Oftentimes when you ask a Christian to tell you about
his relationship with God, his response is about how
often (or not) he goes to church, reads his Bible, and
prays. When you press him to speak about his
interior life, about what goes on inside between him and
God, you often hear answers like
Anot much,@
Ait=s
pretty dead in there,@
or AHe=s
pretty far away.@
Clearly, such a person is unhappily missing the point
of Christianity. Jesus said,
AAbide in Me,
and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of
itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can
you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you
are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he
bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing@
(John 15:4-5 NAS). But this person is trying to
produce the fruit of righteousness without the resource
of the power of life within. He is dwelling apart
from Christ, and in effect, is trying to live by the
law.
Paul said, AYou
were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ,
that you might be joined to another, to Him who was
raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit for God@
(Romans 7:4 NAS). But when one tries to produce
righteousness by works, apart from Christ, Paul says
Ayou have been
severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified
by law; you have fallen from grace@
(Galatians 5:4 NAS).
This doesn=t
necessarily mean that such a person is not a ChristianB
many have had a clear salvation experience but have
never discovered the revelation of
AChrist in
you, the hope of glory@
(Colossians 1:27 NAS). So part of what we are
called on to do in Word Based Counseling is to help
people see that Jesus came to give them life (John
10:10); that He is their life (John 14:25), and that
they Ahave
been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer [they]
that live, but Christ lives in [them]; and the life
which [they] now live in the flesh [they] live by faith
in the Son of God, who loved [them], and delivered
Himself up for [them]@
(Galations 2:20 NAS).
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