to
the judgment of Christ's teaching and life, and these reveal how unequal
we are to live His life, and how greatly we need His Spirit to transform
our lives. By our confession of our sins we participate in His death for
us and for our sins, and the assurance of His forgiveness enables us to
participate in His resurrection so that we may rise to our feet, make a
confident offering of ourselves, and sing our praises of thanksgiving.

The Christian, we conclude, is one in whom the Spirit of Christ is
incarnate. By the power of the Spirit he participates in the life of
Christ, so that the presence of Christ and His Spirit has contemporary
power and meaning in the arena of human relations. The love of God is
for the world, and this world-love of God should be reflected in the
devotion of His people to His work in the world.

[3] 1 John 4:20.
[4] 1 John 4:16.
[5] Matt. 18:20.
[6] Luke 18:11.
[7] See 2 Cor. 5:17.
[8] Luke 10:27.
[9] Rom. 6:4; See also Col. 2:12.
[10] Mark 8:35.

III

HEREIN IS LOVE

"Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and
he who loves is born of God and knows God."--_1 John 4:7_

Thus far, we have identified the Christian life as participation in the
life of Christ, and the Christian fellowship as the relationship of men
who have been reunited to one another by the presence in them of the
Spirit of Christ. We need to make this concept even more specific and,
therefore, now ask the question: "How does one participate in the life
of Christ; how does one find the Spirit; what must one do?" The gospel's
answer is: "You shall love."[11] It has surpassing attraction, but is
also considerably disappointing. Love is appealing, but its practice is
appallingly difficult. While the Christian relationship seems to promise
a difference, it is hard to identify. What makes the difference? or,
What is the Good News?

_The Gift of God in Christ_

Christians believe that the gift of God in Christ confers something that
man needs but has lost. What is it that we do not have that we are
supposed to receive as a result of our new relationship with Christ? Let
us recall that in our earlier discussion we took note of the ambivalent
character of love. We want to be loved and we are afraid to accept love;
we want to love and are afraid to give love for fear it will not be
accepted. We are not free to love, therefore; that which by nature we
cannot