The Glory of His Life
Written by Arthur Licursi (built upon some thoughts and phrases from a writing by Richard Jordan)Missing Out On the Power of His Life
Most of us have found it difficult to live the righteous Christian life. Most have lived second-rate lives with feelings of insecurity, discontent, anxiety and powerlessness. The joy and victory that the gospel of grace promises seem little more than a theoretical illusion, a fleeting ghost in the face of disappointments that trap us in a syndrome of stress, self-pity and even depression. Sadly missing is the confidence, assurance and consistency that come from the life of freedom that faith in Jesus Christ brings for every regenerated Christian as they continue to believe the fullness of the Pauline gospel of the grace of God.
What Hinders The Christian?
The grace of the life of the indwelling Christ is the answer for every Christian problem. The legalistic concept of law-keeping for righteousness is the enemy. That is trying to live by outward religious laws of “do, do this” and “don’t do that”. But actually, victory in the Christian life is obtained in the very same way as our initial salvation … appropriating by receiving, and believing, not by our works. Paul said of this, As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Col. 2:6 We received salvation in Christ by faith, believing; our walk also is conducted in the same manner, but now believing and trusting Christ in us as our new life.The Magna Carta (Great Charter) Declaring Liberty for the Christian
Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. Our liberty from the dominion of the tyrannical ruler of our old man, “sin”, is built first upon this fact that the Christian is – “not under the law, but under grace”, and live with “no more condemnation” (Rom 8:1).
Paul goes onto say we need to believe two aspects of our liberty.
Likewise reckon (count) ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13Neither yields ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. Romans 6:11-13Reckoning Our Self ALIVE
This above describes a process that calls for the Christian to see both of two (2) aspects of truth that makes them free from the power of sin. 1) Reckon yourself dead unto sin, but also 2) reckon (or consider) yourself to be alive unto God. (Rom 6:11). Most Christians have heard they should reckon their selves to be dead, and in vain they try to make it so. Few have been told that this dying only becomes effectual when we see and believe the 2nd aspect – consider yourself “alive to God”. There is power in such a knowing. In the face of temptation we can now count our self to be dead to sin’s power over us.
How is this possible that we are dead and alive? Just before the above passage, Paul had explained: Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Romans 6:3 This then is the death we died in Him on the cross.Who Died?
We know that Jesus died on the cross. We know the Devil did not die – he is yet to be cast into the lake of fire. We need to understand that, beyond Christ’s shed blood and death for our justification and reconciliation with God, the Father was also interested in our death in order to end the hold the sinful flesh has had on us by our Old Man. God’s plan was that we might then be set at liberty, free from the down-pull and domination of “sin” via our Old Man.
Romans 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is (and remains) crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed (kartargeo, made of no effect), that henceforth we should not serve sin.
NOTE: Contrary to the KJV of this verse, our “body of sin” was not “destroyed”, but rather it was “made of no effect”, nullified, made unemployed. Note the Amplified Bible Translation “We know that our old (unrenewed) self was nailed to the cross with Him in order that [our] body [which is the instrument] of sin might be made ineffective and inactive for evil, that we might no longer be the slaves of sin.” )
The moment we trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as our savior, we, as the old man, died - with Him, we were in Him. Our immersion into Christ’s death sets us free from sin’s power over us, “For he that is dead is freed from sin (sin’s domination over us).” Romans 6:7
New Life
But His grace does not stop there; the wonderful thing is that we can be dead and yet still live - with Him, right now: Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Romans 6:4
It is only after we have received and believed the fact that we have died with and in Christ on the cross 2000 years ago - that we are able to really start living again, with Him, by His indwelling life that He has imparted to us. Rather than being bound to our Old Man, we are now bound to Christ as our new life. We are as the wife of a new husband – Christ (Rom 7:1-4).
Thus Paul goes on to state; But God be thanked, that ye were (past tense) the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made (past tense) free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. Romans 6:17-18
But now being (having been) made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. Romans 6:22
Declaring the Truth
Paul sums this up in a single verse. This verse is the core of truth we stand upon. Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of (ek, from) the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
How can I be dead and yet alive at the same time? The explanation is clear: it is not I anymore, but it is Christ who lives in me and it is His life - His power, energy and wisdom - that is to flow through me and be seen in my actions and attitudes. The wonderful truth is that Jesus Christ gave His life for me at Calvary, so that He might give His resurrected Spirit of life to me when I trusted Him, so that He might live His life through me day by day.
