The Christmas Epistles: A Most Human Understanding of Godliness

When God save the world? In response, it could be a valid argument for the Red Cross or the Resurrection. But what about the incarnation? More than any other event, it is the incarnation that puts the person of Christ and the front center, because its focus is not on what Christ has done, but who he is.
If the Incarnation has been neglected, perhaps because of the temptation to evaluate the events of Jesus humanity of his birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension as the construction of only one of the in some other release, in chronological order. This is natural to do so because of the time, the historic nature of the earthly life of Jesus. Unfortunately, the result of this approach is that it can relegate God's amazing assumption of our humanity to something as a means to an end at the end is the crescendo of Easter.
But because of the nature-always the eternal Son of God, these events also include a gospel trans-temporal component that gives each its own power-saving each event is contained within the other, because all are off the schedule and land picked up in him. In other words, while in the chronological time of the events of salvation historyrely each other in the economy of eternal events reveal to one another reality which is Christ.
The event of the birth of Christ, then, contains all the others. Delivered in the manger is the world's salvation. Cross, the Resurrection and Ascension are implicitly present in the child Jesus, to be unpacked in the next thirty years or more. Far from being secondary, the Incarnation is a very real sense of our time saving! At Christmas, we can thank the Lord with Simeon. "For my eyes have seen your salvation" (Luke 2:30) We do not say this only because we are looking back through the Cross to the nursery but also because from the beginning, even before fall of Adam, God was looking "forward" through the manger to the cross!
It is in the Pastoral Epistles Timothy-1 and 2, and Titus found the deeper idea that salvation comes in the person of Jesus Christ, and for this reason I call these letters pastoral epistles of Christmas. The author of the Pastorals (for our purposes, Paul) is willing to keep the person and work of Christ together to equip listeners to thrive in an economy similar to being and acting. To Paul in these letters, the word ostentatious "piety" (used only four times in the New Testament) is probably intended to mean the participation of believers in the humanity of God, humanity continues vicarious Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.A Herald

    Hark The Herald Angels Sing
    "Glory to the newborn King."
With the coming of the Savior, the world is never the same. Something absolutely cataclysmic occurred in his coming. In a resounding echo of the angels' choir, Paul chimes, twice saying it was "appointed a herald" of the Good News (1 Tim 2:7; .. 2 Tim 1:11). Paul is sure that the day of God's kingdom rose with the birth of the king. While it certainly does not ignore the death and resurrection of Christ, his accent in the Pastorals is constantly on the arrival of "God our Savior "the focus of the arrival or appearance of Christ, not his works:

    The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all. (Titus 2:11, NRSV)

    When the goodness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us. (Titus 3:04-5a)
In other words, with the arrival of the Savior, the world is saved. Incarnation means of atonement!

    Peace on earth and mercy mild,
    God and sinners reconciled!
The Savior
"God our Savior" is a description of the Old Testament in the New Testament appears only once outside the Pastorals, and we find here five times. In congruence with the rest of the New Testament, we can anticipate word "savior" in the Pastorals to be a designation for Jesus, and it is, "Grace and peace from God the Father and Jesus Christ our Savior" (Titus 1: 4, cf 3:6) .. However, it is noteworthy that the phrase "God our Savior" is not used to describe Jesus, but to refer to the deity in general or, specifically, to the Father himself. To find the beginning of the scarlet thread in the Pastorals we must look beyond the first sentence of 1 Timothy, "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope."
The fact that both Jesus and God are described as "Savior" is important for at least two reasons. First, only once in the Pastorals is directly exalted Jesus as God (Titus 2:13), Paul prefers to use the word "savior" interchangeably to mean the unity of being between God the Father and God the Son, without collapsing into the other two. Second, if it seems that Paul is more intended to describe the Father as Savior he is to exalt God the Son, it may be noted that the Father is just as passionate as son when it comes to seek and save the lost. It is clear that both are of one heart in the world to buy:

    [God] saved us and called us to a holy life is not because of what we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before time began, but it has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel. (2 Tim. 1:9-10)
The term "revealed by the appearance" is an important marker for us, because he insists that "Savior" is who is God "before the beginning of time" before Adam and Eve bite the forbidden fruit. Jesus Christ did not suddenly become a savior when he died for our sins, he was born, lived, died and rose for us because he is Lord! Far from doing those things that God loves us, the good news of Christmas is that Jesus came to save us, because God has always loved! "When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us ...».
The Incarnation reveals who God is and who he was all along. Paul does not want us to fall prey to the idea that Jesus save us from the wrath of a God who is fundamentally against us, or that his death was meant to appease discontent of God with us. This could signal a disastrous schism in the character of God, denying the unity of being and purpose of God the Father and God the Son and their mission to destroy sin, death and the devil.
Instead, Paul asks us to see all the works of God in the context of person. Because God is the Saviour, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (1 Tim. 1:15). All the works of God are compatible with, and in the context of his being-his character as a kind and loving God.

