A GUIDE FOR LIVING LIFE

IN HIS IMAGE

Welcome to the home of the Kingdom Questions and the In His Image Podcasts!

Everyone has questions about the Bible.

Join Victor every weekday as he deep dives into the answers to your Biblical Questions! With researched answers and a lifetime of knowledge Victor approaches your questions in a fun and interesting way over multiple epsides to get to the core of the answers you seek.

The Current Series

The Latest Episode

Holy Relish Satisfied in a Holy God

This final episode restates the hope of radical transformation in this life based on 2 Cor. 3:18. Salvation is all about beholding God’s glory and being transformed. This theme is underscored in Jonathan Edwards’ descriptions of conversion and growth in Christ, which, contrary to popular caricatures of his theology, does not harp on sin but on “holy relish,” the sense of God’s glory that deepened as he grew in Christ. And Edwards pinpoints how apprehension of this glory is absolutely essential “to count all things as loss” in order to gain Christ. Total repentance and commitment to Christ largely rests on visions of the glory of God in the face of Christ. The episode closes with an exhortation to embrace the bigger salvation picture, that we all behold the glory of Christ, and are ourselves transformed into “little Christs” in the process.

January 18, 2025 No Comments

Living The Christ-Filled Life 1 Episode At A Time

We are all called to live in the image of Christ. But how do you do it in a modern world full of challenges? What answers do we find in the Bible? Join Victor on the journey to live In His Image every weekend!

The Current Episode

Samson: When One Sin Becomes a House of Cards

Coming from the narrative of Samson and Delilah, this episode posits how God uses deceptive influences to root out and bring into the light our own obstinate embrace of the “lusts of deceit.” While Samson’s obvious sin was fornication, the narrative also paints him as a liar whose moral compromise leads him to lose the lying game to the seductive manipulations of Delilah. About half of the episode centers on the deceptive nature of the “lusts of deceit” which don’t immediately reveal the severity of consequences. The episode deals with many common deceptions that Christians embrace regarding unchecked embrace of the lusts of deceit, including 1)they’re somehow the exception to the rule, 2) embrace of God’s gifts for kingdom purposes renders indulgence in sin a “minor offense,” and finally 3) the bogus conclusion that sin can be managed. All three betray an underlying pride which provides a formidable rationalization for refusing to obey God completely. This monstrous web of deceit came crashing down on Samson..literally in his death. The episode is a stark warning that God takes sanctification seriously and will judge those who “drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood.” (Isaiah 5:18)

January 7, 2025 No Comments

About Victor Vigorito

I began Imagebearer Ministries with the vision that substantial Christlikeness is attainable in this life. The Scriptures are clear: “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” (2 Pet 1:3) That
many in the church do not experience notable progress in sanctification suggests that many believers are failing to appropriate what God has provided for them. What unlocks the divine power? True knowledge. My goal for “In His Image” is the unpacking of “True Knowledge,” where believers understand what precisely is available to them and the means of appropriating Christlikeness.

Raised during the transition from modernity to post-modernity, I struggled to affirm objective Biblical
truth amidst the onslaught of opposing philosophies undermining my Christian faith. Intent on
integrating Christian faith with the best “worldly” knowledge has to offer, I avidly studied scientific
literature and completed graduate degrees in history and theology. And, I discovered, to my delight,
that the objective truths of Scripture are indeed True, and all truths ultimately rest on the God of Truth,
Jesus Christ. That being said, mere cerebral “knowledge” of the way things are is incomplete without
direct personal application. Faith, Jonathan Edwards noted, is the active uniting of the soul with Christ. So, while I am an unabashed academic, my passion is the holistic embrace of the divine, where we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And, as we gaze intently on the image of Christ, we are transformed into that same image, from glory to glory. My prayer for you, dear brother and sister, is that Inhisimage assist you in your pursuit to be like Him.

Statement Of Faith

I believe in one God revealed in 3 persons; the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit. Every Member of this Triune Godhead fully participates in every attribute of divinity (omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence)—one essence, yet Each is a distinct Person manifesting One God. John 1:1 tells us that Jesus was both “with God” (a distinct person in the Godhead) and that He “was God” (partaking of One divine essence). This Triune God existed from all eternity. He initiated time itself, creating all that is (physical and spiritual) (Gen 1:1), endowing angels and men with free moral agency and the capacity to reflect God’s communicable attributes, among them are love and righteousness. One-third of the angels freely rejected their purpose (Rev 12:4), the glory of God, and died spiritually as a consequence, no longer reflecting the love and righteousness of God. Adam and Eve, made in the image of God, were called to represent God and rule over His creation as faithful stewards over God’s creation. (Gen 1:26-28), (Ps 8:4-8) But they also suffered immediate spiritual and subsequent physical death, upon disbelieving and disobeying God. All of their descendants are born spiritually dead (Eph 2:1), shut up in disobedience (Rom 11:32), and incapable of reflecting the glory of God. (Rom 3:23) As a result, “those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Rom 8:8)

“BUT GOD, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ.. and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…for by grace you have been saved through faith.” (Eph 2:4-8). Paul’s summary statement of salvation is the reversal of the fall, and it’s entirely predicated on what the Triune God did, NOT the work of man. The incarnation of the second person of the Trinity, together with the substitutionary death of Christ, and His bodily resurrection 3 days later are the basis of salvation. The only ONE who could restore mankind is the Triune God Himself. “The wages of sin is death.” (Rom 6:23) God’s justice and righteousness require that all the wages of sin be remitted, resulting in physical and spiritual death. Restoration initiated by man is impossible, for no man can pay the debt. “BUT GOD, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us..” The cross is the marriage of the seemingly irreconcilable attributes of God’s righteousness and love. God must punish sin wherever it manifests, otherwise He would no longer be holy and righteous. Yet “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:8) Christ’s assumption of mankind’s sin-debt at the cross is the solution to the apparent Divine dilemma, whether to give man what he deserves, resulting in eternal judgment in hell, or to give him an unmerited gift of salvation made possible by Christ’s bountiful sacrifice of Himself on our behalf and imputation of His righteousness to all those who put their faith in Him. The forgiveness of sin and imputation of Christ’s positive righteousness to all who put their faith in Christ is the divine remedy for mankind’s lost condition.

