative conversion, but is the dynamic
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