5b. Principles (Detailed)

Below are my detailed assertions, building upon the axioms section of this work. The first 9 points are complex in nature but necessary to set the framework for the remaining points which are simpler to understand. This section may be too dense for many and can be skipped over if you find it too complex. Please proceed to the next chapter going through interpretations of common scriptures used to justify perpetual sin in the navigation bar above.

Foundational Concepts of Reality:

Principle 1
The incarnation of Jesus Christ reveals the fundamental metaphysical nature of reality. All things are a particular instantiation (the "who" or "that") of a broader shared essence/nature (the "what"). This is proved by Jesus being one "who" in two "whats".

Principle 2
Personhood, not abstraction, is base reality. This is founded on the very personhood of each member of the Triune God, specifically revealed in the incarnation of Jesus Christ - as only the person of the Son became incarnate and took on flesh. This signifies the primacy of personhood not one's nature in everything.

Principle 3
Personhood transcends one's nature. We are more than the sum of our parts. This is demonstrated by Christ having two natures yet being one person. Along side His eternal divine nature Jesus permanently took to Himself a full created human nature - both physical (e.g. a human physical body) and immaterial (eg. Human Mind, human will, human soul etc) yet was not 2 persons but 1.

Principle 4
Our personhood does not reside in our soul, nor in our body, nor our mind- it transcends all our human components. This is how the person of the Son, Jesus Christ was both infinite God and also finite man, unlimited but limited, invincible but also able to die, beyond temptation yet also being able to be tempted, everywhere yet localized, all knowing yet grew in wisdom. The person of the Son shows us that personhood transcends nature/essence ie "who we are" is distinct from "what we are" even though personhood is inseparable from the "what" (there are no persons without a nature, though there are natures without persons eg trees). For a person to exist it must be a thing - the Father is what He is - eternal and self existent God, Gabriel must "be" an angel to exist, you and I must "be" a human to exist.

Principle 5
A denial of the above principle that ones person transcends ones nature necessarily results in the Christological heresies of either Apollinarianism (Jesus wasn't fully human not having a human soul or human mind. He was only a divine mind which was his soul, encased in human flesh - denying Christ a genuine human mind or human soul) or the opposite error of Nestorianism (Jesus was 2 persons as he was fully human and fully God. but the soul of a man (a component of human nature) is a humans "person" so Jesus must be 2 persons). Both errors occur because they assumed person resides in ones soul, ie the "who" IS the "what". A contemporary example of this error is CS Lewis who once said "we don't have a soul, we are a soul " - but this is a direct denial of the transcendence of personhood beyond ones nature, (the "who" is something beyond and distinct from "what" we are). His statement is a common but false misconception. If his quote were true it would necessitate a denial of Jesus being fully God and fully human in one person (orthodox chalcedonian christology) and results in a person holding to either an Apollinarian or Nestorian view of Jesus. Apolinarian christologies are extremely common because many view Jesus simply as God wrapped in a human body only - denying him the true immaterial human essential properties that make up a human. They conflate the "person" of the son with the human soul which is exactly what Apollinarius did. Again, confusing personhood with nature. Its like confusing colours and number's, they are 2 distinct things. "Who" is distinct from the "what". Our soul is to the spiritual realm what our body is to the physical realm. Who we are is more than our soul. Our soul is merely a component of what makes up a human. This is proven by Christs incarnation. More on apolinarianism below in principle 14.

Principle 6
The nature/essence of personhood itself is uniform across God, angels, and humans, being created in His image. All created persons (ie persons with angelic or human natures) have their beginning, existence, and continuance in God. We all share personhood alike yet our personhood (made in Gods image) is expressed differently depending on our nature with which we have been made with, or in God's case, the infinite nature he has eternally existed as.

Principle 7
Essence/nature is secondary to personhood. Nature doesn't cause a person to act; it merely influences them. The final causative force of action is Personhood, not their nature. But nature has serious influence and produces desires specific to itself. This is important as this principle holds people responsible for their actions and is why God has promised to judge the world. Think of personhood as its own ontological plain/dimension that is above the physical and spiritual realms. Person (who) > Spirit Realm (what) & Physical Realm (what) - but all collocated in one area (creation). (With the exception of God who's persons and nature transcends creation).

Principle 8
God upholds both physical and spiritual realms being transcendent beyond both - the upholder of all created reality, visible and invisible.

Principle 9
We can see the distinction of personhood and nature in the greatest command below(my comments in brackets):

Matthew 22:36-38 ESV
[36] “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” [37] And he said to him, “You shall (personhood/ the who) love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. (with ones nature/the what/ones components: heart, mind & soul)[38] This is the great and first commandment.

Nature of God and Christ:

Principle 10
God is personal, not merely a concept, and must be interacted with as such, making relationship with Him natural and fulfilling.

