Learning to live by the indwelling life of Christ.
Now we understand. We are no longer bewildered as David was over the world’s consternation. We count the cost of following Christ, and we find joy in suffering for his name’s sake. How? Because we know that in Christ all weakness is strength, and all dishonor is glory. We know that our suffering, like Christ’s, is always redemptive. We know that to live is Christ and to die is gain.
“To live is Christ” means that we have been welcomed by Christ Jesus. When we trust that he loves us in spite of our sinfulness and weakness, we will be freed in our hearts to welcome and live in harmony with our brothers and sisters in Christ for the glory of God.
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 