THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
AND HOW IT IS TO BE LIVED
from the Church in which George Zeller servers
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"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." (Galatians 2:20)
"But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was
bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly
than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me."
(1 Corinthians 15:10)
"Oh to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be!"
"Praise the Saviour ye who know Him! Who can tell how much we owe
Him! Gladly let us render to Him all we are and have!" (Taken from
two Hymns)
It is essential that every believer examine the Scriptures
diligently to see what God teaches concerning the Christian life
and how it is to be lived. There are many false views being held
today, such as the view which says that the believer is under the
law as a rule of life and as a means of sanctification. Scofield
countered this false teaching in his note which is found under
Galatians 1:6, "The test of the Gospel is grace. If the message
excludes grace, or mingles law with grace as the means either of
justification or sanctification (Gal. 2:21; 3:1-3), or denies the
fact or guilt of sin which alone gives grace its occasion and
opportunity, it is 'another' gospel, and the preacher of it is
under the anathema of God."
The Lord Jesus Christ is our LIFE. "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also
are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be
married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that
we should bring forth fruit unto God" (Romans 7:4). By God's grace
we have been united to Christ in a wonderful union. May the Lord
open our eyes to see these things.
The following passages, arranged in various categories, might be of
help to you in discerning the Christian life, what it is all about
and how it is to be lived. The teaching of the New Testament
epistles is very clear. May God help us to understand these
things.
1) THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS NOTHING LESS THAN THE LIFE OF
CHRIST.
"I am the Vine, ye are the branches" (John 15:5)
"...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)
"Christ liveth in me" (Gal. 2:20)
"For to me to live is Christ" (Phil. 1:21)
"Christ in you, the hope of glory...when Christ who is our life,
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory" (Col.
1:27; 3:3-4).
"That the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our
body...that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our
mortal flesh" (2 Cor. 4:10-11)
"My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ
be formed in you" (Gal. 4:19)
The Christian life is Christ manifesting and outworking His life in
the believer!
2) THE OUTWORKING OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST IS ACCOMPLISHED BY
THE POWER OF THE INDWELLING HOLY SPIRIT.
"For He dwelleth with you and shall be in you" (John 14:17)
"He shall testify of Me...He shall glorify Me" (John 15:26;
16:14)
"But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon
you" (Acts 1:
"And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all" (Acts
4:33)
"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me
free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:2)
"That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who
walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Romans 8:4)
"This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the
lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16)
"That ye might know...what is the exceeding greatness of his power
to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty
power" (Eph. 1:18-19)
"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all
that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us"
(Eph. 3:20)
3) THE DYNAMIC OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS GOD'S GREAT WORKING
IN ME.
"That no flesh should glory in His presence" (1 Cor. 1:29 and also
in verse 30 I learn that Jesus Christ is my sanctification or my
holiness)
"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)
"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor
uncircumcision, but a new creature" (Gal. 6:15).
"For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his
good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13).
"Without Me ye can do nothing" (John 15:5)
"Whereunto I also labor, striving according to His working, which
worketh in me mightily" (Col. 1:29)
"Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you
that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to
whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen" (Heb. 13:21)
4) THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS BASED UPON THE FINISHED WORK OF
JESUS CHRIST.
The key is not what I do but what Jesus Christ has already
done.
We all know that this is true when it comes to our salvation. We
rest upon the finished work of Christ. When it comes to Christian
living many believers stop doing this. Jesus Christ has done the
work. We simply need to believe it and claim it.
"Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the
body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve
sin" (Rom. 6:6). The crucifixion of the old man is not something
that we need to do. This was something already done approximately
2000 years ago.
"I have been crucified with Christ" (Gal. 2:20--it's an
accomplished fact!)
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old
things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Cor.
5:17). We are not told to be a new creature. This is not a command
to obey but a fact to believe!
"Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man
with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in
knowledge after the image of him that created him" (Col. 3:9-10).
Notice that Paul does not tell us to put off the old man and put on
the new man [although he does tell us this in Ephesians chapter 4].
In Colossians chapter 3 the emphasis is upon positional truth and
Paul says that putting off the old man is not something that the
believer needs to do because it has already been done. YE HAVE PUT
OFF THE OLD MAN, and that's a fact! We must claim God's fact by
faith.
5) THE GREAT TRUTHS OF IDENTIFICATION
To be saved I believed the glorious fact that Jesus Christ died and
rose again for me. To live the Christian life I must believe the
glorious fact that I died with Christ and rose again with Christ.
Both of these facts have been accomplished. The truth that relates
to my salvation (justification) involves SUBSTITUTION (Christ died
for my sins!). The truth that relates to my Christian life
(sanctification) involves IDENTIFICATION (I died with Christ!).
Notice the following verses which involve IDENTIFICATION:
"How shall we that have died to sin live any longer therein?"
(Romans 6:2)
"Knowing this that our old man was crucified with Him" (Romans
6:6)
"I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live" (Gal.
2:20)
"Ye died with Christ" (Col. 2:20)
"For ye died and your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Col.
3:3)
"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that
we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness" (1 Pet.
