Quite often when reading Scripture we discover apparent contradictions between what God has done for us, and what we must do. It is thought that we can do nothing and God does (or has done) everything, yet it is also thought that we must do something, or else we cannot have anything. Most of these apparent contradictions are between the gospels and Paul's writings, so we must understand Paul's mind in order to resolve the contradictions.
For example,
The Bible says Christ is our righteousness and we have no righteousness of our own (Phil 3:9), and yet Jesus said our righteousness must exceed the Pharisees (Matt 5:20).
The Bible says we are not saved by works (Eph 2:8) yet Jesus says without some works we cannot be saved (Matt 25:14-30).
The key to understanding these matters is to understand that in Paul's mind, everything depends upon the union between God and man and this union takes place in our spirit.
Paul writes:
1 Cor 6:17 But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
The expression "in Christ" occurs 216 times in Paul's letters and 26 times in John's.
Paul writes:
Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
A paraphrase of Gal 2:20 would be "I no longer live in myself and by myself, but there is another person, Christ, living inside of me, and I live by this person who lives in me".
A common view in Christianity today is that God grants us salvation because we have done or have certain things (eg put our faith in God, repentance etc). It is commonly believed that Christ is high in the heavens waiting to come back and we are left alone here on Earth and must do the best we can to do what Christ commanded, with the help of a mysterious "another" third person of the Trinity called the Holy Spirit, who some recognize as a person, others as a power, others as a powerful person. But few realize that the Holy Spirit is actually the Spirit of Christ and in the mind of the apostle Paul - the Holy Spirit and Christ are one and the same person. To Paul, the Holy Spirit's presence with Him, is no less the experience of Christ Himself being with him, even though, it is a far better thing to be with the Lord in the heavens (2 Cor 5:8). In the apostle Paul's mind, salvation is a result of union with Christ, and his life, faith, repentance, and everything are also results of that union. In essence, it is not our own faith which saves us, but the faith of Christ who lives in us (Rom 3:22). If Christ is not dwelling in our heart, and if we are not joined with Christ, then we cannot have genuine faith, genuine repentance, genuine life, and genuine salvation. According to Paul, Christ is the only thing that is true and genuine (John 14:6, Gal 2:20, 1 Cor 2:2), and he considers everything else as "dung" (Phil 3:8), in comparison to knowing Christ.
Some think that Paul's writings are somehow contradictory to the gospels. But Jesus also uses the language of a union between God and man, when he says in John 15 how we must abide in Him and He in us, and in John 17:20-25 when he prays for oneness and unity and to be "in them" (John 17:25).
The key to understand the apparent contradiction, is that with Christ living in us and joined to our spirit, everything that Christ has done, is and has, is now also ours.
For example:
We are crucified with Christ (Gal 2:20) - we don't crucify ourselves.
We have died with Christ (Rom 6:4) - we don't kill ourselves.
We are resurrected with Christ (Eph 2:6, Col 3:1) - we can't raise ourselves.
We live by Christ (Phil 1:21) - we don't live by ourselves.
We are seated with Christ in the heavens (Eph 2:6) - we cannot reach heaven by ourselves (Rom 10:6).
We have the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16).
Paul writes:
Phil 4:13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
In essence,
Christ's strength becomes our strength.
Christ's righteousness becomes our righteousness.
Christ's faith becomes our faith - we are saved by Christ's faith, not our own faith - Romans 3:22.
Christ's works become our works
Christ's crucifixion becomes our crucifixion.
Christ's death becomes our death.
Christ's life becomes our life.
Christ's resurrection becomes our resurrection.
It is not that our own faith, life, works, etc cease to exist, and that only Christ lives in us, and we don't exist at all. We continue to exist, we are living, we have our faith, but Christ is also living in and through us - we are working, but Christ is also working in and through us. It is a grafted union - much like one plant is grafted into another (Rom 11:17).
On the one hand, salvation cannot come to us unless Christ first lives in us, and on the other hand, Christ living in us is our salvation.
Calvin said that "both justification and regeneration are the results of the believer's union with Christ through faith"
Eastern Orthodox doctrine says: .
"In Christ God becomes one with us in order to make us one with him; he stooped to take our nature, in order that we might be restored to become partakers of his nature".
