Part 6 – Christ Alone

This Article is part of a multi-part Study Series called The Basis For Living The Christian Life.

In the Bible Abraham is considered as the father of those who have faith (Rom 4:16). God owed Abraham nothing, but seeing Abram’s faith He said, in effect: “This man believes Me; I will count his faith for righteousness” (Gen. 15:6). God still does for those who trust Him today, the difference being that He has now revealed the basis for this action, which is Christ’s full payment for all sins at Calvary. This is why in Romans 4:5, He actually forbids works for salvation, declaring that the believer’s faith is “counted for righteousness.”

But to him that Worketh NOT, but BELIEVETH on him that justifieth the ungodly, his Faith is Counted for Righteousness. (Romans 4:5)

It is the “love of God,” and “the love of Christ” as seen by the crossnot our admittedly puny love for Christ, that forms the basis for our Christian life. The love of God “constrains,” empowers and motivates us. For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge (conclude), that if one (Christ) died for all, then were all dead:” (2 Cor. 5:14). Jesus Christ loved us enough to die for our sins, be buried, and be raised again the third day in order to make us positionally accepted before God, positioned in Christ.”

Paul continues in 2 Cor. 5:14; knowing this “We thus judge [conclude]” – what is the conclusion? Since we are dead with Him, as self-operatives, then we Christians should allow Christ’s love for us to work within us by means of His “lifeand His “faith.”

“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 (human) flesh I live by the faith of (Gk. ev, which is found in ) the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” (Galatians 2:20-21 (KJV only)

“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” (Phili. 2:13)

Now we can walk by faith in an intelligent dispensational understanding of His Word to us, as seen in Paul’s epistles (Romans through Philemon), thereby making our lifestyles acceptable to God… this is the everyday sanctification of the Christian life.

As people who have trusted in Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection alone as their all-sufficient payment for our sins, Christ’s own righteousness, His perfect performance, has been applied to our account (“imputed”, meaning, “counted”). Now we have right standing before God, we are justified: “we [have been] made the righteousness of God in Christ” (2 Cor. 5:21). We Christians need not strain to perform in religion, seeking God’s favor and acceptance. God already accepts us in Christ, because of what He did for us on Calvary’s cross! “God hath made us accepted in the beloved (Jesus Christ)” (Eph. 1:6).

We are not under the Mosaic Law (Rom. 6:14-15), but God still cares how we live. Once we understand and rest in God’s great love for us, His sacrifice of His Son on our behalf; it should transform our thinking as we read His written word. Since God loves us so much, we Christians should not selfishly live our lives, doing whatever we want. We should, by faith, offer our lives to Him so He can accomplish His will in and through us (cf. Rom. 12:2). As Christians we might say; “Jesus Christ gave His life for me, so He could give His life to me when I trusted in Him alone… so that He could live His righteous life through me when I trust Him alone!”

Our Christian service is to study and believe the sound, Holy Spirit inspired, Pauline Bible doctrine for the “body of Christ,” and then let the indwelling Spirit use that doctrine to work in us (1 Thess. 2:13). He will generate the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, unto the praise and glory of God” (Phili. 1:11). These “fruits of righteousness” are Christ living His live in us, conforming our daily disposition and lifestyle… to our actual fixed and secure position of being “in Christ.”

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 (body) I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate [hinder, disrupt] the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain (unproductively)” (Galatians 2:20-21).

As we’ve seen over and over, we could never achieve righteousness by our performance. If our performance was ever the issue for salvation and godly living, “Christ is dead in vain [is (present tense) dead for nothing].”

Our Christian lives are really Christ’s life! “Christ liveth in me” (Gal. 2:20).

We live by Christ’s faithfulness in us… by His performance working in us. “(T)he Son of God… who loved me, and gave himself for me,” As we consider God the Father’s commitment and the giving of His Son’s life for us and His life to us… so of course it is “the love of Christ constraineth [motivates] us.”

God’s grace is everything that He has done for us on Calvary’s cross, teaching us;

Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly [responsibly], righteously [acceptable to God], and godly [reflecting God’s values]” (Titus 2:11-12).

We who have trusted Christ are in fact “new creatures in Christ” (2 Cor. 5:17). Our lives should reflect our new position/identity. God died to save us from our sins… so why should we return to them? We should permit Christ Jesus live His life in and through us, “to prove that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).

We do this by placing our faith in the truths of this sound Bible doctrine, which God uses to transform our minds, and then our lives!