To Think God as Love

τῷ ἠγαπημένῳ the one [God] loves Jesus is the object of God’s love. And precisely as the object of the Father’s love through the Spirit, Jesus is the subject of our salvation, the one who saves us, by the Spirit, on the Father’s behalf. Jesus gives as he receives, and because his gift is exactly [...]

ἐξελέξατο ἡμᾶς ἐν αὐτῷ Elected are we in him…  Predestination… Election…  Tragically, many of us find these words troubling, repulsive, terrifying. In point of fact, however, these words name the most beautiful, most delectable truth – the truth of love as finally, gloriously triumphant over all that is against God’s will for us. We simply [...]

ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοιςἐν Χριστῷ in the heavenlies in Christ As even a careless reader would notice, references to “the heavenlies” appear throughout this letter (1:3, 10, 20; 2:6; 3:10,15; 4:6, 8, 10; 6:9, 12). But what is the reality Paul is naming with this phrase (which by the way is peculiar to Ephesians)? According to [...]

πιστοῖς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ the faithful in Christ Jesus… For Paul, the imperatives of the Christian life emerge from and depend upon the indicatives; the Should always already springs from the Is. This generative Is is no other than the person Jesus Christ: what is true of him is true also of those who are “in him.”  Only because he is faithful [...]

Παῦλος ἀπόστολος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ διὰ θελήματος θεοῦ Paul, Christ Jesus’ apostle by God’ will… This letter, like all Paul’s extant letters, opens with this identification. Apparently, it reflects Paul’s self-understanding, his knowledge of himself as one whose life was Christ-consumed. He was – at least he found himself to be - Christ’s Paul. “Paul… of Jesus Christ.” [...]