0805. The Life Which Is in Christ Jesus

The Life Which Is in Christ Jesus

The Life Defined (1Jn_5:11-12).

The Life and Its Manifestations (Rom_6:4).

The Life and Its Security (Col_3:3).

The Life and Its Precedence (Gal_2:20).

The Life and the Life More Abundant (Joh_10:10).

The Life and Its Tabernacle (2Co_4:7).

The Life and How It Is Obtained (1Pe_1:23).

Unless we have the Life which is in Christ Jesus, we have nothing worth the while; we have nothing upon which to build; we have no basis of development and of growth.

A mere churchanity is not sufficient. A mere formal profession of Christ is not enough. To know all about Christ Jesus will not meet the depths of our need. We must have the Life which is in Christ Jesus.

Our theme is not one of profession but of possession. We are not to discuss imitating Christ, but possessing Christ. It is not a matter of Christ without, our example; but of Christ within, our life.

A song is often sung:

"As lives the flower within the seed,

As in the cone, the tree;

So, praise the Lord of truth and grace,

His Spirit liveth in me."

The song contains a truth, but the truth is very poorly expressed. The Spirit of Christ does live in believers; but He does not live there by any natural manifestation or development.

There is no greater fallacy than that which supposes that the life of Christ is resident in embryo, in every life, and only needs to be fanned, in order to produce the matured life which is in Christ Jesus.

Christ does not live in us, as the cone lives in the tree at all. Christ lives in us by a new, a supernatural birth. It is our purpose to go into this all-important theme, and to consider what the Word of God says about this Life which is in Christ Jesus

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR