We probably all have some ideas about what the Christian life is supposed to be. For instance, we might think it’s about imitating Jesus, behaving ethically, performing charitable works for God’s glory, or being a good person.
God certainly doesn’t want us to live in an immoral or unethical way. But even if we are upstanding people living according to excellent moral principles, does that make God happy? What kind of living truly pleases God?
In order to answer these questions, we need to see what the Christian life is according to the Bible, not according to what we may have picked up from religious traditions or our own concepts. In this post, we’ll address this subject in a brief way by reading verses and notes in the New Testament Recovery Version.
What happened when we were saved
When we repented and believed in Jesus, we received God’s forgiveness. But that’s not all. We were also born again with the divine life of God. That’s why John 3:6 says:
“That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
And 1 Corinthians 15:45 tells us that when Jesus resurrected from the dead, “The last Adam [Christ] became a life-giving Spirit.”
As the life-giving Spirit, Christ enters all those who believe in Him to live in them, that is, in their human spirit. This is the meaning of regeneration: our spirit was born of the Spirit, and now Christ as the Spirit is with us all the time. Second Timothy 4:22 clearly says:
“The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.”
It’s an astounding fact that Christ as the life-giving Spirit is now in our spirit!
But what do these verses about being born of the Spirit and Christ being the life-giving Spirit have to do with our Christian life? Everything!
Simply put, Christ came into us so He could be our life and so we could live by Him. This is what the New Testament reveals to us, especially in the epistles of Paul.
To live is Christ
Before the apostle Paul was saved, he was zealous for the law of God given through Moses. As a Pharisee, he belonged to the strictest sect of the Jewish religion. The four Gospels record the Pharisees’ hostility toward Jesus throughout His ministry. Even after Jesus was crucified and resurrected, the Pharisees, including Paul, continued to persecute His believers. But one day, the resurrected Jesus appeared to Paul, and he was saved. From that day on, Christ lived in Paul.
In Philippians 1:21, Paul said something striking:
“To me to live is Christ.”
Paul didn’t say that he was living according to the law of God, or even according to a new religion. He said that for him, to live is Christ. But what does this mean?
The first part of note 1 on this verse in the New Testament Recovery Version explains:
“Paul’s life was to live Christ. To him, to live was Christ, not the law or circumcision. He would not live the law but would live Christ, not be found in the law but be found in Christ (3:9). Christ was not only his life but also his living. He lived Christ because Christ lived in him (Gal. 2:20). He was one with Christ in both life and living. He and Christ had one life and one living. They lived together as one person.”
After Paul was born again, his life radically changed. He was no longer interested in striving to live according to the law or having a good, upright life. He realized Christ was in him as his life, which meant He could be his living. Actually, as the note states, Christ and Paul lived together as one person.
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To live Christ is to magnify Him
The last part of this note says:
“Christ lived within Paul as Paul’s life, and Paul lived Christ without as Christ’s living. The normal experience of Christ is to live Him, and to live Him is to magnify Him always, regardless of the circumstances.”
So the normal experience of Christ isn’t striving to be like Him. It’s also not trying to remember everything Jesus said and did or asking ourselves what Jesus would do in any given situation.
Rather, our normal experience of Christ is to live Him, which is to magnify Him, regardless of our circumstances.
The concept of magnifying Christ appears in Paul’s own writing in Philippians 1:20, where he says: “Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death.”
To magnify something is to make it appear larger and more visible. As Paul lived Christ, Christ was expressed and even magnified through him; He was made visible for all to see.
When Paul wrote to the Philippian believers about magnifying Christ, he wasn’t in the easiest of circumstances. In fact, he was a prisoner in Rome. But regardless of his outward situation, Paul aspired to live Christ and magnify Him, through life or even through death, so that others could see Christ.
The effect of Paul’s living and magnifying Christ
At the end of Paul’s epistle, we get a glimpse of the effect his living had on those around him. In Philippians 4:22, he wrote:
“All the saints greet you, and especially those of Caesar’s household.”
Here, Paul sent greetings to the Philippian believers from the saints—that is, the believers—in Rome, and especially from those of Caesar’s household.
Nero was the Roman emperor at the time of Paul’s writing, and history tells us he was exceedingly immoral, cruel, and evil. Yet some in his household believed in Christ! How could such a thing have happened?
Note 1 on those of Caesar’s household in this verse explains:
“Caesar’s household comprised all who were attached to the palace of Nero. Some of these were converted through contact with Paul and became believers in Christ in Rome.”
Paul was seemingly just a lowly prisoner suffering in a fearful situation. Yet even in those circumstances, he lived and magnified Christ, the One who was his life and could endure any kind of suffering. What people saw was not Paul behaving as a good or admirable man, but the peerless Jesus living and being expressed through him. Because Paul magnified Christ, even some of Caesar’s household became believers.
Our living today
Paul truly is a pattern for all believers today. He realized that since Christ as the life-giving Spirit was within him, he and Christ had one life and one living, even living together as one person. This is the way God desires all of us to live. Only this kind of living results in us expressing Christ and magnifying Him.
So every day we must turn to Christ in our spirit, again and again. We need to contact Him by calling on His name and praying short prayers throughout the day. We can talk to Him about anything and everything.
For example, no matter where we are, we can pray something like this:
“Oh, Lord Jesus. I don’t know how to respond to this person. Thank You, You’re with me right now. I don’t want to express myself. Lord, I want to live You and magnify You in this situation.”
As we contact the Lord in our spirit, we allow Him to be our life. Then in a practical way, we can be one with Him and live Him. Spontaneously, we’ll express His feelings, words, and actions, and not our own. Like those of Caesar’s household saw in Paul, others will see in us something more excellent than a good person living an upright life. They’ll see the beauty of Jesus Christ in His virtues such as patience, love, endurance, and kindness being expressed through us. This is the living that pleases God and fulfills His eternal purpose.
We could only give a basic introduction to the matter of living Christ in this post. If you live in the US, we encourage you to order a free copy of the New Testament Recovery Version here so you can read all the verses cited with their accompanying notes and cross-references.
