[T]he Christian is not left to struggle alone. When Paul speaks of “the renewal of the mind,” he is alluding to the work of God’s own self in the person of the Spirit. The Spirit is even now at work to make the new age a reality; and the space-time location where this must happen, as in chapter 8, is none other than the actual bodies of Christians. Inaugurated eschatology begins at home.…Even the self-discovery, however, is the discovery of the new self that one is called to become in Christ and by the Spirit, not the uncovering of a hidden truth or inclination that had been present all along. Grace fulfills nature, but only by putting it to death (the living sacrifice) and bringing it to life again (the renewing of the mind). Exactly as in the bracing commands of Jesus himself, the path of self-sacrifice is the path of self-fulfillment, as through true, whole-person worship people discover to their surprise that being truly human is not what the present age supposes. Taking up the cross is the way to life, even though believing this is never easy, whether one has been following Jesus for a single day or a lifetime. --N. T. WRIGHT, THE NEW INTERPRETER’S BIBLE VOLUME X
Posted on: Mon, 22 Jul 2013 05:04:53 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015