Christ Over All

Some days, being annihilated in the end appeals much more to my flesh than denying myself daily and picking up my cross (Luke 9:23).

The “ethnicity” produced by Christianity is not a matter of shared genetics, geography, or cultural heritage in the worldly sense. Instead, it is a new spiritual reality based on a shared spiritual birth and a common Lord. The New Testament consistently portrays the Church as a new humanity, a new people, a new family forged by the Holy Spirit.

The act of forgiveness is 5-fold, and consists of confession, repentance, forgiveness, reconciliation, and restoration. These are distinct but interconnected steps in a spiritual process of mending broken relationships with God and with other people.

But amidst all of its depth, one major theme carries the entire letter and is vital for the health of the church and the enlivening of the soul: Christ is making "one new man" (Eph. 2:15).