Galatians 2:20. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
How would a person that is controlled by the life of Christ look different from someone who is controlled by the Law? What does faith look like in our every day lives?
The law ( any system of self justification) will always lead to pride when we succeed at obeying it and despair when we fail at keeping it. By contrast, a life controlled by Christ’s life will be a life of selflessness, self forgetfulness– no inferiority and no superiority. It will be lived by faith in what Christ has done not your own efforts. It will manifest itself as unconditional love for others. Living by faith means living by what Jesus has already done, not by what we can do for God.
Faith is trust in Christ and not ourselves, which gives us a new spiritual understanding of life. It is a new spiritual impulse that, over time, makes us more and more aware of the spiritual realm and the life of Christ inside of us and other believers. The result is new desires, new emotions, and new tendencies (i.e. Jesus’ life).
Have you seen yourself living by this new spiritual impulse? What makes this idea difficult to grasp? What are your “normal” reactions to life’s situations? What are your habitual responses? Are they rooted in Christ or in your selfish flesh? You can tell the difference by what your responses produce. If your reactions and responses produce either pride or despair, then you are operating from the law and the flesh. Not from Christ’s life.
“To live is Christ” is the life of faith that is so focused on Christ that it produces a normal and natural self forgetfulness- neither the superiority or inferiority that come from living by law.
To Live is Christ 