Tuesday, February 20, 2024
This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. mmm1 John 4:13 CSB
Christ In Me
Once a person becomes a Christian they are faced with one monstrous dilemma. They are supposed to live, love, walk, and talk like Christ while loving his enemies, abstaining from the very appearance of evil, and growing in grace. Worry about nothing, be thankful for everything, rejoice always, deny ourselves, accept the fact of our death, and follow Christ every day of our lives. We are to set our affections on things above and not on things on the earth. Added to these and dozens of other commands, we are supposed to be of good comfort, cheerful, and kind in the midst of an unkind world.
What a shock when we find that even after we are saved, we cannot live the Christian life in our own strength. We are not encouraged anywhere in the Bible to resort to our best. There is no evidenc e in the Scripture to be found that God expects anything of us but total failure in our own strength. This is the reason for the cross in our salvation and the cross in our inner life. Self would do its best and take the credit. Self can live a life that has some appearances of Christlikeness, but self cannot be Christ like. Our dilemma is clear . . . we cannot be what God desires and what the Bible requires. The great question is, "How can we be Christ to a lost world and not be a part of this world?"
The only one who can make us Chmristlike is Christ. According to the Word of God, there are just two ways that we can live our lives. We can either live according to the flesh by following our own carnal nature, or live according to the Spirit of God by denying our fleshly desires to live a life that glorifies God.
I say, then, walk by the Spirit and you will certainly not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Galatians 5:16-18 CSB
It is Christ in you which secures your salvation. If Christianity were nothing more than a man deciding to worship Jesus and doing his best to imitate Him, there indeed would be little hope. But if Christianity is Jesus coming into an available human body and acting like Himself, then there is abundant hope. If my salvation depended on my ability to be like Christ, I would be lost again and again. But if my salvation depends on Jesus, then I cannot be lost. My salvation is secured not by my imitation of Christ but by my participation in Christ. He, Himself, living in me, is the security of my salvation.
We are not in the world to be a witness for Christ through our own strength. Christ is in us in the world to bear witness of Himself. The Christian life is not the doing of things to please God but the yielding of our bodies to God so that He can through the indwelling Christ do things for Himself.
