I wrote this recently to address non-believers on a different website. Thought I'd share it here.
---------------------------------
What is the essence of Christianity?
In short, it is the exchanged life. It is the life where what I am naturally is set in order to give way to the life of God that is in Christ. It is where the natural life is exchanged for the Christ-life, and this is accomplished through the mechanism that Christians refer to as faith.
The Christian life is not one of merely holding a particular set of ideals, or of doctrines, nor can it be summarized in what might be called the Christian "practice." These things in themselves are not "faith."
The Christian life is one of true regeneration, where what I am by natural order is placed subject to what God has purposed me to be by unnatural order - that is, through the interjection of the Christ-life in place of what I am without God. The comparison between the two is often thought of as that of darkness to light.
The transforming, regenerating faith that is responsible for this exchange centers upon a more concrete reality, which is transforming, regenerating love. The revealed love of God inspires faith, and always precedes faith in this sense. Human love, then returned to God, sets in motion the purifying love-relationship that creates faith continuously in a more permanent, life-changing sense. Thus, saving faith is entirely the construct of God's saving love, revealed to any willing human heart.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment