The basic claim of Inhabiting the Cruciform God by Michael Gorman is that “Paul’s soteriology is best described as theosis, or transformation into the image of the kenotic, cruciform God revealed in the faithful and loving cross of Christ, and that Spirit-enabled theosis (transformation into Godlikeness) is the substance of both justification and holiness. Justification is participatory and transformative, accomplished by co-crucifixion with Christ and embodied as holiness” (p. 161).
Chapter 1
Chapter one focuses on Phil. 2:6-11 as the foundation of Paul’s soteriology. Gorman argues that for Paul, the salvation of humanity is tied up in recovering true humanity through its conformity to Christ. “To be truly human is to be Christlike, which is to be Godlike, which is to be kenotic and cruciform. Theosis is the process of transformation into the image of this God” (p. 39). In other words, salvation is all about restoring humanity through conformity to the cruciform God by the enabling of the Spirit. “A people characterized by communal kenosis for the good of the world is both the means and the goal of God’s saving activity here and now” (p. 38).
Chapter 2
Chapter two explores justification as a “rich, and potentially costly, experience of participating in Christ’s resurrection life (which remains, paradoxically, cruciform) that is effected by co-crucifixion with him” (p. 163). The chapter argues against separating the “judicial” and “participatory” aspects of justification in favor of one, unified justification by co-crucifixion. This unified justification can also be thought of as theosis – becoming like God/Christ. “The rift between justification and sanctification is impossible because the Spirit of Christ effects both initial and ongoing co-crucifixion with Christ among believers, which is a symbiosis of faith and love. This symbiosis of faith and love is not an addendum to justification but is constitutive of justification itself.” Gorman rightly reminds the reader that justification as theosis is not in any sense a self-generated experience (“salvation by works”), but is instead brought about by the enabling of the Spirit of God (p. 164).
Chapter 3
Chapter three addresses holiness and theosis. Here Gorman explains that holiness is grounded in Paul’s “unique conviction that the crucified Messiah is the revelation of the holiness of God the Father and in the corollary conviction that the justified – those co-crucified with Christ – are called to be holy through ongoing “co-crucifixion” with Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit” (p. 164). Again, holiness is all about becoming like Christ, who has perfectly revealed the unique otherness (holiness) of God.
Chapter 4
Chapter four provides the outworking of theosis specifically as it relates to nonviolence. Gorman shows that Paul’s “conversion from persecuting the church was a conversion away from Phinehas-like violent zeal, expressing his will for purity within the covenant community, and a conversion to the way of Abraham-like faith in the God who nonviolently brings life out of death. Since it was God’s resurrection of the Son that rendered Christ’s cross significant and, indeed, theophanic, Paul looks to what God did in the cross as the norm for life in Christ. That is, God loved us while we were enemies, responding to our own violence and other sins, not with the infliction of violence but with the absorption of violence on the cross. A life of nonviolence and reconciliation is therefore an integral part of Paul’s vision of justification and or participatory holiness – theosis (p. 165).
Summary
In summary, self-emptying, justification, holiness, cruciformity, theosis – these are all pieces of the single salvation that comes to us by grace through faith as we inhabit the cruciform God revealed in Christ by the power of the Spirit, from the first moment of faith to the eschatological goal of glory.