DR. FOWLER: Soul Rest

The world around us is restless hurrying and scurrying to accomplish something meaningful. They are seeking "rest" - but they are looking in all the wrong places.

Dr. James Fowler is one of the leading authors on the believer’s union with Christ. He has written 20+ books on the topic. He is a theologian, Board Member of IOM America, and dear friend of Dr. Stephen Phinney. We hope you are blessed by his series, “Soul Rest.”

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By spiritual union with the living Lord Jesus, every Christian has the provision to be at "rest"  - avoiding the striving performance to achieve or overcome thoughts in the mind, feelings in the emotions, difficulties in decision-making, and urgings in one's desires. In the midst of temptations and the trials of life, Christians can experience the "rest for their souls" (Matt. 11:29) that Jesus promised.

The world around us is restless hurrying and scurrying to accomplish something meaningful. They are seeking "rest" - but they are looking in all the wrong places. True "rest" can only be found in "union with Christ."

            "Union with Christ" is the essence of Christianity. Christianity is not a belief-system or a morality code, but is the union presence and function of the living Lord Jesus within Christians. In a previous study1, we charted out the "union of being" and the "union of doing" of Christ and the Christian. We are, for all practical purposes, extending that previous study in a sequel to consider how the theological theorem becomes psychological practicum. We want to explore the psychological and behavioral implications of "union with Christ."

            In other words, we will be considering "the divine outworking of the divine indwelling." That is, I believe, the choice that Adam and Eve faced at the "tree of life" as recorded in Genesis 2 - a choice to allow for the divine outworking of the divinely inbreathed life of God. God had breathed into them the breath/spirit of divine life (2:7), and the "tree of life" (same Hebrew word for "life" in 2:7 and 2:9) represented the opportunity to choose the divine outworking of the divinely inbreathed life of God. We know that they chose the other tree, "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil," with disastrous consequences for themselves and the human race. Their choice did not lead to "rest," but to much work and performance - physical, religious, and otherwise.

            As Christians we have a similar choice. In spiritual regeneration we have been re-genesized (2:7), and the spirit/breath of the triune God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit, has been breathed into our spirit. "If any man does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His" (Rom. 8:9), i.e. he is not a Christian. On the other hand, "He who is joined to the Lord (Jesus Christ) is one spirit with Him" (I Cor. 6:17). As Christians, redeemed and restored to right relationship with our Creator, we have the same choice Adam and Eve had prior to the fall - the choice to allow for the divine outworking of the divine indwelling life of Jesus.