Living Christ Spontaneously
By Arthur J Licursi

Col. 1:27 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:

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 the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Philip. 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.


What is the Christian life?

The Christian life is just Christ’s life. Christ Himself is the Christian within every believing child of God (Rom 8:8-10).


What does it mean for Christ to live within us?

Christ living within us means that Christ is our life and that He is living instead of us, spontaneously.


We are not to live by the “power” of God reaching down for us. Rather, God has made Christ’s life accessible, to be in us (Col 1:27). Christ lives within us and on our behalf, as the new us (Gal 2:20), automatically. This is an inheritance that we have by Christ in us (Eph 1:18). We can freely enjoy Christ’s life day by day, without law serving, petitioning or fasting. God has given Christ to us to be our life (Col 3:4a, 1John 4:13).

The Regulating Life Principal

Just as all kinds of life have their principal of life, Christ’s life inherently has a principal of life. The regulating principal of life is to regulate one spontaneously, according to the nature of that life. Consider that the regulating life principal of the dog's life causes it to automatically eat and bark. etc.; the fish’s regulating life principal has it to take flight at a seeing a shadow; birds are able to overcome gravity, etc. Nobody consciously tries to make their heart beat, it is spontaneous, automatic. There is no need for “us to do” anything. “The law (regulating principal) of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:2) dwells within us, in our human spirit (Zech 12:1, 1Cor 6:17, John 3:6). When this law operates, it spontaneously does things for us … as us.

Sadly, most born-again Christians still live under the burden of the rules of manmade religious laws that say or imply, “If you want to make God happy or, if you’re a good Christian you ought to be doing this … or that.” This kind of message promotes self-effort, separating the Christian from the automatic working of Christ’s regulating principal of the life within their spirit, as they then try to live by self-effort to meet the perceived goal of how to be through certain “doing.” Sadly, they listen to man and not Christ within. We need to see that “being who we are in Christ” is automatic and from within, but “doing to meet perceived requirements of God” under the burden of outer laws, is by self-effort and fruitless. These manmade outward laws make Christ, within the Christian’s spirit, to “become of no effect.” Galatians 5:4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

If the Christian life were not an automatic regulating life principal, there would then be the need for self-effort, and we would have to “do something” to try and live this wrongly perceived Christian life. But since it is a law as a regulating life principal within, there is no need for self-effort, and there is no need for us to do any work of our own, we simply and automatically cooperate with the regulating principal of the life within. This is a basis of rest for the Christian’s soul. Hebrews 4:10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

Suppose we are holding something in our hands. The moment we let go, the object will automatically fall downward. The force of gravity is the law or regulating principal that will produce certain results, automatically. Thankfully, we have, as it were, a bird-like regulating life principal, making us to overcome gravity or the downward pull of gravity, simply by the life within.

The Christian life is an automatic regulating life within us; we do not have to grasp onto such a life. Thank the Lord that such a law of life operates in a spontaneous way. God has put Christ in us and given Him to us for our inheritance. Christ is working spontaneously within us.

The daily life of a Christian is one of enjoying the automatic working of Christ’s life.

* On the one hand, we stand righteous in Christ, realizing that all that Christ has accomplished is ours, as our redemption, our righteousness and our sanctification. His sacrificial work on the cross on our behalf is counted to us as ours.
* On the other hand, while we live on this earth, Christ becomes to us everything that we need in order to live in rest and peace, even as we endure our daily experiences of the circumstances and situations of living.

Christianity is not a religion or a philosophy; it is His life living through us as our overcoming life, in a new normalcy. We have a life within us, and this life is just Christ Himself. There is no need for us to use our own strength; our strength is insufficient to change us, or to support us, when we hit what seemingly are immovable situations. Christ’s life will spontaneously express itself in “peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23Meekness, temperance.”

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Christ in us becomes our peace, meekness, our goodness, our humility, and our patience. God has put His Son within us so that Christ Himself will live spontaneously through us in all circumstances.

When we are tempted by anxiety, this life will manifest itself as peace and patience. When we are tempted by pride, this life will manifest itself automatically, pressing our conscience toward humility. When we are tempted by defilement, this life will manifest itself by our conscience automatically pushing us within, to live righteously. Christ will work in us to express His patience, His humility, His meekness, and His holiness. Christ then becomes our patience, our humility, holiness, etc.

There is no need to search our self as to whether we are measuring up to some religious standard. This working of Christ’s life is automatic, working in us as He wills. It is not a matter of our doing, but a matter of God’s work within us to allow Christ to live through us, as He wills it. Philip. 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. We do not need to fulfill any goals through living by self-effort or even by the “power” of the Lord working for us. The normal, spontaneous, manifestation of Christ Himself as the Spirit of life in our spirit fulfills God's goal as the new us. When the Lord is expressed through us, we become what He is in us, spontaneously. <END>