Principle 11
The triune persons of God abide in one another without losing their distinct personhood. This mutual abiding within each other is called perichoresis. It results from sharing the divine nature which includes infinite properties like being everywhere present, all loving and all knowing, making them One God, in a unique way - sharing a single divine will and being collocated everywhere at once, knowing each others thoughts and loving each other perfectly. Moving in concert of one accord with one united purpose having no variance or shadow of turning in them, for they are immutable (unchanging) in what they are and John teaches us God is love. This doctrine is called perichoresis and explains how God can be 3 distinct persons without being 3 separate Gods (tri-theism). Their infinite properties unite them spiritually and mentally in a way similar to the unity of our physical body and soul is united, yet our body and soul are not individual persons.

Principle 12
The concept of perichoresis applies to Christians whom the Holy Spirit indwells. While Christians remain distinct from His person, we participate in this incredibly intimate union the persons of the Godhead partake in, as far as a limited created being can. He resides in our whole person, we don't lose the Spirit when we put off the physical body at death. He remains in us, if we remain in Christ.

Human Nature and Potential:

Principle 13
Jesus experienced human temptations, desires, thoughts and emotions identical to how we experience these things, yet remained without sin, demonstrating the potential for righteousness (ie divine love) in humanity when abiding in the Father.

Hebrews 2:17-18 ESV
[17] Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. [18] For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Principle 14
The incarnation demonstrates that our created weak human nature which is so liable to sin and enslaved to human desires apart from God, can be brought into perfect and harmonious union with the divine nature in this life. This serves as the pattern for theosis in believers, making godly living natural and attainable.

Principle 15
Those who assert sin is an attribute of human nature/essence and can't be ceased in this life are forced to deny the full humanity of Jesus and adopt an Apollinarian view of Jesus (He was only partially human). We do not have a sin nature as some traditions assert. Human nature is weak and liable to death, and our persons were born separated from God in darkness and so inevitably sin, but not because sin is an attribute of human nature, but because we walked in darkness being apart from God. This is the case of every human except Christ (who was born being God united with man). This is why Jesus says unless you are born again you can't enter heaven. Jesus also said those that sin are slaves of sin (in need of freeing). Once the light of Christ comes to us though, we no longer walk in darkness but in Christ we have the light of life and are freed from sins bondage (Romans 6). Jesus became exactly what we are in nature so that by grace we may be what He is, in this life. Gregory of Nazianzus said the below quote aptly against the apolinarians:

Gregory of Nazianzus (329AD - 397AD), Epistle 101 to Cledonius the Priest Against Apollinarius
"For that which He has not assumed He has not healed; but that which is united to His Godhead is also saved. If only half Adam fell, then that which Christ assumes and saves may be half also; but if the whole of his nature fell, it must be united to the whole nature of Him that was begotten, and so be saved as a whole...Keep then the whole man, and mingle Godhead therewith, that you may benefit me in my completeness."

Note: Some post-4th century theological developments particularly in the latin west led to a view of Christ's humanity that, while rejecting Apollinarianism in name, effectively embraced it in substance. The west in particular began to view Christ's humanity as fundamentally different from ours (ie sin is a component of human nature, except Jesus' human nature), undermining the full implications of the incarnation. This is a literal denial of the chalcedonian creed which says Jesus was "Homoousia" with us (of identical human essence/nature with us regarding His humanity, just as he was of identical nature/essence with the Fathers nature regarding his Godhood). The understanding that aligns with early church fathers and scripture insists on Christ's full human nature being identical with our own. This view is critical for the doctrine of theosis. Views that distinguish Christ's humanity from ours, even subtly, lead to a diminished understanding of our potential for Christ-like living in this present life. Understand this well: there is absolutely no difference between Christs humanity and our own, and by extension, through grace and His Spirit no barrier to living identically as He did, persistently. A denial of this is a direct denial of the chalcedonian creed - that Jesus is homoousia (of identical nature) with us. As Gregory stated that which is not assumed is not healed, that which is joined to His Godhood is saved.

Note on the word "Homoousia": This word homoousia (homo = same, ousia = essence/nature) was deliberately used in the chalcedonian creed to describe Christs shared essence with the Father in Divinity and shared essence with us in humanity. The semi-arians of the time used a similar but different word "homoiousia" (homoi = similar, ousia = essence/nature) when describing Jesus' nature compared to the Fathers nature to denote "of similar nature". When the council of Chalcedon stated Jesus was homoousia, this was a very deliberate word choice. If they wanted to say He was 99% human like us but didn't take our "sin nature" then homoiousia "of similar essence/nature" to man would be more fitting. This is not what scripture (Hebrews 2:17 cited in principle 13 above) nor the creeds state. He is identical to us in nature. Why? Because sin is not a positive ontological attribute of human nature. Just like darkness isn't anything but the absence of light, sin isn't anything but the absence of and departure from God. Otherwise Jesus sinned by simply becoming fully human. This is false. The early church did not believe in "original sin" as framed by the Latin West rather they held to what the East holds even to this day - "ancestral sin". That we participate in the effects of Adams sin like weakness and death but do not have Adams guilt attributed to us, nor is sin a component of human nature. When scripture talks of sinful flesh it is talking about our weakness which is prone to sin, something Jesus fully assumed when he became human. Eg Romans 8:3

Romans 8:3 ESV
[3] For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,

The East didn't see sin as an inherent part of human nature, but rather a consequence of the fall that weakened human nature. This perspective helps explain why the East could comfortably assert Christ's full humanity (homoousia with us) while maintaining His sinlessness. All early Christological creeds occured in the greek speaking East, not the Latin west (Rome).

