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OF COURSE, SOMETIMES WE STILL TURN DEPENDENCY ON THE indwelling Christ into an opportunity to self-examine and introspect. And this isn’t any better than any other religious move: “Am I abiding? What do I need to do to abide better?”
The term abide, I’ve noticed, is often used by those who seek something to do in order to maintain the reality of Christ living through them. The word abide simple means “to live,” and Christ already lives in Christians! Some have made it out to be something beyond what Jesus intended it to be. Christ abiding in us is a truth, not a command for us to keep up our end of some bargain. Of course there are moment-by-moment choices to walk by faith, but the religion of “I must get Christ to abide in me” is a self-focus that is not the intention of the New. For this reason, I think it’s valuable to address some issues related to the actual phenomenon of Christ living through us.
A KNOWING
If you’ve received Christ, then he lives in you, no matter what. Whether or not he lives through you in a given moment is simply a choice away. The Holy Spirit doesn’t overpower you or circumvent your will. Instead, he wants you to respond to his counsel. As he counsels you and you respond to that counsel, Christ is living through you. It’s simple, not complicated. In fact, the entire inner workings of your being are geared for this reality to occur. As you allow Christ to counsel you and express himself through your personality, you’re fulfilling your destiny.
Christ living
through you
is not a feeling.
Christ living through you is not a feeling. It’s not an emotional experience that you pursue. Having Christ live through you is really about knowing who you are and being yourself. Since Christ is your life, your source of true fulfillment, you’ll only be content when you are expressing him. As you express him, you also express who God has made you to be.
God doesn’t override us. However, God hasn’t left us to our own devices to cope with life and be godly. Either of these extremes can harm our understanding of the gospel. God wants us to know that his Son works in us, through us, and alongside us since we’re spiritually joined to him. Having Christ live through us begins with knowing that his life resides in us.
In all of this, we’re talking about a knowing, not a feeling.
JUST LIKE YOU
To everyone else, it’ll just look like you. And it should look like you! Don’t expect people to run up to you and ask a lot of questions because they notice how much you’re like Jesus. When some people think of Jesus Christ, they hold a certain picture in their minds. It may have little or nothing to do with what the Holy Spirit is working in you.
Paul tells us that the treasure of Christ’s life is in “jars of clay” so that we will be reminded that God is the source, not us (2 Corinthians 4:7). Some may notice that we have an overall sense of peace or rest in our lives. They may also notice that we respond to some circumstances in an unusual manner. Or they may not notice anything at all. The popular teaching that everybody’s watching and that we live in glass houses doesn’t jibe with reality. The reality is that most people are busy thinking about themselves! However, you are well aware of the life that you carry within, and that is what is most important.
WITHIN OUR COMFORT ZONES
The idea that “Christ through me” could be frightening is rooted in a faulty sense of God’s character. What’s not to like about a God who is always for us and doesn’t hold anything against us? If we’re hesitant to relinquish our daily lives to God, it’s because we don’t yet trust his goodness.
“God is always good to me” is
an altogether different thought.
Sure, we may know that God is good. But “God is always good to me” is an altogether different thought. Our fear of depending fully on Christ may also stem from not realizing that he thoroughly enjoys us. He has no desire to erase our uniqueness and turn us into clones. He considers our hobbies, interests, and senses of humor, and he wants to work through these in the expression of his life.
I often hear it quite loudly proclaimed that we need God to take us out of our comfort zones. Certainly, the Christian life is no promise of smooth sailing and easy circumstances. But it’s important to know that we’ve been rebuilt to display God. “Christ through us” lies within our comfort zones. We’re made for expression of him, and anything else is unnatural and uncomfortable for us .
TO W ILL AND DO
God won’t make us do things we don’t want to do. Instead, the Bible tells us that God works in us to will (want) and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose (Philippians 2:13). This means we’ll genuinely want what God wants. If it’s not placed on our hearts, it’s not of him.
God works through our hearts and minds to cause us to walk in his ways. He’s not asking us to live a life we don’t want to live. On the contrary, he has placed Christ’s desires within us, and we’re only satisfied as we fulfill them. Whether we realize it or not, our greatest desire is to express Christ in every moment.
Sometimes when people hear the term surrender, they imagine their entire lives hanging in the balance as they decide whether or not to go on the mission field. This idea is misleading, since most believers need to settle in and know Christ in their current circumstances rather than trying to alter them. Although some may end up changing their vocation or the place they live, most of God’s children are intended for a setting they already know.
