Front Page"In Christ Jesus" as Inclusive
Submitted by reido on Thu, 07/27/2006 - 11:22. faith
Reading Scot McKnight's blog at the JesusCreed, I ran across this entry...
[The Spirit is Life
Filed under: Romans — Scot McKnight @ 4:10 am
Christians, according to Romans 8:9-11, are not in the flesh. They are in the Spirit. That, Paul would argue, is the difference between those in Christ and those not in Christ. What does having the Spirit mean?
It means “life.” It means transformation now and transformation then. Paul’s issues are always death and life, not hell and heaven (for that narrows the interest of Paul far, far too much). It is all about death and life — life now, life then; death now, death then.
As Wright makes clear, Paul regularly “confuses” being “in the Spirit” and the Spirit being “in us.” And Paul can mix all this up by using “Christ” as he does “Spirit.” I read Wright as saying to those who are bothered by this sort of language as “get over it; it’s the way Paul carves out his theology” (this is not a quotation but a summary of Wright). To be “in Christ” means to dwell in the life created by Jesus’ death and resurrection. The Spirit makes this a power at work in us.
How does one know if he or she has the Spirit? My view is that Paul would say “Let me watch you live. That’ll be the indicator.”
Because believers have sinned, the body they have will die; but grace and the Spirit triumph over that for life.
Wright translates “because of righteousness” at the end of v. 10, which is surprising in its context, as “God’s covenant faithfulness.” One might say it indicates that life results in spite of sin and death because God has taken care of business in the Messiah (and Spirit).]
What I want to propose is not an argument with Scot's interpretation, but is an effort to present a more Inclusive view. Why more Inclusion? Often people take such an approach as an afront to Christian faith -- actually it is my intent to pursue a faith that is more of Christ, and less of man. By that, I mean that man continues to set the boundaries of belief and its expression in life.
Right away I appreciated the title of Scot's article, "The Spirit is Life." That, IMO, prepares us for an existential journey into the betterment of the collective and individual pursuit of faith.
One of the significant differences in our interpretations is the Exclusive line that is drawn between "us" and "them" -- those "in Christ" and those "not". The Inclusive approach would be to interpret the concept of Being "in Christ" as open -- so open that exclusive thought is counter to the teaching and practice of Jesus. It may well be that this particular aspect of his teaching is directly connected with the concept of his being "Anointed."
One cannot help but be struck with Paul's contrast of the sinful (or fleshly) nature and living in accord with the Spirit. It is not unusual that people read the Apostle in terms of exclusion similar to the Jewish heritage of his upbringing. In fact, I do not doubt that his writing makes use of this perspective to at least the same degree as other biblical writers exhibited the same prejudgment. However, the hearer should be careful to avoid unwittingly adopting the human views of the ancients. An alternate view would be to consider the Existential blessings to be found in Realization. That is, the difference between a hopeless and dark existence and a life of new creation may be nothing more than coming to an understanding (hence realization) that the essence of Jesus' teaching was demonstrated by promoting life for all without qualification. The Kingdom of God truly lies within. That one person might authenticate this realization more than another is not important to the subject -- focus on this kind of measuring would, in fact, be counter to what is realized in Jesus. Such is the stuff of Faith: It is not important that this realization reign supreme. Rather, what ranks of greatest import is that this faith begs for Creation -- beginning.
Please share with me on this.
reido
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Who Gets Hurt?
Submitted by reido on Mon, 08/07/2006 - 11:16.
Bill
Good to see your family is back from seeing the Midwest and above. Hope you all had a great trip.
We read Romans in similar fashion. I asked myself who gets hurt when this happens..." exclusiveness brings out fear, distrust and false pride."? For years I was an expert at laying down the law regarding Sin...many sermons and classroom studies of 'do's and don'ts'. And when all was said and done, the speaker was no less guilty than all the rest.
I find the Sins of Exclusion are quite different in nature. As deeds go, I find little in Jesus that delineates all the do's and don'ts, but I do find a trove of information regarding fear, distrust, and false pride. In fact by simple observation, such things fueled the fires of the Opposition.
reido
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Superior Scenery
Submitted by bill on Mon, 08/07/2006 - 19:32.
Reido,
Thanks for the welcome back. We had a great time, even though it was not much cooler than Texas.
I
thought of you while sitting on the deck looking out on Lake Superior
and listening to the two-wheelers thumping along the North
Shore Scenic Drive. There must have been as many two-wheelers as
four-wheelers. And they weren't riding to work.
bill
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A City Set On a Hill
Submitted by reid o (not verified) on Mon, 08/07/2006 - 20:53.
That's quite a picture of the lighthouse. We took a lot of pix up in the Blue Ridge, but found they really didn't do it justice like seeing it firsthand. I like God's handywork best of all.
reido
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New Creation
Submitted by Ken Silva (not verified) on Sun, 08/06/2006 - 22:53.
reido,
Just curious, when you say "Paul's writings" do you also see them as God the Holy Spirit writing through him as well? I wasn't sure because you say, "a life of new creation may be nothing more than coming to an understanding."
Jesus tells us in John 3 that it is being born from above, born again, born of the Spirit. And then God tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17 - "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
This means that only those who have been "recreated" inside - regenerated - have the Kingdom of God inside them. That's why the faith of Jesus Christ is inclusive, as literally in Christ. That's what the Master is talking about in John 17. As wonderful as some person might be Jesus said no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born of the Spirit.
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A Limited Perspective on Inclusion
Submitted by reido on Mon, 08/07/2006 - 11:40.
Ken
It is difficult to respond to your question because you have constructed it by joining two sentences that originally had cohesive thoughts between, then concluding with a fragment.
I will attempt anyway...
"An alternate view would be to consider the Existential blessings to be found in Realization. That is, the difference between a hopeless and dark existence and a life of new creation may be nothing more than coming to an understanding (hence realization) that the essence of Jesus' teaching was demonstrated by promoting life for all without qualification."
The "understanding" that I speak of sounds almost too simple, especially when volumes have been written delineating the boundaries of belief. While it is simple; it is also difficult at the same time. That is, as Exclusivist teaching is reified and accepted more and more by an adherent, it becomes increasingly more difficult to "see." In many ways, a person who has been excluded can see it more readily.
I like Paul's use of Creation, as it calls into the mind's eye the recollection of many such acts of God. Do such words and thoughts inspire men today to recognize that there is a perspective of time and events that reaches beyond our human capabilities? And does that thought need to find a place in the heart where it can be re-authenticated again and again?
reido
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The Heresy of Inclusiveness
Reido,
It seems that one of the greatest heresies is inclusiveness. Paul was beaten for it.
My reading of Romans is of a treatise on inclusiveness. All are unworthy, anyway. Yet through Christ all are included. Except, of course, those who refuse inclusion. And who are they? They are the exclusive.
Since exclusion is so easy and natural to humankind, and because it brings about some of the most hideous crimes ever visited on human beings, it would seem obvious that we should avoid it. From gated communities to Nazi Eugenics, exclusiveness brings out fear, distrust and false pride.
bill