You Aren't Doing Life Alone

This is a Christian blog. I write what I do to help other believers in Jesus. So ... I am just assuming, most people who read this posting will be a Christian. But some are not. I have heard from them. Some are Jewish, some are agnostics. Some aren’t sure who or what they are. Others are new to the faith and come here to learn. So, wherever you are in life ...

If you have made Jesus your Lord and Savior, you are not alone. He placed within you ... His Spirit. You can properly and correctly call this indwelling, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, God's Spirit or just Jesus. To me, it's all the same. I don't get hung up on such things.

The Apostle Paul wrote in 2nd Corinthians 1:22, that God " ... hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." Most of us are familiar with the term "earnest money" meaning ... a pledge or a down payment. Here, Paul is saying we are given just a small measure of the Holy Spirit to seal our faith with Him. But don't worry about the size of the measure, there's more available.

The Amplified Bible puts it this way ... "He has also appropriated and acknowledged us as His by putting His seal upon us and giving us His Holy Spirit in our hearts as the security deposit and guarantee of the fulfillment of His promise."

When you believed and accepted Jesus as your Lord, God placed the Spirit of Christ within your heart. Having the Holy Spirit in your life changes things ... how you think, how you act and react to things around you. In fact, the Apostle Paul said in 2nd Corinthians 5:17, that you are "a new creature in Christ." He also said, "old things pass away and all things become new." But that last part takes time.

An old 17th century French monk once said ... "One does not become holy all at once." That's true for most of us. We need the help of the Holy Spirit to complete the change.

There is another of Paul's scriptures I want to closely look at to gain further insight into this changing and growing process we are going through ... not alone ... but with the help of the Holy Spirit you received when you were born again.

Galatians 2:20 ... "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

"I am crucified with Christ" ... I believe Paul is saying simply this; the carnal, sinful, fleshly man he was before salvation has been spiritually nailed to the cross to die a slow death. Notice he says ... I am crucified ... it's an on going process, not a one time act.

"nevertheless I live; yet not I" ... Since Paul was speaking only of crucifying or killing off the old carnal man, meaning the sinful desires of the flesh; he is saying ... not to worry ... I'm still alive physically. But "yet not I" ... another man, a new creature who is not the same as before he met Jesus. This new life Paul is speaking about was not procured or obtained on his own; it was implanted by Christ through the Holy Spirit for the purpose of living a Holy life.

This is exactly what I was speaking about when I said you are not alone. I assume we can all attain to, what evidently became a reality in Paul's life. When he said ... "yet not I" ... he was saying that he gave total control over his life to Jesus. The old man was no longer in charge ... Jesus was.

"Christ liveth in me" ... Jesus was now not only the source of his spiritual life, but life itself. Jesus, through the Holy Spirit now resided in him, and was actively living in his heart, mind and soul.

"and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God" ... Paul was still a man made of flesh. Therefore, before we make him too spiritual, let me remind us that Paul still had fleshly desires he had to deal with just as we do. The flesh never gets saved. So what does Paul learn to do?

He learns to overcome his old sinful ways ... by the faith of ... the Son of God. Look at that again. He didn't say he lives by faith in the Son of God; but by the faith ... of ... the Son of God, Jesus.

When Jesus came to live His life through Paul, just as He does with us, He brought with Him, the faith He used when He walked as a man in the dust of the earth. The faith of Jesus was deposited in Paul along with the Spirit of Christ. Okay ... you may say, "Wait a minute; what makes you think the same faith Jesus had is now in us?"

Is it not true that as a believer in Jesus, He came to abide inside of our spirit? So, if you have Him inside of you ... is it too hard to believe that "all Jesus is" came with Him? Jesus is the very imprint of God, just fashioned as a man. And since God can't be anything less than He is ... Jesus must have brought to your spirit and soul ... all that He is.

Most of the newer Bible translations replace "the faith of Jesus" with "faith in Jesus" ... but the older translations read like the K.J.V. does. I think that makes a big difference in the meaning. "Faith in Jesus" would only be Paul's faith. "Faith of Jesus" would be the Lord's faith applied. I would rather use His faith anytime rather than my faith.

An example of Jesus dwelling in Paul's life can be shown in ... Philippians 4:13 when he said ... "I can do all things (necessary) through Christ ..."

I added the clarifying word ... (necessary) ... because Paul was not omnipotent like God is, having unlimited power, able to do anything. Nor could he do all the things that Christ could do. Paul was not without limitation.

Albert Barnes, the old Presbyterian biblical scholar and theologian commented on this scripture this way ... "From the experience which Paul had in the various circumstances of life, he comes here to the general conclusion that he could do all things. He could bear any trial, perform any duty, subdue any evil propensity of his nature, and meet all the temptations incident to any condition of prosperity or adversity. His own experience in the various changes of life had warranted him in arriving at this conclusion; and he now expresses the firm confidence that nothing would be required of him which he would not be able to perform."

Adam Clarke, the British Methodist biblical scholar and theologian added this statement about Paul ... "It was not a habit which he had acquired by frequent exercise, it was a disposition which he had by grace; and he was enabled to do all things by the power of an indwelling Christ."

It is obvious that both of these theologians have a better grasp of the English language than I do. I noticed Mr. Clarke used the word "disposition" in his remarks about Paul. To me, disposition suggests a person's spirit or attitude. I enjoy word studies about Scripture so I looked up the meaning of disposition to get a better understanding of what Mr. Clarke was speaking about.

I found four meanings, two of which fits exactly the spirit and attitude Paul had. Disposition as defined is ... "a person's inherent qualities of mind and character," and/or "the power to deal with something as one pleases."

Look at Paul's statement again. With Jesus dwelling within Paul, his disposition was ...

"I can do all things through Christ ... " What an awesome attitude. But yet he knew it wasn't him doing whatever he needed to do or bear up under ... it was Jesus living through him not just in him.

Is Jesus in you? Then let Jesus live His life through you as Paul did. Don't just carry Jesus around in your heart, although that's important. Let "the faith of Jesus" live and operate through your life.

So what's the lesson in this for us? I believe it's the same thing Paul learned ... you aren't doing life alone.

Comments welcome.