Sijo Chemmannur
Member
"And if Christ be in you, the Spirit is life because of righteousness" Romans 8:10
'The righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe' (Romans 8:10). This was a statement from bible which amassed loud philosophical debate among the intellectuals that how a sinful man can be made righteous through his faith in Jesus Christ alone. First philosophical argument was the segregation/consideration of all humans as sinners, which undermine the inherent moral instincts of attained human behavior, necessary for a structured social order of the society. Are all other religions immoral if the faith in Jesus Christ is the only source of righteousness? Definitely this concept doesn’t fit in a social perspective of a pluralistic society. Then what it implies when Paul write, filled with Holy spirit that when Christ be in you, the spirit is life because if righteousness.
First, we should understand the dichotomy of human nature and Christ/divine nature to imbibe the idea of ‘Christ in us’. These are mutually exclusive in many aspects. Bible teaches us a progressive revelation of God to human. When God created the first man- Adam, his heart and soul was similar to God himself. But, he and his descendants failed to uphold the character of God or that of love through the self invention of a heart, which is away from that of God. An adobe of selfishness and greed. When Cain made the first murder of his brother Abel, what he did was to make a city where he can hide amongst people. We develop a heart of layers where we nurtured our animal instincts and sins. God always searched people in whom He can trigger the human instincts of Love, to call them out from the mass and selectively teach them to the ways we suppose to live. Through Noah and through Abraham, the urge and zeal of God is evident to recreate the relationship between the mortal and the immortal. Through generations, God revealed book of laws to us with an intension to be closer to God and not to go astray again from the heart of God.
St. Paul, inspired by holy spirit exhorts boldly that ‘the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster’ (Galatians 3:24,25). This clearly states that through Jesus Christ we can attain the fullness of God (1 Colossians 1:19) and we are no longer under the law, but justified through faith (Galatians 3:11). We are justified through our faith in Jesus Christ (Galatians 2:16). But, how we know that we believe in Jesus Christ? How we can test that? To have faith in Jesus Christ is to trust in Him and obey His commandments. And if we obey His commandments, we will live in Him and Love Him (John 15:10). His commandment is to Love one another (John 15:12). Thus, following and believing in Jesus Christ cannot be done by human instincts of hatred, selfishness and greed, but by an effort of loving others as ourselves. A denial of self and its ambitions is the first step of the discipleship of Jesus Christ and Christianity. This is the character God wants us to have. A character of sacrifice and selflessness. A character of service and Love. A character of Jesus Christ. God calls us back to the divine nature of Himself through portraying the character of Jesus Christ. When we attain that character of Christ is in us, the spirit if life because of righteousness.
'The righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe' (Romans 8:10). This was a statement from bible which amassed loud philosophical debate among the intellectuals that how a sinful man can be made righteous through his faith in Jesus Christ alone. First philosophical argument was the segregation/consideration of all humans as sinners, which undermine the inherent moral instincts of attained human behavior, necessary for a structured social order of the society. Are all other religions immoral if the faith in Jesus Christ is the only source of righteousness? Definitely this concept doesn’t fit in a social perspective of a pluralistic society. Then what it implies when Paul write, filled with Holy spirit that when Christ be in you, the spirit is life because if righteousness.
First, we should understand the dichotomy of human nature and Christ/divine nature to imbibe the idea of ‘Christ in us’. These are mutually exclusive in many aspects. Bible teaches us a progressive revelation of God to human. When God created the first man- Adam, his heart and soul was similar to God himself. But, he and his descendants failed to uphold the character of God or that of love through the self invention of a heart, which is away from that of God. An adobe of selfishness and greed. When Cain made the first murder of his brother Abel, what he did was to make a city where he can hide amongst people. We develop a heart of layers where we nurtured our animal instincts and sins. God always searched people in whom He can trigger the human instincts of Love, to call them out from the mass and selectively teach them to the ways we suppose to live. Through Noah and through Abraham, the urge and zeal of God is evident to recreate the relationship between the mortal and the immortal. Through generations, God revealed book of laws to us with an intension to be closer to God and not to go astray again from the heart of God.
St. Paul, inspired by holy spirit exhorts boldly that ‘the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster’ (Galatians 3:24,25). This clearly states that through Jesus Christ we can attain the fullness of God (1 Colossians 1:19) and we are no longer under the law, but justified through faith (Galatians 3:11). We are justified through our faith in Jesus Christ (Galatians 2:16). But, how we know that we believe in Jesus Christ? How we can test that? To have faith in Jesus Christ is to trust in Him and obey His commandments. And if we obey His commandments, we will live in Him and Love Him (John 15:10). His commandment is to Love one another (John 15:12). Thus, following and believing in Jesus Christ cannot be done by human instincts of hatred, selfishness and greed, but by an effort of loving others as ourselves. A denial of self and its ambitions is the first step of the discipleship of Jesus Christ and Christianity. This is the character God wants us to have. A character of sacrifice and selflessness. A character of service and Love. A character of Jesus Christ. God calls us back to the divine nature of Himself through portraying the character of Jesus Christ. When we attain that character of Christ is in us, the spirit if life because of righteousness.
