There's a phrase -- "in Christ" -- that just keeps tolling like a bell through all the Pauline letters. Those of us who've read Paul so often probably gloss over it, in fact, precisely because it's so prevalent. It's not that Christ was an instrument that God used to fix things up. Rather, for St Paul, Christ is himself our salvation. Christ is humanity made new, he is the place where human nature now resides, he is the new Adam who includes all human beings within himself, he is the oldest brother of many adopted siblings, all of whom now share in his status. Christ is God's child by nature, and we are God's children by the grace of adoption. We get to share by grace everything that belongs to Christ by nature. We are adopted, but God treats us with all the privileges of natural sons and daughters. We eat at the same table with Christ. We exercise the same freedoms that we see in Christ. We address God with the same words, "Abba, Father". We know God as Christ knows God -- from the inside.
The early Christian notion of "Theosis" or "deification" is just a convenient shorthand to describe all that.
This is why that phrase -- "in Christ" -- always jars me when I read it. It's the announcement of such good news.
The early Christian notion of "Theosis" or "deification" is just a convenient shorthand to describe all that.
This is why that phrase -- "in Christ" -- always jars me when I read it. It's the announcement of such good news.