In my previous post I quoted Fred Sanders who asked:
- Did Good Friday and Easter happen so that Pentecost could benefit us, or
- did Pentecost happen so that Good Friday and Easter could benefit us?
Another way of asking the question is:
- Do we receive the Spirit in us because we are in Christ, or
- are we in Christ because the Spirit is in us?
Yet another way of asking the question would be:
- Is salvation the Trinitarian life of God in the soul of man (ala Scougal), or
- is salvation the soul of man in the Trinitarian life of God?
If we believe that perichoresis (mutual indwelling) of the three persons of the Trinity is not a static state of being, but is a dynamic and continuous activity, then it is never 'or' it is always 'both' - distinct but one.
PS did you like my pompous title?!
