About the Son of God
Member
One post couldn't possibly sum it all up.
Sacrifice is the foundation of communication, Chopper.
In order to listen to a friend, someone must sacrifice the use of their ear for a time, and a portion of their brain and memory which could all be doing other tasks like listening to music with headphones on... it's perhaps a small sacrifice, but there is a sacrifice of my body going on at this very moment in order to even read this thread and reply to it.
Or think again, A mother sacrifices the use of her body for a time, in order that a child may come into the world; In this way, so did Mary communicate her love of her Lord to him. Her's is an example of a living sacrifice, of that very acceptance of gift and a return of thank you that scripture calls perfect Grace in the original Greek: Luke 1:28
And then there's a very deep mystery, touched on by Jethro, and even EzRider, on the communal nature of our salvation and the sacrifice on the Cross. Indeed, in places scripture and Theology of the "once for all" sacrifice can seem to conflict; for we are priests, and priests must offer sacrifice:
1Peter 2:4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
1Peter 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house [church], an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
But, it is the spirit which gives life -- therefore -- the spirit as well as the body are always included in anything called a "living" sacrifice. ( John 6:63 ) For the body alone is of no value, that would be a corpse -- and a form of cannibalism -- but the body enlivened by spirit is of great value. ( John 6:51 ) And as an example, think how a mother donates the milk from her living body in a small way reflecting the idea of what Jesus does with his own blood -- to grant life for a child; but not to her own loss, for it is a living sacrifice of her bodily fluid; not a dead one. She donates not that which is to cause her own death -- although if she suffers because of malnutrition, many a mother would still nurse their child; but normally such a sacrifice doesn't require the life of the mother to be diminished in any substantial way.
So, you ask -- what does that verse mean to me? It is a mystery that I probe ever more deeply.
But when EzRider raises the question about whether or not we participate in the sanctification of the Cross for another person? I have to answer: YES!
1Corinthians 7:14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.
Think back to Genesis, Adam was sanctifying Eve. Even when she ate from the fruit, but her eyes were not opened at first; (Genesis 3:6) Rather, the Greek makes it clear she ate first, and THEN when she gave the fruit to Adam and he ate, both their eyes were opened together (not sequentially). It was not until both spouses had sinned that the children became unclean, and all sinned in Adam. If things had happened in reverse, the same sanctification would be true according to 1Corinthians 7:14 eg: if Adam had sinned and Eve hadn't. She would have sanctified him until the moment she too died in the spirit.
This sanctification is deeply connected to the fact that they shared the same FLESH and bone; and this joining of flesh would be the life giving means of their (and our salvation) eg: For this reason a man leaves his mother and Father, and cleaves to his wife and the two become one flesh. ( They are united in one body. )
Now compare what I am saying with: Ephesians 5:23, Ephesians 5:30-32, and perhaps it will start to make sense to you; for Paul tells us explicitly that Jesus left mother and father to Join with us (his body/church) in what I surmise must be a non-sexual one flesh union to fulfill the requirements of scripture. Eg: In order that we become flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bone -- and that, I submit, is the very deep mystery of the way in which we are enlivened and saved beyond the mere forgiveness of our sins accomplished on the cross.
Just so, Paul has just told us that our salvation is on account of exactly the same donation of body found in marriage, that Christ gives to us as the "bread" of life -- not through sexual union -- but through being united into one body as bread; eg: as Jethro so kindly pointed out. This same issue is touched on in 1Corinthians 6:15-20. And it is there, Chopper, that I think your differences with EzRider are probably best brought into sharp focus and clarified.
I agree with EzRider: There is a place for mercy and forgiveness, but then there is also a place for severing relationships with harlots for they have no place in the body of Christ. For every thing there is a season.
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