Sandro Polenta | Knox Theological Seminary (original) (raw)
Papers by Sandro Polenta
This essay answers two questions which many Christians ask: 'Now that I am a Christian, what is n... more This essay answers two questions which many Christians ask: 'Now that I am a Christian, what is new in me?' And 'What happens to the old me?’ This essay gives a twofold answer to these questions. On the one hand, I still have my 'sinful nature’, but on the other hand I have been set free from 'living in sin’, which was my enslavement to sin. Paul has illustrated these facts by using the metaphor about the 'old man' and the 'new man'. The 'old man' represents the influence which the realm of Adam had on me, mainly with its enslavement to sin. He definitively died in Christ’s death. The 'new man' metaphorically represents my participation in the benefits I have 'in Christ'. Living in union with Christ, as owner of these benefits, is living in 'newness of life’. This new living is based on faith in what Christ has done for me. Therefore, I am now free to oppose sin in myself by considering my remaining 'sinful nature’ as dead in Christ's death .
This essay presents the shape of the Christian life as characterized by the ‘Law of Christ’ and b... more This essay presents the shape of the Christian life as characterized by the ‘Law of Christ’ and by the believer’s ‘good works’. Every ‘good work’ brought forth by faith reflects a common ‘ordo operis’—an order of the phases and patterns involved in it. This essay is informed by Edward Fisher’s book, ‘The Marrow of Modern Divinity’.
God the Father is the author and initiator of our salvation. He restores our communion—lost in Ad... more God the Father is the author and initiator of our salvation. He restores our communion—lost in Adam—by revealing his love for us in Christ’s atonement for our sins through the Holy Spirit and by imputing to us Christ’s righteousness. He does this by the Holy Spirit by means of bringing about the necessary condition to lead us into repentance and into the obedience of faith, which glorifies the Father for his work of mercy.
Thesis: Self-denial is God’s gift to turn us away from our own ‘self’ and towards God instead. T... more Thesis:
Self-denial is God’s gift to turn us away from our own ‘self’ and towards God instead. This gift is part of God’s Gospel promises and enables us to live in holiness. It is received in union with Christ by faith as part of Christ’s salvation and enables us to have communion with God as Father. It consists in the crucifixion of our old ‘self’ in Christ and in the Spirit’s bestowed grace enabling us to subjectively put to death the deeds of the body.
This is an appendix to the final paper of the course “DM872 - Hebrews: Exegesis, Theology, and Mi... more This is an appendix to the final paper of the course “DM872 - Hebrews: Exegesis, Theology, and Ministry”. It reconsiders the two types of believers mentioned by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount , the true believers living a God-centered life and the deceived believers a man-centered life. These are two completely different ways of living the Christian life. The purpose of this appendix is to examine the beliefs and principles making up these two ways.
This appendix answers questions brought up by the original essay.
For the original essay, see https://www.academia.edu/11547550/Perseverance_and_Saving_Faith
This essay considers the two categories of believers addressed in Hebrews and in the Sermon on th... more This essay considers the two categories of believers addressed in Hebrews and in the Sermon on the Mount, what they believed, what characterized them, and their destinies. A special focus is put on faith versus works, as the differentiator between the two categories. The essay then addresses perseverance as the result of faith.
This essay is a theological interpretation of the subject of perseverance in the letter of Hebrews using specific parts of the Sermon on the Mount as the context.
This essay answers two questions which many Christians ask: 'Now that I am a Christian, what is n... more This essay answers two questions which many Christians ask: 'Now that I am a Christian, what is new in me?' And 'What happens to the old me?’ This essay gives a twofold answer to these questions. On the one hand, I still have my 'sinful nature’, but on the other hand I have been set free from 'living in sin’, which was my enslavement to sin. Paul has illustrated these facts by using the metaphor about the 'old man' and the 'new man'. The 'old man' represents the influence which the realm of Adam had on me, mainly with its enslavement to sin. He definitively died in Christ’s death. The 'new man' metaphorically represents my participation in the benefits I have 'in Christ'. Living in union with Christ, as owner of these benefits, is living in 'newness of life’. This new living is based on faith in what Christ has done for me. Therefore, I am now free to oppose sin in myself by considering my remaining 'sinful nature’ as dead in Christ's death .
This essay presents the shape of the Christian life as characterized by the ‘Law of Christ’ and b... more This essay presents the shape of the Christian life as characterized by the ‘Law of Christ’ and by the believer’s ‘good works’. Every ‘good work’ brought forth by faith reflects a common ‘ordo operis’—an order of the phases and patterns involved in it. This essay is informed by Edward Fisher’s book, ‘The Marrow of Modern Divinity’.
God the Father is the author and initiator of our salvation. He restores our communion—lost in Ad... more God the Father is the author and initiator of our salvation. He restores our communion—lost in Adam—by revealing his love for us in Christ’s atonement for our sins through the Holy Spirit and by imputing to us Christ’s righteousness. He does this by the Holy Spirit by means of bringing about the necessary condition to lead us into repentance and into the obedience of faith, which glorifies the Father for his work of mercy.
Thesis: Self-denial is God’s gift to turn us away from our own ‘self’ and towards God instead. T... more Thesis:
Self-denial is God’s gift to turn us away from our own ‘self’ and towards God instead. This gift is part of God’s Gospel promises and enables us to live in holiness. It is received in union with Christ by faith as part of Christ’s salvation and enables us to have communion with God as Father. It consists in the crucifixion of our old ‘self’ in Christ and in the Spirit’s bestowed grace enabling us to subjectively put to death the deeds of the body.
This is an appendix to the final paper of the course “DM872 - Hebrews: Exegesis, Theology, and Mi... more This is an appendix to the final paper of the course “DM872 - Hebrews: Exegesis, Theology, and Ministry”. It reconsiders the two types of believers mentioned by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount , the true believers living a God-centered life and the deceived believers a man-centered life. These are two completely different ways of living the Christian life. The purpose of this appendix is to examine the beliefs and principles making up these two ways.
This appendix answers questions brought up by the original essay.
For the original essay, see https://www.academia.edu/11547550/Perseverance_and_Saving_Faith
This essay considers the two categories of believers addressed in Hebrews and in the Sermon on th... more This essay considers the two categories of believers addressed in Hebrews and in the Sermon on the Mount, what they believed, what characterized them, and their destinies. A special focus is put on faith versus works, as the differentiator between the two categories. The essay then addresses perseverance as the result of faith.
This essay is a theological interpretation of the subject of perseverance in the letter of Hebrews using specific parts of the Sermon on the Mount as the context.