Paradoxical Walk

JESUS — How Man Functions “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thes 5:23). This is no mere sign-off from Paul. It is inspired Scripture. Our spirit has a spiritual function, our soul a psychological function, and our body a physical function. These are to be set apart completely in the behavior of every Christ-one… until Jesus comes. And “He will bring it to pass” (1 Thess 5:24) by His grace… not our religious effort. Paul is not saying our humanity is split into three separate parts, as the terms “trichotomous” or “tripartite” wrongly suggest. We don’t have three compartments. We do have three distinct levels of function: spiritual, psychological, and physical. Behavior is energized in our spirit, mobilized in our soul, and expressed through our body. This is true whether the energizing spirit is “the spirit that works in the sons of disobedience” (Eph 2:2) … or the Spirit of Christ (Rom 8:9). Satan or God in Christ. We function from the inside out… spirit to soul to body. The Spirit of Christ in our human spirit is like an artesian well, supplying endless springs of living water. Through this, the character and life of Jesus can be manifested in our behavior… to the glory of God (cf. 2 Cor 4:10,11). We don’t live by humanistic behavior modification… where outside pressures try to fix inside reactions. Christ-ones are meant to listen to the divine Spirit within (obedience… hupakouo) and let God’s grace in our spirit energize the character of Christ in everything we do. In sum: Paul’s prayer for complete sanctification of spirit, soul, and body isn’t a throwaway line. It points to our tri-functional humanity… energized from within by either Satan or Christ. Jesus is the issue here… His indwelling life alone produces true godly behavior by grace, not self-effort.

THE FULLNESS IN THE GODMAN One God… Father, Son, and Spirit. Three Persons. One being. Yet in Jesus the whole fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily (Col 2:‌9). He is not a partial presence. He is the fullness of God among us. The Absolute Paradox remains. The infinite God is fully present in this finite man. The Creator enters the creature without ceasing to be Creator. Logic cannot hold that. Faith receives it. Only this Godman can mediate. Only He is fully God and fully man. We say yes to Him as He is… the presence of the fullness. In sum: The Trinity is true. The paradox is that its fullness dwells in the Godman. We receive Him and live from that life.

The gospel rests on the Godman… two natures that logic says cannot meet, yet do in Jesus. God supplies what only He can. We respond by receiving Him as He is and walking from that life.