This is the glory of His grace; not simply that it saves us from eternal damnation in “the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death: No, there is more, “much more.” The glory of God’s grace to we who are “in Christ” is that His life is available to us, right now, Christ INDWELING US (Rom 8:8-10). This life saves us from the residue of our Old Man, as we trust and yield to Him in us as the new us. All the while we living under a new economy of God, a paradigm of pure grace expressed in “no more condemnation” (Rom 8:1).
For if, when we were enemies, we were (past tense) reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be (continually) saved by his life. Romans 5:10
We were saved from perdition by His death, but we are saved daily by His indwelling life.The Glorious Life “In Us”
Speaking about the believers in Colosse, Paul says, Col. 1:27 says: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
(Note: “Glory” is better understood, for the purpose of this paper, as meaning “expression”. The grace of Christ life indwelling us as our new life is the only hope we have of becoming expressers of His glorious life. WWJD imitation does not work.)
The “riches of the glory of this mystery” (Col 1:27) is defined as “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” This “riches” or wealth is what God wants His saints to appreciate and rejoice in. If all you understand about the grace dispensation is that we are not Israel and they are not us, you are missing the real wealth, because the “riches of His grace” are found in God’s saving godless Gentile sinners and then coming and living His life in them. Being set free from sin and having the life that spoke the universe into existence living in us is “the riches of the glory of this mystery”!
It is this truth of His life, “Christ in you, the hope of glory”, that empowers the believer’s walk. To be “dead to sin” provides needed freedom from sin’s dominion; to be “alive unto God” provides the capacity to use this freedom to bring forth “the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God” (Phil.1:11)Two Freedoms
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free (Gal 5:1). Although freedom can be misused, when it is used for its intended purpose, our freedom in Christ is our most valuable spiritual asset. There are two aspects to freedom: 1) freedom “from” and 2) freedom “for”.
1. By God’s grace we have been freed from sin, from both its condemnation and its dominion. We are free from guilt and shame. We are free from the downward impulses and urges we couldn’t stop when in bondage to sin. We are free from the tyranny of others expectations, opinions and demands. Praise God!
2. God’s grace has also made us free to follow the inward leading we have by the Spirit of Christ in us, free to live righteously, free to obey, free to love, free to forgive others as well as ourselves, free to live beyond the limitations of human effort, free to serve and glorify Christ, free to live as adult members of the family of God. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Romans 8:14Grown Up Sons of God
When we come to appreciate the freedom of our Sonship, we can voluntarily apply the wisdom of God to the details of our lives by making decisions based upon not only the written Word of God, but by the sense of living Word (Christ) who now indwells us as our new life. We then have made a transition from living by the outward word to the subjective indwelling word of God as our inner guide, speaking in us moment by moment, by the sense of His indwelling peace or lack thereof.
God is surely glorified when believers bear the fruits of their righteous standing in Christ. These “fruit of righteousness are by Jesus Christ” – that is, they are ours by Christ living His life through us. There is then literally an outbreak of the righteous character of God on the stage of human history through the lives of believers who bear these fruits. This is of course the result of us believing; the “word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe” (I Thess. 2:13).God Working In Us by Christ’s Indwelling Life
We could never accomplish this by or own doings, no matter how well intentioned. Just as an apple tree bears apples because of the life that is in it, so the believer bears the fruits of righteousness because of the life of Christ living through us.
When Paul says, “It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Phil.2:13), he is referring to the Spirit of God working in the believer’s inner man through the living Word of God. Our service is not born out of an outward law, promises, constraint, or necessity, but rather is the result of the life of Christ in us working His self out through the members of our body as we voluntarily apply God’s wisdom to the details of our lives.
2 Cor. 4:10-11 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.
Thus, the glory of God’s grace to us goes far beyond simply what He has and is doing for us. It extends to the manifestation of what He is doing in us and through us. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Eph. 2:10). <End>