What is the normal
Christian life? We do well at the outset to ponder this question. The object of
these studies is to show that it is something very different from the life of
the average Christian. Indeed a consideration of the written Word of God -- of the
Sermon on the Mount for example -- should lead us to ask whether such a life
has ever in act been lived upon the earth, save only by the Son of God Himself.
But in that last saving clause lies immediately the answer to our question. The
Apostle Paul gives us his own definition of the Christian life in Galations
2:20. It is "no longer I, but Christ". Here he is not stating
something special or peculiar -- a high level of Christianity. He is, we
believe, presenting God's normal for a Christian, which can be summarized in
the words: I live no longer, but Christ lives His life in me. God makes it
quite clear in His Word that He has only one answer to every human need -- His
Son, Jesus Christ. In all His dealings with us He works by taking us out of the
way and substituting Christ in our place. The Son of God died instead of us for
our forgiveness: He lives instead of us for our deliverance. So we can speak of
two substitutions -- a Substitute on the Cross who secures our forgiveness and
a Substitute within who secures our victory. It will help us greatly, and save
us from much confusion, if we keep constantly before us this fact, that God
will answer all our questions in one way only, namely, by showing us more of
His Son...Read More
