"From Eternity to Here" Blog Tour

This is completely new to me, but I volunteered to participate in a blog tour for a new book by Frank Viola called "From Eternity to Here." Those who follow this blog know that I was touched and challenged by "Crazy Love" (Francis Chan) earlier this year. I guess it was someone from the publisher that sent an email out about the blog tour, and I decided to sign up. We had our choice of presenting two questions to the author OR writing a review of the book. I decided to go the two-question route. Below is a list of the bloggers who participated and my questions with the author's answers...

Bloggers who participated:

Jay Becker - www.jaybecker.org

Mark D - http://deadmanstravelog.blogspot.com

Igniting Hearts - Kimber Britner - http://www.ignitinghearts.blogspot.com/

Karyn - http://tiger-kar.blogspot.com

Barefoot Preacher - http://thebarefootpreacher.blogspot.com

Every Day Angels - www.WeAreEverydayAngels.com

FaithEngineer - http://www.faithengineer.com

Kristen Schiffman - http://dancinginthemargins.typepad.com/

CrossPointe: The Church at Bevo - http://churchatbevo.blogspot.com/

Crazy Love for God - crazyloveforgod.blogspot.com

Amazima Ministries - oatsvallteam.blogspot.com

Down to Write Honest - http://downwritehonest.com

A Beautiful Mess - http://blnorth1105.blogspot.com/

The Blakes on a Mission - www.theblakesthailand.blogspot.com

Words by Jud Kossum - http://judkossum.blogspot.com

Eric Jaffe - http://www.ericjaffe.org

Reconnect with God – www.Reconnectwithgod.org

2nd Cup of Coffee - http://www.2nd-cup-of-coffee.blogspot.com

Nolan Bobbitt Website - www.nolanbobbitt.com

Klappyanne - www.xanga.com/klappyanne

Daveingland - http://www.daveingland.com

Randi Jo Rooks - http://seedsinmyheart.blogspot.com

Ephesians Five – http://ephesiansonefive.blogspot.com

Michael Bayne - http://www.michaelbayne.net

Encounter Church Helena Blog - encounterhelena.org

Thoughts B4 Conviction N2 Action - tsharrison.blogspot.com

Edevotion - http://www.e-devotion.blogspot.com

Seeking After - http://seekingafter.blogspot.com

Eric Powell - www.encounterhelena.org

Borrowed Light - http://fbcnewlondon.blogspot.com


Question One:
>>In the book you describe the Bride of Christ as being flawless (p. 49). There are Scriptures (i.e. 1 Peter 4:17) that speak of God judging/purging the church. Ephesians 5:25-27 says, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish." I have always heard it preached that the "without spot or wrinkle" description is something we should strive for, therefore implying that we are not there yet. Would you say that the "status" of the church is similar to our status as believers....that she ALREADY IS blameless (just as we are already righteous as a result of being saved) yet there are still human natures that cause her to corporately need God's correction (just as we as believers still struggle with sin)? That would seem to make sense to me...just wondered if you could expand.>>

Answer:
As I point out in the book, there's no such thing as "positional truth" and I give illustrations demonstrating this. In the eyes of God, the church IS without blame, pure, and holy because she's IN Christ. That's a reality; not a "positional" thing. At the same time, God is transforming individual believers in space/time to be conformed to the image of Jesus. He's transforming clay to precious stone to make up His habitation, His resting place. The latter, however, doesn't happen very well if we do not stand on the ground of the former ... which means to take God's view rather than our own. To put it another way, the Christian life is becoming what you already are.

Question Two:
>>The concept of acting "in Him, through Him, and with Him" has been presented much more often as something for us as individuals rather than the corporate Church / Bride of Christ. Do those "in Him, through Him, and with Him" Scriptures pertain to the Bride, to us as individuals, or both? >>

Answer:
Certainly both, however, the strong emphasis is on the body of Christ first. For instance: Every letter that Paul wrote with the exception of 4, were written to local communities whose members had a shared life and who Paul called "the body of Christ." Thus all the "you's" in those letters were plural. (If you are from the south, they should be translated "you'all." This corporate, collective dimension of our faith has been largely lost, since most Westerners read their Bibles with individualistic glasses. But God's intention is for a corporate expression of His Son.