This is a thread I've wanted to start for a long time. Merriam Webster defines blasphemy as
the act of claiming the attributes of a deity, which necessarily means when we say
we have Christ in us, we are making a blasphemous statement. And we are certainly limited.
Yes, Scripture says that with God all things are possible. I submit people take this out of context. It's a philosophical axiom that
all things that exist are limited. So, what are the limits of God? Like all things that exist is bound by his own nature. God gets angry but his anger is satiated. He loves but is just. God forgives but is holy. We can trust him but he will throw some into the Lake of Fire for eternal annihilation. Is this not true?
Being limited by definition is not the reduction of Deity from His omnipotence. It is just a definition. For example, defining God as "not the universe" is not limiting God, but rather, defining who He is and who He is not.
Also, if a Divine Being limits Himself by His own statements, or word, then once again, the limitation does not deprive Deity of His omnipotence. It is a matter of His own Divine choices. For example, God's promise to save Israel is not limiting His ability to reject Israel. It is an expression of what an omnipotent God's prerogatives are.
As far as humans participating in Divine "attributes" and thus becoming "blasphemous," obviously I couldn't sign onto that! That would be like admitting I'm "blasphemous" when I saw that I am "in Christ," or that "Christ is in me," or that I "participate in the Divine nature," as the Scriptures say.
2 Peter 1.4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
So the real issue, for me, comes down to how we use these words, and how they should be defined. In the context of biblical theology, I could not call our participation in Divine virtue an act of "blasphemy."
Blasphemy, in the biblical context, would be a deliberate, provocative declaration that God is the opposite, in term of who He is, than the way He really is. It is attributing to the loving acts of God the works of demons.
When we define the "attributes of God," in the context of our human participation in them, we must not define these "attributes" as matters of defining who God is. We are not God when we participate in His "attributes," or virtues.
Rather, we should be defining what things God is willing to dispense, out of His own virtues and character, that He is willing to impart to Man, just as He had created him in His own image and likeness. We should not define us "as God" or as "part of God," but rather, as willing recipients of His grace and spiritual endowment.
