One with Christ Quotes

“The crucial distinction can be discerned by differentiating between deification, an ontological sharing in the Godhead in which the human literally becomes divine, and theosis, a participation in the life of God the Father through union with Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit which the human becomes truly human.”
― Marcus Peter Johnson, One with Christ: An Evangelical Theology of Salvation

“We read of feeding on flesh and drinking blood; of body parts and flesh-unions; of vines, branches, and living water; of dying in another’s death and living in another’s life; and of the indwelling Spirit and God becoming flesh. Perhaps it is because this language and these images mystify and puzzle us that we fail to reckon properly with them. We feel a bit like many of Jesus’s contemporaries, confused and even troubled by what he says. But we must reckon with these words, because embedded in them are the most astounding of promises—eternal life, the hope of glory, forgiveness, holiness, redemption, resurrection, bodily transformation, and, most astonishing of all, the Son of God dwelling in us. This is the language of salvation and the logic of the gospel,”
― Marcus Peter Johnson, One with Christ: An Evangelical Theology of Salvation

“To be sanctified, in other words, means that we are both already (definitively) sanctified in Christ and continually being (progressively) sanctified in Christ. Third, it will demonstrate that sanctification consists in our conformity to and transformation into the image of Jesus Christ. This means that sanctification can never be confused with moralism, and neither can it be reduced to a life of gratitude or imitation. It is, rather, God forging us into the likeness of Christ through our participation in his death and resurrection.”
― Marcus Peter Johnson, One with Christ: An Evangelical Theology of Salvation

“From the biblical teaching on adoption, we learn that we are restored to a familial intimacy with God the Father, through which we are assured of his eternal fatherly care and provision, a love and indulgence that exceeds our imaginations. We learn that our relationship to God is so radically changed that we go from being “children of wrath” (Eph. 2:3) to his beloved sons and daughters, a relationship in which the Father vouchsafes to care for our every need. Perhaps even more amazing, we learn that by sharing in the Son we share in his rights as the Firstborn and only begotten Son of God—we are “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8:17). Our minds and hearts should surely stagger under the weight of this reality. It simply exceeds our comprehension.”
― Marcus Peter Johnson, One with Christ: An Evangelical Theology of Salvation