    Later in time, here come the offspring of the womb of the virgin
    Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; salute the divinity incarnate.
The King
Before Christ, as Paul acknowledges, humanity has not seen directly in the nature of God and we are left to be impressed by its transcendence:

    Now to the eternal King, immortal, invisible, only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. (1 Tim. 1:17)

    God, the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal power. Amen. (1 Tim. 6:15-16)
As nice as these are doxologies, it is important to note that they are not specifically Christian in themselves. Other religions and could not say the same kinds of things about their gods. The Pastoral remind us that the Incarnation makes Christianity unique claim. In Christ, the invisible becomes visible, and one that can not be seen appeared, the inaccessible is now at hand!
The King and Lord has powerfully demonstrated its intolerance of sin, but not in the way we would have predicted. The honor and glory and shame took on our vainglory itself to destroy the false claim on humanity. The Saint has embraced our worst. The immortal became mortal, to give us his immortality. Jesus took our sinful life to a close foul and gave us a new life begins with the eternal Father. We are risen with Christ heals and everything, and God is sharing his glorious life with us!
Earlier we quoted 2 Timothy 1:10, which says that Christ "hath abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." The phrase "In light a. .." reminds us that against all encroachments of the enemy, life was revealed and confirmed in his place and adequate prior. In Christ, the Sovereign shows the world that the the rule was light and dark except along.

    Hello heaven-born Prince of Peace! Hello the sun of righteousness!
    Light and life to all he brings, risen with healing in its wings.
Man
As mentioned above, the Pastorals are less concerned about the divinity of Christ as the humanity of God. In other words, Jesus is also fully man as he is fully God, and man side of things that Paul does not want to miss.
To appreciate the Christmas gift given to us in Jesus Christ we must give place full of his mediatorship. Jesus is the mediator, not as third, but in unity with both parties simultaneously. In this position, Jesus the mediator of a double movement of grace, a movement of God humanward and human movement toward God. In the person of the Mediator, Jesus Christ is God's revelation to humanity and humanity's response to God.
What good do it if God had given a gift and it remains to us to respond? Sinful man is utterly powerless to return the favor, so to Paul there is no such thing as a provision with no human Godward, without Jesus is not only the word of God to humanity, but the word of humanity receptive to God. For our good, it is important that the mediator Pastoral describe as "the man Jesus Christ":

    For there is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all. (1 Tim. 2:05-6a)
It is important that Jesus was a man, a fully human being, so that he can understand and share our problems. But we must also think of his humanity without emptying the contents of his divinity. This is his divinity that connects each of us in his humanity. If it was not the case, its mediatorship would be compromised; Jesus would "touch" a few of us on the outside, as a person in a crowd of
But the relationship of Jesus for us is not only external and historical, it is ontological and eternal. His humanity affects us all. We are all involved in the humanity of the Son of God, for every human being exists in the being of God. Jesus Christ is the only person that everyone is included. It is a substitute for each person and the representative of God. Man-God, in the representation of God to humanity and humanity to God, unites the two. This is our salvation.
But this salvation is not a force for static or deterministic depersonalize humanity. This is why Paul is so eager to articulate both the objective and subjective aspects of salvation in the Pastorals. Yes, "the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people" (Titus 2:11), but the Gospel must be believed for its benefits to be enjoyed! Thus, Paul says, "[Christ] is the 4:10).
Belief is critical, but even belief does not occur in a vacuum, it happens that the truth of Christ is still human-Godward movement as our mediator. This does not preclude the belief of being a free, subjective act. On the contrary, the truth makes us free and we are never freer than when we participate in the true humanity of our brother, flesh, our mediator, Jesus Christ.

