Assuming, then, that men have indeed experienced the miracle of the new birth, what then? What is this thing called the Christian life about? We know what men seek in this world but what is it that God seeks? What is His purpose in calling us to continue living in such a broken world? And how is that purpose to be fulfilled?
Surely one of the favorite scriptures of believers down through the ages has been Romans 8:28 — “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” This wonderful verse reminds us that everything that happens to God’s people is part of a divine plan, a plan that is meaningful, purposeful, and that God’s purpose for us results in our good.
But what is that purpose? Verse 29 continues the thought: “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” Here we see God’s purpose to produce a great family of “sons,” each of them having been made like Jesus. That would, of course, make Jesus the firstborn, the pattern. The focus of God’s purpose therefore is the character of His children.
But we also see that God’s purpose is fulfilled by the power and effort of God Himself. Verse 30 continues, “And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” Who did all this? HE did. It can happen no other way. Every aspect of salvation is supernatural from beginning to end.
Philippians 2:12-13 says, “...continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” This scripture reveals both God’s role and ours in the process. We have our part but that part is one of cooperation with something God does. It is a place of submission to His will and purpose rather than one in which we try to get God to fulfill our plans and dreams.
In the first place we are to “work out” our salvation. If we are to “work out” our salvation it must be “in” in the first place! That is, God must first do His supernatural work in us before there is something within that can even be worked out. You can’t pump water out of an empty well.
Both the ability and even the desire for everything that fulfills God’s purpose in us comes from Him alone. We are as helpless in ourselves to live for God as we are to save ourselves in the first place. That’s why it is called salvation!
Paul expresses the same truth in Ephesians 4:22-24 in these words: “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” We see our responsibility yet the “new self” we are to “put on” is created. That sounds pretty supernatural to me!
Notice the language in that scripture: “created to be like God.” What an amazing thought! How utterly beyond our ability such a thing is. Here we see another expression of the fact that salvation is an act of creation. Can you create yourself? Does anyone have the power to produce what God is after by any kind of human effort?
But exactly how does this relate to Paul’s message, “Jesus Christ and him crucified”? Look back again at 1 Corinthians 1:30. There we read, “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.”
The first “him” is God Himself. It is a result of His work that we are “in Christ Jesus” at all. Yet look at all that Christ Jesus has “become” for us: wisdom, righteousness, holiness and redemption.” That is a pretty good description of everything involved in fulfilling His purpose in making us like Christ!
Read the writings of Paul and you will see everywhere just how central the person and work of Christ is to living for God and becoming what He has planned. In salvation not only are my sins borne by Christ but I receive His righteousness as my own. I am accepted by God just as much as He is! 2 Corinthians 5:21, Ephesians 1:3-8. God fully accepts His Son and since I am IN Him that includes me as well! To put it crudely, if you give someone a box they receive not only the box but also whatever is in it.
How can I put off my old self? Romans 6 tells us that when Christ died, we died. His death becomes our death when we are united to him in salvation. Whether I understand it fully or not I have the right to “reckon” or count myself to have died based on the fact of what God has done for me when Jesus died.
In the same way those united with Christ were there in him when He rose from the dead to a new life. The life He had in his resurrection is the very same life we receive when we are born of God. What Christ accomplished in his death, burial, and resurrection is the very foundation for living for God.
More than that, we pointed out earlier that our hope of glory is Christ in us (Colossians 1:27). He does not merely tell us how to live but He comes in by the Spirit to indwell us and live out his life in us. As A.B. Simpson wrote in his hymn long ago, “He Who overcame on Calvary overcomes again in you and me. Hallelujah, Jesus gives the victory.”
As Paul said in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” The Greek says the faith of the Son of God. When Christ comes in He brings his faith with him!
Christ is the center of everything. No wonder Paul summarized his message as he did. It is fine to teach God’s wisdom regarding relationships, overcoming sin, giving, ministry, etc. but if any of these things are divorced from the supernatural foundation of Christ in us then they become mere principles, rules to live by, dependent upon human ability, mere religion. What is left is a “form of godliness” that denies its power (2 Timothy 3:5). That sounds like a pretty good way to describe deception. It may look good but it isn’t real.
One of the clearest passages in the scriptures that shows just how connected every aspect of salvation is to the person and work of Christ is in Romans 5. Paul makes a comparison between Adam and Christ showing that what each did was passed to his descendants.
For example in verse 19 Paul writes, “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.” How did we become sinners? Adam disobeyed and he became the father of a family of sinners, all mankind. What he did was passed down to us all and our actions prove it.
In the same way those born into Christ’s family inherit the result of his obedience and partake of his righteousness. As Paul said in verse 17, “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.”
What Jesus did on our behalf is the fountain and source of everything God has for us. What else is there to preach? Of course there is a need for teaching on the various aspects of the outworking of our salvation as it applies to living here but it all flows from him. That is why Colossians 2:10 tells us that we are “complete in him” (KJV).
That is why Paul speaks as he does in the beginning of chapter 3 (verses 1-3): “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
Anything short of this misses the mark and reflects the effort of the enemy to deceive. May God grant grace that His message may be boldly proclaimed, that Christ and Christ alone may be lifted up as the only hope of mankind. May we humbly submit to our Heavenly Father, the Master Craftsman, as He patiently and surely takes that which was ruined by sin and transforms it into something eternal and beautiful. To Him be glory and praise forever and ever!