Theology Behind Launching Out into the Deep in Christian Living
The concept of "launching out into the deep" in Christian living is rooted in the biblical idea of venturing into a deeper experience of faith, guided by the Holy Spirit. This notion is closely tied to the Reformed theological understanding of the believer's union with Christ and the role of the Spirit in their life.
According to Charles Hodge, the union between Christ and believers is a mystical one, where the Spirit of God dwells in His people, making them one with Christ and with one another [4]. This union is not just a figurative or metaphorical connection but a real, spiritual bond. As Jamieson, Fausset & Brown note on John 17:21, the indwelling Spirit of the Father and the Son is the perfect bond of union, knitting believers into a living unity [3].
The idea of "launching out into the deep" implies a progression in the Christian life, where believers move from a superficial understanding of their faith to a deeper, more meaningful experience. John Calvin describes this progression as moving from a familiar understanding of God's will, as revealed in Scripture, to a deeper, more mysterious understanding of His will, which is likened to "a great deep" [2].
In the Reformed tradition, this deeper experience is not seen as a departure from the ordinary means of grace, such as Scripture and the sacraments, but rather as a deeper appropriation of these means through the work of the Holy Spirit. Charles Hodge emphasizes that the communication of the "theanthropic life" to the soul is an act of the divine Spirit, in which believers have neither agency nor consciousness [6].
The biblical basis for this concept is seen in passages such as Galatians 3:3, where Paul asks the Galatian believers if they are seeking to be made perfect through "fleshly" ordinances of the law, having begun their Christian life in the Spirit [1]. This text highlights the contrast between a superficial, works-based approach to Christianity and a deeper, Spirit-led experience.
The Reformed tradition understands this deeper experience as a key aspect of Christian living, where believers are called to venture into a deeper trust in Christ and a more intimate relationship with Him, guided by the Holy Spirit. As Charles Hodge notes, Christianity is not just a system of doctrine but a life, the life of Christ, which is communicated to believers through the Spirit [5].
Sources
- Galatians (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Galatians 3:3: begun--the Christian life (Phi 1:6). in the Spirit--Not merely was Christ crucified "graphically set forth" in my preaching, but also "the Spirit" confirmed the word preached, by imparting His spiritual gifts. "Having thus begun" with the receiving His spiritual gifts, "are ye now being made perfect" (so the Greek), that is, are ye seeking to be made perfect with "fleshly" ordinances of the law? [ESTIUS]. Compare Rom 2:28; Phi 3:3; Heb 9:10. Having begun in the Spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit ruling your spiritual life as its "essence and active p”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 33: them explain to what effect Scripture declares, that “his Judgments are a great deep,” ( Ps. 36:7 ). For when Moses exclaims that the will of God “is not in heaven that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us? Neither is it beyond the sea that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea and bring it unto us?” ( Deut. 30:12, 13 ), because it was familiarly expounded in the law, it follows that there must be another hidden will which is compared to “ a great deep.” 185 It is of this will Paul excl”
- John (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on John 17:21: that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they may be one in us--The indwelling Spirit of the Father and the Son is the one perfect bond of union, knitting up into a living unity, first all believers amongst themselves; next, this unity into one still higher, with the Father and the Son. (Observe, that Christ never mixes Himself up with His disciples as He associates Himself with the Father, but says I in THEM and THEY in US). that the world may believe that thou hast sent me--sentest me. So the grand impression upon th”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 2, section 140: passages in which the Spirit of God is said to dwell in his people, are so many proofs of the mystical union between Christ and all true believers. They are One. One with Him and one with one another. For by one Spirit they are all baptized into one body. ( 1 Cor. xii. 13 .) These representations of Scripture concerning the union between Christ and his people, are neither to be explained nor explained away. Both attempts have often been made. Numerous theories have been adopted and urged as divine truth, which in fact are only philosophi”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, section 42: them, too, the ground and central point of Christianity is the oneness of Deity and humanity effected through the incarnation of God, and deification of man.” 114 114 Studien und Kritiken, 1845, p. 59. Christianity, therefore, is not a system of doctrine; it is not, subjectively considered, a form of knowledge. It is a life. It is the life of Christ. Ullmann again says explicitly: “The life of Christ is Christianity.” 115 115 Studien und Kritiken, January 1845; translated in The Mystical Presence, by Dr. J.W. Nevin. God in becoming man di”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 5: ), spirit, soul, and body, up to the standard of the life of Christ, in whom the divine and human are merged into one, or rather appear in their original oneness. The communication of the theanthropic life to the soul is an act of the divine Spirit in which we have neither agency nor consciousness. Delitzsch infers from what our Lord said to Nicodemus, John iii. that “The operation of the Spirit of regeneration is, therefore, (1.) A free one, withdrawn from the power of human volition, of human special agency. (2.) A mysterious one, lying ”