Paid Subscribing Members | The End Time Chronicles | Dr. Stephen Phinney | Visit DR. JAMES FOWLER: Soul Rest (Part 5)The inner spiritual character that is ours by the presence of God in spirit-union is intended to be transformed into attitudes in the soul and behavioral expression in the body.
Dr. James Fowler is one of the leading authors on the believer’s union with Christ. He has written 20+ books on the topic. He is a theologian, Board Member of IOM America, and dear friend of Dr. Stephen Phinney. He is the founder of Christ in You Ministries. We hope you are blessed by his series, “Soul Rest.” SPIRITUAL CHARACTERWhen Christ comes to dwell in a Christian, He comes complete with the divine character of God, for His character cannot be detached from His Being. Paul describes the divine character as the "fruit of the Spirit" which is "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and godly control of the self" (Gal. 5:22,23). These are not merely external behavioral traits or psychological attitudes, but they are the divine character that we receive when the triune God indwells us in spirit-union.
For a Christian to complain that he/she lacks "patience" or "gentleness" or any other feature of divine character, and then to seek to develop such through educational instruction or psychological procedures, is to deny all that we have received in spirit-union.
The inner spiritual character that is ours by the presence of God in spirit-union is intended to be transformed into attitudes in the soul and behavioral expression in the body. Spiritual GiftsEven the charismata, the so-called "spiritual gifts," are all ours in spirit-union. These are but the grace-expressions or the Spirit-actions of the ministry of Christ. Christ enters into us in spirit-union with all the potentiality of His ministry within His Body, the Church. The spiritual gifts are not trophies of spirituality, nor are they power-toys with which Christians perform their "ministries." When the living Christ comes into each Christian, He comes complete with all of His abilities to minister and serve. "We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us" (Rom. 12:8), and "to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good" (I Cor. 12:7). In spirit-union Christ within us possesses and conveys all of His intended action and ministry through us. Complete in ChristIn spirit-union we are "complete in Christ" (Col. 2:10), lacking nothing spiritually. "All has become new" (II Cor. 5:17), and we have received everything God has to give. As one rather uneducated rural preacher expressed it, "You got all there is to get when you got Jesus. You ain't gonna get no more, 'cause there ain't no more to get." Paul advised the Corinthian Christians, "all things belong to you; whether things present or things to come, all things belong to you" (I Cor. 2:20,21). To the Ephesians, Paul exclaimed, "God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 1:3). Peter concurred, "God has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence" (II Peter 1:3). Jesus said, "I came that you might have life, and have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). In spirit-union with Christ we have "abundant life." "He is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we could ask or think, according to the power that works within us" (Eph. 3:20). Union-life is grace life. "God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed" (II Cor. 9:8). "My grace is sufficient for you" (II Cor. 12:9), God told Paul. In union with Christ we participate in the "supplied life," living and ministering by "the strength which God supplies" (I Peter 4:11). "Not that we are adequate in ourselves, to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy/sufficiency is from God" (II Cor. 3:5). Christ within is "the power of God" (I Cor. 1:24), and we are "strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man" (Eph. 3:16); "strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience" (Col. 1:11). "We have this treasure (Jesus Christ) in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves" (II Cor. 4:7). That is why Paul could say, "I can do all things through Him Who strengthens me" (Phil. 4:13). How good can it get? Can it get any better than that? Impossible!Yet, one young lady angrily lashed out, "It's too good to be true. I don't believe it." That is her right, but she has a very inadequate view of God and His grace in Jesus Christ. Others have responded, "It sounds too subjective, too mystical. Are you sure you aren't spiritualizing? Is this some form of triumphalism or perfectionism?" Some have responded, "I heard a preacher say that these were just 'positional truths' that were true from God's position or perspective, but they couldn't be considered 'actually true,' or they would lead to passivism." No, these are actual truths of our spirit-union with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, abundantly documented in the new covenant scriptures. They are the essence of what it means to be a Christian. Until we understand who we are in Christ (our spiritual identity) and all we have in Christ (our spiritual provision or supply), we will never begin to behave like who we have become in accord with all we've been given by God's grace. SOUL-RESTOur premise is, "spirit-union allows for soul-rest." What do we mean by "rest"? The English word "rest" has two primary meanings. The first definition is that of "remainder," referring to "the part that remains." The second primary definition signifies "cessation and freedom from performance or activity." It will be the latter of these two definitions that will be the emphasis of this study on "soul-rest," for we intend to explain that the Christian can "rest" from the performance of trying to please or appease God, and can experience the freedom of ceasing from all performance activity that might attempt to gain or enact what he already has in spirit-union with Jesus Christ. Spirit-union allows for soul-rest, and should lead to psychological function that derives from the sufficiency that the Christian has in spirit-union with Christ. Notice that the title indicates that spirit-union "allows for" (we could have said, "provides for") soul-rest. Spirit-union does not inevitably and immediately cause and produce soul-rest. Soul-rest is not an automatic outcome of spirit-union. Soul-rest is a progressive experience of allowing the Spirit of God who dwells within the Christian to function within that Christian's behavior. Simply stated, "soul-rest is ceasing from our performance of doing and striving to get what God has already given to us." The cessation of the performance activity of "works" does not imply that "soul-rest" is acquiescent inactivity or irresponsible passivity. Soul-rest is not inertia or indifference. The religious advocates of a Christian life of treadmill performance often caricature "rest" as the passivism of reclining in the La-Z-Boy of life, doing nothing, and having no concern for what goes on. This is a most unfair caricature, for those who experience soul-rest are those who are receptive to the grace-activity of God, allowing the living Lord Jesus Christ to be the "performer" of their Christian lives as He lives His life out through them. In the "rest" of the Christian life, everything is ek Christos, derived out of the dynamic of the life of the indwelling Jesus. Christianity is Christ in action.
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