The exchanged life in Christ
For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die. Galatians 2:19-21
One of the difficulties Christians experience is to let the life of Christ be manifested in their lives. This is because of the misconception that once you have a relationship with Christ then it follows that you should live for Him. This sounds a noble aspiration but the reality should be not your life living for Him. It should be Him living through you. This is what the apostle Paul declared from the text--it should be the very life of Christ expressed in you. Once you understand the powerful truth Paul wrote about, you will realize the freedom that God gave you. Before you came to know Christ, you were under the power of sin and your preference is to fulfill sinful desires. “Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world” (Ephesians 2:1-2). But when you receive Christ, He freed you from being a slave again by sinful desires. “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). The freedom that He provides brought about a new focus and purpose in life. Your dependence and trust are now in Him and your life becomes an expression of His overflowing love. Now you are no longer just jumping from one religious activity to another instead your desire is to continually be in fellowship with Him. As you daily seek Him and His working through you, your life will continue to develop as an expression of His glory. “For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom... And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image” (2 Corinthians 3:17-18).
Blessings,