Jesus demonstrated
that humanity is
capable of displaying
the divine.
Are you open to Christ living through your current, everyday life? Or must he change your circumstances for you to believe that he can live through you? We must grasp that Christ is compatible with our humanity, no matter where we live and no matter what our daily lives involve.
One reason that Jesus was born as a baby and lived for thirty-three years in genuine human flesh was to demonstrate that humanity is capable of displaying the divine.
LOOK FOR EVIDENCE?
Of course, the idea of Jesus living through your personality can lead to a measuring of sorts. Sometimes people become introspective about the whole thing: “Am I depending enough? Is Jesus truly living through me? Do I have enough works to show for it?” And maybe no other passage fuels this introspection more than James 2. For this reason, we should address the true context of the Bible’s faith-works chapter. Is James really telling us to examine our Christian life’s track record to determine if we’re trusting? Should we self-examine to such a degree? Or is his landmark chapter really about something else altogether?
Throughout history, many have struggled with this passage. In fact, Martin Luther held that James shouldn’t be part of the biblical canon because of the presence of this faith-works passage! Admittedly, it’s not easy at first glance to reconcile the teaching of James 2 with the teachings of Romans, for instance, which state that we’re justified by faith alone and not by works (Romans 3:28; 9:30-32).
James 2 clearly says we’re justified by works too, not by faith alone. To dance around this passage by saying it refers to works after salvation is faulty. The passage specifically asks, “Can such faith save them?” (James 2:14). In addition, it repeatedly addresses the issue of becoming justified before God, a status that occurs at salvation. Without a doubt, James says we’re justified by works and not by faith alone. But the important question is: What does James mean by “works”?
I believe the key to understanding this passage is to avoid bringing our twenty-first-century mind-set to the table, especially with regard to the term works. Rather than assuming that works should be understood as a lifelong record of religious activity, one should consult the biblical text and let the writer himself define the term. James’s own use of the term works is quite different from how we use it today.
The purpose
of James 2 is to
communicate that
faith without
decision or response
is dead faith.
James explains that even demons can believe the basics of Christianity—that there is one God, and so forth (2:19). He shows us the difference between nodding your head with dead faith versus expressing living faith. The purpose of the passage is to communicate that faith without decision or response is dead faith.
James uses two Old Testament examples, Rahab and Abraham, to explain justification by works. Both characters actively responded to God’s message. They didn’t sit back passively and claim that they believed God. Rahab decided to open her door to the spies (Joshua 2:1), and Abraham chose to offer his son on the altar (Genesis 22:3). They went beyond mere intellectual assent and did something in response to God’s message.
But how many times did Rahab open the door? Once. And how many times did Abraham hoist his son Isaac on the altar? Once. Hence, works in this passage is really not about a lifelong track record of good behavior. It’s actually about the importance of responding to truth—an act that goes beyond intellectual agreement. James 2 might be summarized by the following train of thought:
James 2 communicates that personal decision is necessary in order for true salvation to occur. Those who appear to fall away from belief in Jesus are those who merely associated themselves with certain doctrines for whatever reason. They may abandon Christianity the movement. They may abandon Christians, sometimes accompanied by personal resentment. But they don’t abandon Christ, since they never knew him. Ascribing to certain doctrines is one thing, but opening the door of your life and receiving the life of Christ is altogether different.
If you opened the door
of your life, I think you’ve
met the requirement
of James 2.
Once James 2 is seen in context, it doesn’t conflict with Romans or any other faith-centered passage. We need to recognize that this passage in James does not seem to be referring to a postsalvation experience. It’s specifically addressing the question, “Can such faith save them?” (James 2:14). From there, we must grasp James’s own use of the term works by consulting the examples he gives. James’s purpose is to contrast mere intellectual agreement with active, saving faith that involves receiving the life of Christ. When Christ stood at the door and knocked, did you respond by opening the door, as Rahab did? If so, I think you’ve met the “requirement” of this historically controversial faith-works passage.
James 2 is not inviting us to introspect and assess our long-term track record of good works; in context, it appears to be contrasting dead faith (intellectual assertion only) with living faith (true conviction followed by decision) .
We must never forget that truth is supposed to set us free!