Learning to live by the indwelling life of Christ.
Yes, union with Christ is indeed liberty. It is freedom. But real freedom in Christ is the freedom to NOT exercise my freedom. Real freedom is the ability to put love above liberty. To bind my liberty with love’s demand – the demand of the life of Christ that calls for self-sacrifice and submission to the conscience of my brothers and sisters. This is the law of love. This is Christ in me. This is “to live is Christ.”
“To live is Christ” is to live under the never ending debt of love. The only debt in the world that won’t crush us. The one debt, that when we pay it forward will conform us to Christ.
“To live is Christ” means that Christ’s goodness is in you and me. And his goodness in us can overcome evil. The goodness of the cross, of unconditional love and grace, has already, and will one day, overcome all evil both in us and around us.
“To live is Christ” will do the same for others. It will sacrifice, even the relationship itself if necessary, in order to fight evil. And it will sacrifice its own life to cling to whatever good is there, no matter how small it may be. How is this possible? Because you have the genuine love of God in you through your union with Christ. You have his knowledge of good and evil. You have his life.
By our death and resurrection with Christ we know that we are alive to God’s love. Now our union with Christ, and his love, allows us to renew our minds day after day. Slowly but surely. Pursuing a deeper affection for Christ and his saints. Presenting ourselves as living sacrifices of love and mercy. This is the will of God. This is “to live is Christ.”
We trust Christ. We submit to Christ. We desire his life, his character, his love. His life becomes our law – the “law of Christ.” Not a law we must live up to, but a law that is alive in us. That’s “to live is Christ.”
