NEW LIFE IN CHRIST

by Bob Wheeler

            We sometimes hear it said today that “the church is not a museum of saints but a hospital for sinners”; and there is a certain measure of truth to that.  The primary mission of the church is to reach the lost for Christ; and when we come to Christ we are saved, not on the basis of any works we have done, but because of the perfect righteousness of Christ which is imputed to us.  As Martin Luther famously put it, we are “simul iustus et peccator” — at the same time righteous and a sinner.  We are, after all, sinners saved by grace.

            But the statement can also be misleading, if it suggests that how we live does not matter, that Christ knows that we are all sinners and accepts us just the same anyway.  It is tempting to think that if we are justified by grace through faith it does not matter how we live.  Our sins have been forgiven, and “once saved, always saved.”

            The question is not new.  In fact it had been raised in Paul’s own day.  He was the apostle to the Gentiles, and he was preeminently the preacher of “justification by faith.”  But the question immediately arose, if a Gentil comes to faith in Christ, is he required to be circumcised and to keep the entire Mosaic law?  There were many early Christians from Jewish backgrounds who were quick to answer “yes.”  And it was primarily to deal with this controversy that Paul wrote his epistle to the Galatians.

            Having given us a clear statement of the doctrine of justification by faith in Chapter 2, verses 15 and 16, Paul the goes on to state the objection: “But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves are also found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin?” (v. 17: NKJV).  And Paul immediately answers, “Certainly not!”  There has been endless debate among the commentators over exactly what Paul meant by “We ourselves also are found sinners,” but it is clear from the passage that Paul definitely believed that “we seek to be justified by Christ,” but that Christ is not, therefore, “a minister of sin,” the word “minister” (diakonos) meaning here someone who assists or facilitates something.

            But why?  If Christ freely forgives us, if our salvation is by faith and not by works, what difference does it make how we live?  Paul goes on to explain: “For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.  For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God” (vv. 18,19).  The purpose of salvation is not just simply to give us a free ticket to go on sinning; rather, it is to free us from both the guilt and the power of sin.  The old sinful life was ‘destroyed”; and what has taken its place is a relationship with God – “that I might live to God.”

            When Paul says that he “died to the law” he is evidently referring tot the Torah, the law given to Moses, the Mosaic Covenant, the law that the Jewish Christians thought that Gentile converts needed to obey.  But that law was never able to make someone genuinely righteous in the sight of God – it simply showed us how deeply sinful we really were.  But it brought us to Christ to receive forgiveness; and having been forgiven, we receive new life in Christ, and thus we should live like Christ.

            Paul then goes on in verse 20 to give us a classic description of what salvation is like: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

            In what sense was Paul “crucified with Christ”?    Certainly not in the literal sense that he was there, with Christ at Calvary, hanging on a cross.  But when we are baptized  we participate in  a symbolic death and resurrection, and are formally joined to Christ in the New Covenant (cf. Rom. 6:3-7; Gal. 3:7; Col. 2:11,12).  The “old man” is symbolically destroyed, and we ae resurrected with new life in Christ.

            Outwardly, of course, we still look like the same person we were before.  We still have the same birth certificate, the same Social Security card, and the same driver’s license.  But inwardly we are different.  There is a spiritual life that was not there before – a new awareness, new interests, new desires.  It is the result of the Holy Spirit at work inside our hearts transforming us inwardly.  It is, in effect, “Christ living in me.”

            And this, in turn, means that we now live by faith in Christ.  Daily we are beset by trials, temptations and afflictions of every kind.  Our own strength, our natural talents and abilities, are not sufficient to meet the challenges.  We must consciously rely on Christ for the inward strength which only He can give, and thereby obtain the victory.  “For without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

            “Christ lives in me.”  The problem with the modern church is that it is too accustomed to a formal, institutionalized pattern of church life; and, in a sense, that puts us more or less in the same position as the Jews of Paul’s day.  Not that we are careful to keep all of the commandments of the Mosaic law; but most of our religion consists of outward observance.  We are careful to be outwardly decent and respectable, and we actively participate in the various activities of our local churches.  But there is too little prayer, serious Bible study, or heartfelt worship.  There is little felt presence of God in our congregations or our individual lives.  We honor God with our lips, but our hearts are far from Him (Isa. 29:13).  We have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof (II Tim. 3:5).

            A merely external religion, however, misses the whole point.  True religion is not a mere formal, external observance of rules and regulations.  It is deep personal relationship with Christ Himself.  It is “Christ living in me.”  Oh may God stir our hearts to love Him truly!  Lord, send a revival of true heart religion, and then we shall be genuinely blessed!