Reference: Galatians 2:20
If you will read the tenth chapter of the book of St. John you will find Jesus saying that he is come to give lifeand that more abundantly. Have you ever wondered just exactly what this life isthat Jesus is talking about in this chapter of John's gospel? You are no doubtaware of the fact that this life is referring to the Christian life. Theapostle Paul tells us in our text of Galatians2:20 that he was crucified withChrist but nevertheless he lived. He goes on to say that the life that he livedin the flesh was lived by the faith of the Son of God.
Now we know that the apostle Paul livedand experienced the Christian life so if we want to know what this life is thenwe must go to the word of God and find out exactly what it is. I am quite surethat many people don't know what the true Christian life is and for this veryreason many people will be deceived into accepting a false concept ofsalvation. In order for us to know exactly what the Christian life consists ofthen we must get the knowledge of the facts from God's holy word of truth.
I am very sure that there are thousands ofpeople in the world today confessing to be born again children of God who areabsolutely not living the Christian life as the Bible reveals it. There aremany different views in the world today as to what a true Christian is and whatare the things they do and accomplish in their life that they live. If we wereto look at the many different organizations in the world today that confessesto be the body of Christ, I will guarantee that we will find many of them thatshare different views about the Christian life as to what it consists of. Thereare many organizations that will tell you that the Christian life is a lifethat the Christian will have to observe and keep the laws of the TenCommandments. Many of these organizations will say that this is the only way alife that will completely satisfy a believer in Christ.
The reason why they will say this isbecause of the fact that sin in the life of a person will lead to destructionand an unhappy life. This is very true, but the true Christian life is not alife of struggling to keep the laws of the Ten Commandments. Sin is of coursetransgressing the laws of the Ten Commandments, but law keeping is one thingand law breaking is another thing. A true born again Christian is free from thelaw meaning they are not under its condemnation.
To be free from the law simply means thatwe will not be under its condemnation, but rather we will be under grace. To beunder grace means we spiritually live in a realm where the law does not concernus. Living in this realm does not mean that we can transgress or break the law.To do so is what the Bible calls the transgression of the law or better knownas sin.
A person under grace has been miraculouslyand spiritually transformed from the natural realm of a sinful life. Thetransformation to this life is known consciously. This spiritual realm is whatthe Bible calls the kingdom of God. In this realm the Christian isautomatically living a life opposite the sinful life. The Christian does nothave to be afraid of what the law says, because they are not under itscondemnation. Anytime a person is condemned of what the law says and tries toobey them, then it's a proven and established fact that they are yet under thelaw and not under grace. Being under grace does not give the Christian theright to break any of the laws of the Ten Commandments. These laws are not tobe broken, but these laws are not observed and kept by being consciously awareof their presence and what they say. The Christian life can be said to be abovewhat the law say. The Christian is not governed by the law, but rather they areled of the Spirit. Being led of the Spirit will lead the Christian in a way ofrighteousness and true holiness.
This righteous life can only beexperienced and lived through and by the leading of the Holy Spirit. If youhave not been transformed from a life of darkness to a life in the kingdom ofGods dear Son, then you can't possibly comprehend what I am saying in thistract. We are either walking in light or in darkness. To walk in darkness isbeing void of the truth that will set you free. The apostle John tells us in I John 1:6-7 that if we saythat we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not thetruth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowshipone with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from allsin...
We can only have fellowship with God if weare walking in the light of truth. Having fellowship with God and walking withhim simply means that we consciously are aware of his presence and we walk in adifferent life than what we did as we were in the flesh being prone to itslusts and desires. In this realm of life we experience many different things.
This life consists of walking righteously.Many people are led today to believe that walking with God and being a Christianmeans that one will possess great power to do many and great miracles. This maybe true to a certain extent, but to place all emphesis on this as being whatthe Christian life is will actually lead you astray from the truth and you willnever experience the life that Christ said we could have more abundantly.
The Christian life is a life where manytimes you will think that God doesn't exist in your life. The Bible revealsthat being a servant of God also means to be a servant of righteousness. To bea servant of righteousness means that we live righteously and soberly in thispresent world. Sometimes we may get the idea that since we are not performinggreat miracles as the early disciples did, then we are not children of Godpossessing the power of God in our lives. Satan will use this thought on youand he will try to discourage you to the point of giving up, but the true childof God knows that God's power is mostly needed in our lives to bring ourselvesunto subjection and to perfection.
The goal in the Christian's life isperfection and not seeking for fame and prestige in the eyes of the world. Themain reason why so few people come to the knowledge of the truth that will setthem free is simply because they are not doing as Jesus said when he tells usto seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness as so stated in Matthew 6:33.
Many people today are being deceived bytheir interpretation of the word power. Many false prophets in the worldare deceiving millions just like Jesus said they would do as stated in Matthew 24:4, 11, 24.These false prophets are totally ignorant of what the true power of God is andwhat it's for in the life of the child of God. In Matthew 24:24 it tells us thatfalse Christs and false prophets would show great signs and wonders insomuchthat, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Just look at allthe so-called miracle workers in the land today claiming to be doing the workof God.
It's easy to detect their falseness by theway they stress all emphesis on miracles and signs and wonders. The world todayis filled with confusion on every hand and the reason for this is simplybecause of the many false prophets....