. What is the Christian life?
That definitely was a question I had ten years ago—one that desperately needed an answer.
What Happened?
My question and prayers seemed to go unanswered for several months until one day I ran across a syllabus from a seminar on successful Christian living. As I read through his binder, the instructor's words began to explain certain Scriptures to me that I had already committed to memory, but in a way that shed new understanding on their meaning. At last, I began to see the glimmer of light at the end of the very long, dark tunnel.
The seminar instructor was a professional biblical counselor in the area, so I went to him for counseling. Through the six counseling sessions I had, and the reading of the suggested material, the symptoms began to disappear! Seeing that these specific truths were setting me free, I went to Grace Fellowship in Denver, Colorado—where my counselor was trained—to receive all the teaching and training on the subject that I could. For several years, I read voraciously everything I could get my hands on that dealt with the subject. At the same time, I was compelled to share these truths with others who were struggling to live the Christian life.
How Does All This Work?
The answer, in brief, is simply Christ; He is the Christian life. God has given Christ to be the believer's only [spiritual] life and to do all the living through the believer. God doesn't give the believer a little more peace or patience or anything. He simply gives the believer Christ, and He is all those things.
Every believer has some concept of the Christ within him. But, 98 percent of us, ranging from the layman to the clergy, have very little understanding of the fact that Christ is our only essential life. Witness the Apostle Paul's glorious statements: "...for to me, to live is Christ," (Phil. 1:21); "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me" (Gal. 2:20); and "Christ who is our life..." (Col. 3:4). This is a clear picture that the two, Paul and Christ, were functioning as one. Paul was very adamant throughout his epistles that the Christian life was Christ living in, and through, the believer as the believer's essential life.
Let me illustrate: If you are working on an area of your life to improve it, you are not really living the Christian life. Why? Because if Christ is living through you, by you, would you have to work on His life? Improve His life? Of course not! What are you working on? It's what the Bible calls "flesh". The flesh always seeks to better itself by works of its own. Since the flesh doesn't change, it will be an ongoing, futile effort of trying to live the Christian life [see Gal. 3:1-3].
Let me also make it clear that I am not inferring that living the Christ life is some state of passivity. Rather, it is quite the opposite. It will be a very assertive walk. But if you are not clear that Christ is your only life, you will revert back to a life of works. God makes it very clear to His people in Hebrews 4:10, that the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.
Your question might now be: "How can this be? How does this all work?" Obviously, I can not explain the walk in Christ in one brief article. I realize that it takes time and meditation to understand these principles and concepts... Since there is a remarkable correspondence between the experience of the nation of Israel in the Old Testament and the spiritual experience of the individual soul, we emphasize three major applications necessary to enter into His rest: entering the land of Canaan [identification], overcoming the land [freedom], and occupying the land [maturity].
After many years of teaching on hundreds of subjects in the Bible, I believe these subjects are essential for the one who wants to walk in victory, peace and rest. They have dramatically changed my life and they are the very lessons I personally live by. It has been ten years since I walked out of that dark tunnel of depression, fear and anxiety. Now my heat-felt burden is to see His children walk in His glorious freedom and have a deeper experience of Him.
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Adapted from Cross Life Messenger, Jan. 1989. Rod and and Mary Warren continued to share the gospel of salvation and identification after retirement. We were blessed to hear from them when they recontacted GFI to express their gratitude for the training and equipping they received years ago.
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