Every member of the Godhead is involved in the salvation of mankind. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” (Jn 3:16) The Father’s love initiated the plan of redemption and the Son executed it. The Holy Spirit is indispensable in bringing people to faith in Christ. He convicts the unregenerate of sin, righteousness and judgment (Jn 16: 9-11) and enables them to surrender to Christ as Lord (1 Cor 12: 3). Repentance and faith in Christ are the conditions of regeneration (Jn 1:12, Gal 3:2) in which the believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, placed in the body of Christ, and sealed for the day of ultimate redemption. (Eph 1:13) Being “born again” (John 3: 3-7) or (using Paul’s equivalent) being “made alive together with Christ” (Eph 2:5) is the recreation of the image of God in man in which the believer now has the capacity to grow in the communicable attributes of God, particularly righteousness and love. The Holy Spirit progressively conforms the believer into the image of Christ and the believer, secure in his position in Christ where the imputed righteousness of Christ is his own (Ps 32:1, 2 Cor 5:21), now builds on the foundation of Christ with practical righteousness and holiness culminating in divine agape love, the pinnacle of life in the Spirit. (1 Cor 13:13)

Holistic salvation then is not simply the forgiveness of sins and reception of the imputed righteousness of Christ. These are the foundations upon which the edifice of the new man is built. Everyone who comes into the kingdom is a new creation (2 Cor 5:17): his slab has been laid, that of Jesus Christ. With this fresh start, every new believer must actively use his free moral agency to cooperate with the Spirit’s work of conforming us into the image of Christ. We put off the old self and put on the new. (Eph 4:22-24) We continue to repudiate Adam, our old federal head, as we identify with the last Adam, Christ. (1 Cor 15:45) We build on that foundation with gold, silver and precious stone (1 Cor 3:12), which is the new self, “created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” (Eph 4:24) As partakers of the divine nature, we’re expected to grow in God’s communicable attributes, looking more and more like Him. (2 Pet 1:4-8) Indeed, our daily choices in this life will largely determine our capacity to be filled up with all the fullness of God.” (Eph 3:19)

The salvation journey of all who put their faith in Christ, beginning with forgiveness and the imputed righteousness of Christ, is only the beginning of the Triune God’s restoration of those in Christ. 1 John 3:2 declares, “when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” We will know just as we are fully known. (1 Cor 13:12) And the very same love that the Father loves the Son will be the abiding experience of all who trust in Christ, for they partake of Christ. Christ prayed for the disciples and all who would believe in Him that “..the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” (Jn 17:26)

It is my prayer that you give your life to the Triune God Who truly loves you and paid the ultimate sacrifice for you. And, as you grow in Christ, may you know the boundless, indescribable love of Christ, and be filled up with all the fullness of God.

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Newest Episodes

“Build, with God’s Power”

January 21, 2025

This episode builds on the first episode, emphasizing that all sanctification is fundamentally drawing on the power of Christ provided in the resurrection. We were born again through the resurrection of Christ (1 Pet. 1:3), and in sanctification, we progressively live out of the power that Christ has made available. “God’s divine power has given to us everything pertaining to life and godliness…” (2 Pet. 1:3) The episode exhorts believers not to make the tempting mistake of the Galatians who sought “to be perfected by the flesh” instead of drawing on the divine power. (Gal. 3:2-3) New Years’ resolutions often fail because they’re based on fleshly resolve and power. The episode closes with the a summary of the numerous qualities that Christians are to walk in, based on abiding in Christ and His power. Even the Christian response is based on God’s divine power. So, with respect to the constitutional metaphor, “separation of powers” doesn’t refer to a Christian’s response independent of God’s power, but merely highlights human responsibility to ACT, in response to God’s power.

Dump your God-complex and respond to His Power

January 20, 2025

With a view to beginning the year right, this opening episode calls believers back to the fundamentals, the constitution. Typically constitutions enumerate the powers of government, and our U.S. constitution provides a separation of powers. A successful life in God’s eyes is founded on a separation of powers, where believers don’t presume on divine prerogatives but only fulfill their responsibilities prescribed in the Biblical separation of powers. Well constitutionally speaking, the Christian life rests completely on the power of God. 1 Pet. 2:3 states that “God’s divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life in godliness.” The successful Christian life abides in Christ, and out of the power of Christ, bears much fruit. (John 15:5) The fruit enumerated in 2 Pet. 1: 5-8 are all based on the Christian’s responsibility to access the power. Well when believers learn to operate in their proper domain, fulfilling their responsibilities through the power of Christ, many of the unnecessary headaches and heartaches that plague believers diminish. Things work better in the kingdom when we let God be God and appropriately respond to His power.