CHURCH & UNION WITH CHRIST

'...why go to church? Answer: Because church is who you are. Church is the most concrete expression of your union with Christ. Church is not about you. Sure, the church service you could pull together with a fast internet connection and a warm cup of milk at home would be pretty sweet, but it wouldn't fit the Bible's picture of church because it wouldn't involve you blessing the body of Christ with the particular gift(s) has given you. And it is as we fulfil that role of blessing the body that we learn most deeply what it is to be connected to Christ - to be his.' 

Rory Shiner, One Forever, p.73. 

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH

'Justification is one of the great joy factories of the Christian life. When there is no joy (cf. Gal 4:15), it is often a telltale sign that we have lost our gras[ on this doctrine. The suspicion that characterized our relationship with God before we knew him in Christ starts to creep back in and take over.' 

Rory Shiner, One Forever, p.48. 

UNION WITH CHRIST

'...what does it actually mean to be in Christ? Let me try an analogy. Imagine yourself at the airport, about to board a plane. The plane is on its way to, let's say, beautiful Perth. You're at the airport. There's you. There's the plane. It's going to Perth. And my question is: What relationship do you need to have with the plane? 

Would it help, for example, to be under the plane? To submit yourself to the plane's eminent authority in the whole flying-to-Perth caper?

Would it help to be inspired by the plane? You go to the airport, you watch it take off, and you whisper to yourself, "One day, I could do that too..."? 

What about following the plane? You know the plane is going to Perth, and so it stands to reason that if you note of the direction it goes, and pursue it as fast as your little legs will carry you, you too will end up in Perth. 

Of course, the key relationship you need with the plane is not to be under it, behind it or inspired by it. You need to be in it. 

Why? Because by being in the plane, what happens to the plane will also happen to you.'

Rory Shiner, One Forever, p.34. 

UNION WITH CHRIST

'...Paul is so at home with this "in Christ" phrase that he uses it reflexively...'
Rory Shiner, One Forever, p.31. 

CREATION

'The formless and empty world of Genesis 1:2 - something that had unity of uniformity - becomes, under God's hand, a diverse unity. It is made good by each part being made different. Over the six days, it becomes a world where things aren't so much like each other as they are for each other. Like a wonderful machine, a complex ecosystem or a human body, the parts all fit each other.' 

Rory Shiner, One Forever: The Transforming Power of Being in Christ, p.17.