Principle 16
Believers can attain a state similar to Jesus' pre-resurrection condition in this present life through abiding in Christ, while awaiting the glorified body of the resurrection. Not through the subtraction of our human nature (which though weak, is morally neutral) but by the participation in the divine nature through the indwelling Spirit of God given to man. Again, men are born alienated from God and thus sin. It is not an attribute of their nature intrinsically, rather what our weak nature is seperated from God. Once united to God in Christ being filled with His Spirit and love we can walk like Jesus walked.

1 John 2:5-6 ESV
[5] but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: [6] whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

1 John 3:7 ESV
[7] Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.

Living in Christ:

Principle 17
Love is the essence of the law, making obedience natural and light. Abiding in love and keeping Jesus's teachings is inherently easy for those who are abiding in Christ, as it aligns with our true nature restored in Him.

Galatians 5:14 ESV
[14] For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Principle 18
Christians can live righteously in this life through God's grace by abiding Christ, walking in His Spirit, denying loveless selfish desires. While sin remains a possibility, victory over sin (i.e. abiding in Christ and love) is the expected and natural norm for those united with Christ.

Romans 8:3-4 ESV
[3] For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, [4] in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Principle 19
God graciously transforms believers into Christ's likeness through the Divine indwelling of the Holy Spirit as Christians surrender their lives to the Jesus and seek to keep His teachings which are the definition of love. Jesus and his path of divine love can be perpetually abided in here and now, as per 1 John 4 and John 15. To assert the inevitability of sin post conversion is to directly deny the possibility of abiding in Christ (remaining within him by obedient faith), and implicitly deny the true humanity of Jesus or the power of the Spirit.

2 Peter 1:3-4 ESV
[3] His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, [4] by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

Principle 20
The true way to be like God is through participation in His divine nature by grace, not by human effort alone. For Jesus said the flesh profits nothing its the Spirit who gives life. He also said whats impossible with man is possible with God. This process is synergistic, involving both divine grace mentioned in point 14 and human willingness to yield to Christs teachings through the Spirit. God loves through us by His Spirit who resides in us.

Responsibility and Choice:

Principle 21
Causal agency resides in personhood, not in nature, for both God and man. This proves that genuine responsibility exists before God for all people, as no one is compelled by nature to sin. Yet each respective nature will bring forth desires, these never need to be yielded to. God wasn't forced by His nature to create, He chose to out of love. Jesus in His Humanity really resisted actual temptation like us. Showing us, when we are united with God by the indwelling Spirit we too can overcome temptation. He had to take on a genuine and full humanity to even be tempted like us, for God doesn't experience temptation. This further underscores the transcendence of person and nature, otherwise Jesus couldn't be tempted.

James 1:13-15 ESV
[13] Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. [14] But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. [15] Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Principle 22
Sin is a property of personal agency (free will), which is why there will be a judgement. Yet mercy is offered to those who forsake their sin and trust in Christ to be filled with His Spirit and made into His image in this life. Sin is not a component of nature/essence, its at the personal level of how we choose to live.

Principle 23
Persons can imitate the light (pre-covenant conscience), reject the light (like Satan or Cain), or participate in the light (intimate union with God's Spirit in the New Covenant). The light represents love in all instances, manifesting as the observable truth of goodness (love) via conscience, externally observing God's loving behaviour, or participating in His very Spirit of love. This progression illustrates the increasing knowledge over human history of sin and law, removing excuses for disobedience. Finally, divine power by the Spirit to walk in divine love under the liberty of the new covenant post Jesus' ascension.

Principle 24
Those without the Holy Spirit or those who still love this world will fail to consistently follow their conscience and teachings of Jesus (love) being enslaved to their desires and sin as Romans 7 explains. It must be highlighted Romans 7 describes accurately the pre-christian experience of slavery to sin. On true conversion one can consistently walk in love and maintain a clear conscience by participating in God's Spirit and abiding in Christ and the liberty He brings as stated in Romans 6 & 8.

Principle 25
Mercy is offered to Christians if they sin (1 John 2:1). We are instructed to confess and forsake our sin before Him if sin is accidentally (or even intentionally) committed. Though far be it from the followers of Christ to intentionally sin. Remember, all our lives will be brought into judgement. God is love, and an aspect of love is mercy but he won't acquit those who live persistently in willful deliberate rebellion against Him. Always remember this.

Exodus 34:6-7 ESV
[6] The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, [7] keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

Principle 26
Christians grow in maturity through time and experience as they resist temptation, deny self, abide in the Spirit and walk in the love of God. It does not require a lifetime to reach full Christian maturity but can and should be rapid with hearts and lives that are totally surrendered to Him. Its slow or non-existent in lives that are not totally surrendered to Him who live independently without thought to Him. We must abide relationally with Him daily. Maturity isn't measured by time, rather by depth of relationship with God and subsequent Christlike living that flows from this.

Ephesians 4:15 ESV
[15] Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,