I’m humbled by the response to my post on theosis. The comments have been incredible - bringing in incredibly researched and well developed perspectives on Ancient Near East context, Hebrew grammar, early church debates, and centuries of theological wrestling. The engagement and replies were astounding, far more than I could ever respond to individually (apologies if I can’t/didn't reply to your comment!).
Some of the replies and conversations really got caught up in the weeds of litigating these highly technical deliberations. Which actually speaks to the point of why I made the post in the first place, but maybe did not articulate clearly.
What I want to emphasize is this: my original point was not to claim theosis is right or wrong. It was to highlight that Christians have always wrestled with complex questions - Trinitarian relations, essence vs. ontology, theosis vs. rejection of it, etc. These are rich discussions, but they are not the foundation of the gospel.
Scripture is clear on the essentials: - “By this gospel you are saved… that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day” (1 Cor. 15:2-4). “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith” (Eph. 2:8). And the evidence of that faith? A transformed life marked by love for God and neighbor (Matt. 22:37-40; John 13:34-35).
The rest, while worth studying and sharpening each other on, should never be weaponized to condemn. I do not believe Christ will say at judgment, “You trusted in My sacrifice, you loved God and neighbor… but you never mastered essence vs. ontology, so you’re out.”
Some also asked about my phrase “Christ not creeds.” Let me clarify: I am not anti-creed as a tool of faith. Creeds can be a beautiful way to summarize belief, give language to complex truths, and unite believers in a shared confession. They serve an important role in defining the boundaries of a faith community.
But where I push back is when creeds move from being a guide to being a gate. Jesus gave us the gospel, not a creed, as the measure of salvation. Faith traditions (Baptist, Methodist, Orthodox, Catholic, LDS, Episcopal, etc.) all have doctrines that shape their identity. That’s healthy and necessary for membership in a sect. But those doctrinal boundaries for sectrarian membership should never be confused with the boundaries of the Kingdom. Only Christ holds that authority.
So when I say “Christ not creeds,” I mean this: let’s keep the essentials essential. Creeds can guide us, traditions can help us, but only Christ can save us. As Paul reminds us in Romans 14, believers may differ on secondary matters of conscience, but we are called to welcome one another and not pass judgment (Rom. 14:1-4). The kingdom of God is “not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17).
The adversary thrives when Christians divide over the wrong things. Let’s not give him the satisfaction.
In this spirit, I don’t plan to keep engaging in endless secondary debates (a failure of my own nature when I’ve been drawn in), but instead I want to use this space to point back to the heart of the gospel and encourage brothers and sisters in Christ to study the teachings of Christ, and to take up their cross daily and follow him.
Raised Southern Baptist. Left for a while over some “sectarian sentiments”. Presently still attend SBC, but not a member as I don’t adopt the entire Baptist Faith and Message.
I fear that “On that day many will say to Him, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not beat down the Mormons on twitter in your name’ “( See Matthew 7 or 25 to see the response from Christ.)
I am praying for you. You spend so much energy gatekeeping Christianity over secondary theological differences - religious differences, not gospel differences - that one day I fear you will stand before Christ with head-knowledge of Him but never truly have had him in your heart. A significant part of Jesus’ ministry was directed against religious leaders who replaced the love of God (heart-knowledge) with love for theology (head-knowledge). The problem was not their devotion to doctrine, but that their devotion to doctrine superseded their devotion to God.
Scripture never commands us to agree on every nuance of the Father, Son, and Spirit; it commands us to love the Father, follow the Son, and walk in the Spirit (Matt. 22:37-39; John 13:34; Gal. 5:25).
So please, be a peacemaker, take this energy, and put it toward something positive for the Kingdom. The accuser desires for us to quarrel amongst ourselves rather than show Christ to the world.
With love in Christ.
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