    Blessed is the man to dwell among us,
    Jesus, our Emmanuel.
God with us again: the spirit of grace and piety
Fortunately, Emmanuel was not only a reality 33 years! Christ "with-ness", the incarnation of his union with us is essential if we want to do something in his name. Paul ends many of his letters, including the Pastorals, with phrases like "Grace be with you" (1 Tim 6:21; .. 2 Tim 4:22, Titus 3:15). "The Lord be with your spirit" and this is shorthand for "May you know and live in solidarity with Jesus Christ, grace and transformation by man Godward wind of the Spirit is blowing in the sails!"
To truly live in grace is to share the Trinitarian life skills to live in Christ by the Spirit to the Father. Armed with the knowledge of our union with Christ and his vicarious humanity continues in our name, and filled with the Holy Spirit moving in and through us, we are compelled by love, driven to the action, and strengthened for endurance. The Pastoral is no shortage of words to describe our vigorous participation in Christ. Paul charges Timothy to "be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 2:1). It encourages him to fight, work, strive, persevere, be diligent, flee, continue, enter, endure, reprimand, warning.
The word "piety" is a biblical term rarely used outside of the Pastorals. I believe that "piety" and "impiety" are a special way of Paul to describe our movement with or against human movement Godward of Christ. For Paul, piety is not a surprise but a high idea of ​​land It is rooted in the real humanity of Jesus Christ and his filial obedience to the Father, stimulated by the Father's love.
Surprisingly, Jesus shared in our flesh and allowed us to share the joy of his filial obedience. Piety, then, is not an attempt to imitate or reflect the glory of God "out there", outside us, but stay out of our land in the humanity of God, it is a continued participation in the vicarious humanity of our Lord. One could say that God is to live, not just to God. We can live a "godly life in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 3:12), literally! Savior of all people, especially those who believe "(1 Tim."The mystery from which springs the true piety is great" (1. Tim 3:16), Paul said:

    It appeared in the flesh
    was justified in the Spirit,
    was seen by angels,
    was preached among the nations,
    was believed on in the world,
    was taken up in glory.
We can not measure the unfathomable love of God that motivated to come to us. We can know that Jesus met us at our lowest point to bring you against all odds in the life of God. Our devotion is from the incarnate Son of God and his faithfulness to the Father, even death to resurrection and ascension. Of course, the Holy Spirit plays a vital role in this drama because it is the Spirit that Christ is justified. Just as Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the movement of God humanward of grace Jesus established the human journey toward God to humanity through the Holy Spirit.
Similarly, the Holy Spirit wants to wake up and align ourselves with the reality of what Christ has done for us. It opens up, customizing and specifying the truth for us. Yet God, in all its force, refuses to be a puppeteer, it allows those he has redeemed to resist the Spirit, even if to do so is to go against the way things are. Going against the man to God "grain" of reality and to reinstate in the creation and redemption of humanity can only bring in destructive outbursts (like rubbing a piece of wood fresh cut in the wrong direction).
This impiety is warned against the Pastorals. Paul does not hesitate to call those who went the wrong way, against the reality of Christ, they have "wrecked" (1 Tim 1:19). Or "erred from the faith and pierced themselves in many torments "(1 Tim. 6:10). Ultimately, they are "self-condemned" (Titus 3:11).
The mystery of iniquity, then, seems to be almost as big! Why someone who has been raised with Christ prefer to languish in the tomb of denial? Why would we deny the truth of Christ, and therefore the truth of being his own, all the way to hell? God saved us, and our Saviour "desires all people tobesaved and come to a knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:4, emphasis added). Truth is not relative, and those trying to create their own version need to know they can not destroy in the process. With sincere compassion we can proclaim the Good News and hope for the best for all "that God may grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth" (2 Tim. 2:25), a "knowledge of the truth" Paul said, "that leads to godliness" (Titus 1:1).
The Pastoral use the word "grace" twelve times and the word "truth" thirteen times in their thirteen chapters. The importance of these words at Christmas makes sense, as we celebrate our Savior who came to "full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). It is a poignant feature of pastoral grace and truth are so inextricably woven together to exalt the person of Jesus Christ, who is our Savior, King, and the mediator "has saved us and called us to a life holy "(2 Tim. 1:9).

    [God] saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior. (Titus 3:5-6)
In the person of Christ, his birth no less than in his life, death, resurrection, ascension, and the blessing of Pentecost, humanity was washed, re-created, born again. Weare and because we in the church must train each other to be:
    For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. (1 Tim. 4:8)

    Soft, he established his fame by, born that we can not die
    Born to raise us from the earth, born to give us second birth.
God we mean to God. Merry Christmas!
Copyright © 2011 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.
Related Elsewhere:
Previous Christianity Today articles about the Incarnation include:

    Why we need Jesus | Reason and morality can not show us a kind and compassionate God. For this, we need the Incarnation. (Global Project Gospel, December 2, 2011)

    Holy Incarnation! | It may be impossible not to "demean God" since he has confused with sinners. (September 30, 2010)

    Incarnation courses | Is Christmas came, even if we had not sinned? (January 10, 2008)

    What is this word? | The incomprehensible, intimate story of Christmas. (December 21, 2006)