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NASB | Ephesians 3:6 to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ephesians 3:6 [it is this:] that the Gentiles are now joint heirs [with the Jews] and members of the same body, and joint partakers [sharing] in the [same divine] promise in Christ Jesus through [their faith in] the good news [of salvation]. |
Subject: Lionstrong, this is not universalism. |
Bible Note: Bill: Again, I agree completely that we can do nothing that is pleasing to God apart from the empowerment by His Spirit. I have never suggested that we can, because to do so would violate the entire message of the New Testament. However, the very verses you cite, and the example of Christ, show that while Christ acted on the initiative of the Father, and by the power of the Spirit, it was CHRIST doing these things, not the Father through him. The problem I have with the notion of "Christ living His life through me" is that it is completely foreign to the idea that by God's empowerment, I am the one living the life. I can take no credit for the sanctification in me, just as Paul considers all of his "upward mobility" to be rubbish in light of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus as Lord. However, it is also true that the Holy Spirit is not merely using me as a conduit, but rather is changing ME and making ME more like the Son in righteous living. One other thing: Paul wasn't pleasing God through the Law before. That was his whole point. --Joe! |