2:24)
6) CLAIMING THE FACTS OF GOD'S WORD BY FAITH
These facts are true of every believer. The key to having these
facts become true in our actual experience is FAITH. The more we
believe the facts the more those facts will become true in our
actual experience. Too often we turn away from the facts of our
perfect position in Jesus Christ and we get our eyes wrongly
focused upon our failing and struggling condition. One believer
gave this helpful illustration: "Fact, Faith and Experience were
walking along the top of a wall. Fact walked steadily on, turning
neither to the right nor left and never looking behind. Faith
followed on, and all went well so long as he kept his eyes focused
upon Fact; but as soon as he became concerned about Experience and
turned to see how he was getting on, he lost his balance and
tumbled off the wall, and poor old Experience fell down after him."
Faith is the key!
"Likewise reckon [count on the facts!] ye also yourselves to be
dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our
Lord" (Rom. 6:11)
"Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him
through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from
the dead" (Col. 2:12)
"I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave
Himself for me" (Gal. 2:20)
"For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor
uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love" (Gal. 5:6)
"So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief....Let
us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall
after the same example of unbelief" (Heb. 3:19; 4:11)
"For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is
the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith" (1 John
5:4)
"That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith" (Eph. 3:17)
"THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH" (Heb. 10:3
7) THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS TO CONTINUE JUST AS IT
COMMENCED.
"As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in
him" (Col. 2:6)
"For we walk by faith, not be sight" (2 Cor. 5:7)
"Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by the
hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit,
are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" (Gal. 3:2-3)
"For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by
faith...Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey
the truth?" (Gal. 5:5-7)
"Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking
unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith" (Heb.
12:1-2)
AS IT IS
WITH THE GOSPEL, SO IT IS WITH THE CHRISTIAN LIFE: THE CROSS MUST
BE CENTRAL!
"But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto
the world" (Gal. 6:14)
"I have been crucified with Christ" (Gal. 2:20)
"Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him" (Rom.
6:6)
"For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus
Christ, and him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2)
"That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the
fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his
death" (Phil. 3:10)
"Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that
the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we
which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake"
(2 Cor. 4:10-11).
"For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge,
that if one died for all, then all died: And that he died for all,
that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves,
but unto him which died for them, and rose again" (2 Cor.
5:14-15)
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into
the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth
forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he
that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal"
(John 12:24-25)
"For ye died and your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Col.
3:3)
"Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm
yourselves likewise with the same mind" (1 Pet. 4:1)
9) THE CHRISTIAN IS NOT UNDER THE LAW AS A RULE OF LIFE AND
THE CHRISTIAN IS NOT UNDER THE LAW AS A MEANS OF
SANCTIFICATION.
"For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the
law, but under grace" (Rom. 6:14 and see verse 15)
"This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the
works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish?
having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?"
(Gal. 3:2-3)
"But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law" (Gal.
5:1
"The just shall live by faith and the law is not of faith: but the
man that doeth them shall live in them" (Gal. 3:11-12)
The law cannot give life. The law cannot make a person holy. It
cannot sanctify. There is no problem with the law (Rom. 7;12)
except that sinful persons cannot keep it (Rom. 7:14). Those who
put themselves under law will certainly experience bondage because
sin will have dominion over them (compare Rom. 6:14). Jesus Christ
is our rule of life: "For to me to live is Christ" (Phil. 1:21).
Our fleshly struggles and striving to keep God's holy law can only
end in failure. "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus
hath made me free from the law of sin and death" (Rom. 8:2). The
law can never be fulfilled by us, but it can be fulfilled IN US by
the power and working of God appropriated by faith: "That the
righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not
after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Rom. 8:4). Salvation is "by
grace through faith" and so is sanctification.
10) THE CHRISTIAN LIFE OWES EVERYTHING TO THE GRACE OF
GOD!
"That no flesh should glory is His presence" (1 Cor. 1:29)
"But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was
bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly
than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me"
(1 Cor. 15:10)
"For by grace are ye saved through faith...For we are his
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God
hath before ordained that we should walk in them....For in Christ
Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision,
but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule,
peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God" (Eph.
2:8-10; Gal. 6:15-16).
"What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but
under grace? God forbid" (Rom. 6:15 and see verse 14)
"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all
men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we
should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world"
(Tit. 2:11-12)
"And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye,
always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every
good work" (2 Cor. 9:
"His grace is sufficient for thee" (2 Cor. 12:9)
"Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ
Jesus" (2 Tim. 2:1)
"Paul and Barnabas...persuaded them to continue in the grace of
God" (Acts 13:43--we are not just saved by grace but we must
continue in grace. The Christian life must continue as it
commenced)
"That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign
through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord"
(Rom. 5:21)
"We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye
receive not the grace of God in vain" (2 Cor. 6:1)
"I do not frustrate the grace of God" (Gal. 2:21; and see Gal. 5:4
and Heb. 12:15)
"But grow in grace" (2 Pet. 3:1
Grace means that God gets all the credit! It is His salvation! It
is His LIFE! It is His working! It is His power! To God be the
glory! Worthy is the Lamb! May Christ be magnified in our bodies
(Phil. 1:20)! May the beauty of the Lord God rest upon us! May
Christ be formed in us (Gal. 4:19)! May His fruit be to His glory
(Phil. 1:11)! May we be trophies of His grace (Eph. 2:7)! OH TO
GRACE HOW GREAT A DEBTOR DAILY I'M CONSTRAINED TO BE! "By the grace
of God I am what I am!" (1 Cor. 15:10). "That, according as it is
written, He that glorieth (boasteth), let him glory (boast) in the
Lord!" (1 Cor. 1:31)
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