"The Christian indicative statement is not 'This is what you ought to be.' The Christian imperative is not 'Now be as much like this as possible.' Instead, the indicative is 'You are already thus; your true life is this.' And the imperative is 'Enter upon your possession.' In the familiar epigram so often used to describe the Christian position, it is a matter of 'Become what you already are'; and that is a strikingly different approach from 'Try to be a bit better than you are.' ...And trust in human effort implies all that Christianity denies. It assumes the ability of human nature to struggle upwards by itself; whereas the Christian formula, 'Become what you are,' sees in God a divine gift, and calls human nature to accept it. It says membership in the Christian Church, in the Body of Christ, has already possessed you of the life of Christ. To be a baptized member of the Church is to be a limb of the Christ who has passed through the grave and gate of death into life. Believe this, trust him, and begin to enter on your possession."- C.F.D. Moule; "Reach and Grasp", Theology Today xii (1955-6): 484-90; here 485-86.
