CHRIST LIVES IN ME

The moment you believed on Christ as your personal savior something wonderful happened to you.

There was some drastic changes that took place in your life! God identifies you with Christ. This truth is especially seen in the Pauline epistles where, over a hundred times, the apostle uses such phrases like “in Christ,” “in the beloved,” “in Him,” “with Christ,” etc. These phrases draw attention to our new position “in Christ” by which a person is united and identified with Christ.

*As Christ is eternal life, so we have eternal life (Romans 6:23).
*As Christ is perfect righteousness, so we have His righteousness (Philippians 3:9).
*As Christ is the Son, so we are now sons (Galatians 3:26).
*As Christ died unto sin, so we too have died unto sin (Romans 6:3).
*As Christ rose from the dead, so have we (Romans 6:5).
*As Christ is seated at God’s right hand, so are we (Ephesians 2:6).

The basis of these blessings is the finished work of salvation accomplished through the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.

GOD’S PLAN FOR LIVING:

Saved by grace (I am in Christ) and live by grace (Christ is living in me). God’s plan for victorious Christian living was expressed by the Apostle Paul in Galatians 2:20 when he wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

We have been saved by grace through faith because Christ died as our substitute.

“... Who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20).
When you became a Believer a great exchange took place. Jesus Christ took your place, and died for you on the cross. All of your sins were placed upon Jesus Christ, and He died in your place. In that great transaction Christ got all your sins, and you received His righteousness as your eternal position in Christ.
The Apostle Paul expressed this great spiritual truth in the following verses:

"He (God) made Him (Christ) who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (Christ)" (2 Corinthians 5:21).

“And may be found in Him (Christ), not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basic of faith” (Philippians 3:9).
The Apostle Peter made the same emphasis when he wrote, "For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit" (1 Peter 3:18). Then he goes on to say Christ "bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed" (1 Peter 2:24).

It’s all about grace!

We live the Christian life by grace through faith because Christ lives in us.

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20).

The Christian life is the work of God in you. It is your living faith in the adequacy of the One (Christ) who is in you. He (Christ) releases His divine activity through you. It is only by Christ living in us that we are able to do anything. We have absolutely no chance of obeying God with our own strength. We must have faith in Christ living in us.

Galatians 2:20 is Paul’s personal testimony and should be repeated by every believer in Christ (Rom. 6:3-11). Paul’s used the word “crucified” instead of “died” or “put to death” to stress our sinfulness. Only the worst criminals suffered crucifixion in Paul’s day.

Faith united us to Christ in such a way that we share in His death, burial, and resurrection. The verb is in the perfect tense which speaks of a past completed actions having present finished results. Every believer was crucified with Christ. This brought death to the Law. It also brought a change in regard to one’s self: “and I no longer live.”
The self-righteous, self-centered life died. Further, death with Christ ended our enthronement of self.

“Christ lives in me.” Basic to an understanding of this verse is the meaning of union with Christ. This doctrine is based on Romans 6:1-6 and 1 Corinthians 12:13, which explain that believers have been baptized by the Holy Spirit into Christ. This is the union of the vine and the branches. A Christian is one in whom Christ lives. Christ is our life and He is living His life in and through us (Col. 1:27;3:4).

Christ doesn’t operate automatically in a believer’s life. It is a matter of living “by faith in the Son of God.” This new life must be lived in the flesh, but not by the flesh. It is then faith and not works or legal obedience that releases divine power to live a victorious Christian life.
This faith, stated by Paul, builds on the sacrifice of Christ “who loved us and gave Himself for us.” In essence Paul affirmed, “If He loved me enough to give Himself for me, then He loves me enough to live out His life in me.”

It’s all about grace!

Rick
 

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