· Our access to God (Eph. 2:18)

· The source of God’s affection and compassion toward us (Phil. 21:1)

· Our claim to blamelessness and holiness (Eph. 1:4; Col. 1:22; 1 Thess. 3:13)

· The source of every spiritual blessing (Eph. 1:3)

· The source of the character of God in us (Gal. 5:22 -23)

· Our comfort (2 Cor. 1:3-5)

· God’s communication through us to the world (2 Cor. 3:3)

· Our completeness ( Col 1:28 , 2:10)

· Our death to the old self (Gal. 5:24)

· Our deliverer from the curse of the Law (Gal. 3:13)

· Our encouragement (Phil. 2:1)

· Our fellowship with God (Phil. 2:1)

· Our source of forgiveness (Rom. 8:1)

· Our freedom (Rom. 8:2; Gal. 5:1)

· The source of fruitfulness, success, and accomplishment in our life (Rom. 7:4; 15:18)

· The fullness of God in us (Eph. 3:19)

· Our experience of God’s glory (Rom. 8:30 ; 2 Thess. 1:12)

· Our hope (Eph. 1:18 ; 1 Tim. 1:1)

· Our justification before God (Gal. 2:16 -17)

· The source of God’s kindness toward us (Eph. 2:7)

· Our liberty (2 Cor. 3:17 ; Gal. 2:4)

· Our life (Acts 17:28 ; Rom. 6:8; Gal. 2:20 ; Col. 2:13, 3:3)

· Our experience of the love of God (Rom. 8:39 ; Eph. 3:17 -18)

· The one who manifests the power of God in us (Eph. 1:19)

· Our motivation and our ability (Phil. 2:13)

· Our peace with God, and our peace in every situation (1 Cor. 1:3; 2 Thess. 3:16)

· The perfecter of God’s work and purpose in us (Phil. 1:6)

· Our connection to the power of God (1 Cor. 1:24 ; Phil. 3:10)

· Our power to walk by the Spirit (Gal. 5:25)

· The source of effective prayer (Rom. 8:26 , 34)

· The one who brings the presence of God into our experience (2 Cor. 2:14 ; Eph. 2:6)

· The one who makes us partakers of the promises of God (Gal. 3:29 -4:7; Eph. 3:6)

· Our protection from the evil one (2 Thess. 3:3)

· Our protector in heart and mind (Phil. 4:7)

· Our redemption (Rom. 3:24 , 5:8; 1 Cor. 1:30 ; Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14)

· Our rescuer from the darkness (Col. 1:13)

· Our rescuer from judgment (1 Thess. 1:10)

· The resident of our hearts (Eph. 3:17)

· Our resurrection (Eph. 2:4-5; Col. 2:12)

· Our righteousness (Rom. 5:17 , 10:4; 1 Cor. 1:30 ; 2 Cor. 5:21 ; Phil. 3:9)

· Our sanctification, or holiness (1 Cor. 1:2, 30; 2 Thess. 2:13 )

· Our security (Eph. 1:13)

· Our strength (even when we are weak) (2 Cor. 12:9; Ehp. 3:16 , 6:10 ; Phil. 4:13)

· Our supply for every need (Phil. 4:19)

· Our union with the Spirit of God (Rom. 8:9)

· Our source of unity (Rom. 15:5)

· Our victory (Rom. 7:24 -25; 1 Cor. 15:57 ; 2 Cor. 2:14)

· Our knowledge of the will of God (1 Cor. 1:24 , 30; Col. 2:3)

· Our source of wisdom and knowledge (1 Cor. 1:24 , 30; Col. 2:3)

· The first and the last – namely, our everything (Rev. 1:8)

…and this is for starters.

When I read Paul talking about “knowing Christ,” I realize that he’s talking about knowing Christ in experience…not know ABOUT Christ from a book, or from attending a seminar, or from a systematic theology. To me, “living the Christian life” means experiencing Jesus as my comfort, as God’s love, as the source of every spiritual blessing, as the character of God in me, as my access to the Father, as my liberty (from bondage), as my motivation, as my empowerment, as my security (a petal of the TULIP), as an expression of God’s love for others through me, as the life in the branch that produces the fruit on the vine, as my first and last….not in abstract terms, but in first-hand experience in the nitty-gritty of my life.

And the odd thing about this is that had it not been for Acts and the epistles, I wouldn’t know that Christ is all these things to me, and that these attributes of Christ are available to me by virtue of my spiritual union with him.

(And, btw, I often wonder how the apostles could have gotten their doctrine straight without the benefit of 2000 years of systematic theologies.

The faith of the woman healed of 12 years of bleeding was probably utterly devoid of the results of 2,000 years of Christian theological speculation, yet her faith is commended.

The Conversation that results FROM Jesus is not the same as FAITH IN JESUS.

Yeah…that’s what I said

The idea that Jesus is the central focus of all scripture, and should be the central focus of all theologies, is sadly lost on a lot of Christians. I’m sure you and I know people who would go to their deaths (figuratively, perhaps) defending “limited atonement,” but when you ask them, “What difference does it make to you in your daily experience that you have the resurrection life of Jesus living in you?” they don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.

You mentioned that scripture is the recipe to the cake, and the cake is Jesus. I would add, and I think you’d agree, that we were created to partake of and enjoy the cake.

I absolutely agree with this! And this is one of the wonderful things about the grace and calling of God: our salvation is not dependent on perfectly understanding all the nuances and subtleties of salvation and how it was accomplished and applied. So, someone can be wrong on some arcane point of theology, and still be saved. And, when you think about it, which one of us has a perfect understanding of God’s plan of salvation, and how he worked, and is working, it out? I’m not saying that “grace” allows us to be intellectually sloppy, or egregiously wrong on vital points, but much of the straining at gnats that goes on in some theological debates is useless, IMHO.

One question for now—what do you mean in the comment by
“The Conversation that results FROM Jesus is not the same as FAITH IN JESUS.”?

I don’t understand this statement.

Brian C.

Two thousand years of Christian theology are the conversation that followed Jesus. But what is going on in the experience of so many who came to faith in Jesus in the New Testament wasn’t two thousand years of theological discussion. It was sola fide. Simple faith.

A primary heresy of many of us with theological bents is to make our theology equal to faith. Much of our theology is utterly incomprehensible to most people, and maybe even to us, if we’d be honest.

Faith is simple trust in all God is for us in Jesus. Theology is the conversation that follows. Interesting. Important. Connected. And not the same.