The Baptist theologian Augustus H. Strong positively describes the nature of the believer's union with Christ with five adjectives. (Strong, Augustus H. Systematic Theology. Valley Forge: Judson Press, 1907, p. 800-801) This union is:
1. An organic union - in which believers become members of Christ and enjoy a mutual, reciprocal dependence on Christ for life and He on them for expression (Eph. 5:29-30).
2. A vital union - in which Christ operates within believers as their life and becomes the dominating principle within them (Gal. 2:20; Col. 3:3-4).
3. A spiritual union - that is, a union originating from and sustained by the Holy Spirit in their spirit (Rom. 8:9-10; Eph 3:16-17).
4. An indissoluble union - that is, a union which, by virtue of Christ's eternal, divine, and incorruptible power and grace, can never be dissolved (Matt. 28:20; Rom. 8:39; Heb. 7:16).
5. An inscrutable union - that is, a divine and mystical union of knowledge-surpassing intimacy and value (Eph. 3:19; 5:32; Col. 1:27).
Our Practical Experience
The experience of every saved person is the knowledge and awareness of Christ living inside of them, and this is a personal knowledge and awareness that cannot be taught or learned via theology or bible study (1 John 2:27).
This person Christ tells them to do and not do certain things (John 10:27).
Obedience to the voice of Christ is the experience of living in the kingdom of God and results in peace, joy, righteousness (Rom 14:17).
Praying according to the voice of Christ within is otherwise known as praying in the Spirit (Eph 6:18).
When we pray, the Spirit prays also, if we cannot pray but only groan, the Spirit also groans (Rom 8:26).
God often brings us through a number of experiences to realize that we cannot rely upon and trust in ourselves and we cannot live by ourself.
Living in the Spirit is the default position of every saved person and does not depend upon what we think or how we feel.
Even though we may think and feel a certain way, this does not change the truth that the Spirit lives within us and that we are in the Spirit.
Even though we may feel sad, lonely, depressed, that we are a bad person or a terrible Christian, this does not change the truth that the Spirit is in us and we are in the Spirit.
If we pray, we pray in Christ (in the Spirit), we live and walk in the Spirit, which is about living by Christ in us, and not by ourselves (Gal 5:25).
The way to practically live by Christ and not ourselves, is to turn to Christ by prayer at every occasion and consider his (not our) thoughts, feelings and directions in everything we do (1 Thess 5:17). The way to live the Christian life is not merely to consider "what do I think Jesus would do", but "what is Jesus telling me to do".
As a concluding remark - the underlying principle for the Christian life being dependent upon a union between Christ and man, is because the Holy Trinity itself, operates as a tri-union between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (John 5:19, John 8:38, John 10:30, John 17:21-22).
For example,
The Bible says Christ is our righteousness and we have no righteousness of our own (Phil 3:9), and yet Jesus said our righteousness must exceed the Pharisees (Matt 5:20).
The Bible says we are not saved by works (Eph 2:8) yet Jesus says without some works we cannot be saved (Matt 25:14-30).
The key to understanding these matters is to understand that in Paul's mind, everything depends upon the union between God and man and this union takes place in our spirit.
Paul writes:
1 Cor 6:17 But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
The expression "in Christ" occurs 216 times in Paul's letters and 26 times in John's.
Paul writes:
Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
A paraphrase of Gal 2:20 would be "I no longer live in myself and by myself, but there is another person, Christ, living inside of me, and I live by this person who lives in me".
A common view in Christianity today is that God grants us salvation because we have done or have certain things (eg put our faith in God, repentance etc). It is commonly believed that Christ is high in the heavens waiting to come back and we are left alone here on Earth and must do the best we can to do what Christ commanded, with the help of a mysterious "another" third person of the Trinity called the Holy Spirit, who some recognize as a person, others as a power, others as a powerful person. But few realize that the Holy Spirit is actually the Spirit of Christ and in the mind of the apostle Paul - the Holy Spirit and Christ are one and the same person. To Paul, the Holy Spirit's presence with Him, is no less the experience of Christ Himself being with him, even though, it is a far better thing to be with the Lord in the heavens (2 Cor 5:8). In the apostle Paul's mind, salvation is a result of union with Christ, and his life, faith, repentance, and everything are also results of that union. In essence, it is not our own faith which saves us, but the faith of Christ who lives in us (Rom 3:22). If Christ is not dwelling in our heart, and if we are not joined with Christ, then we cannot have genuine faith, genuine repentance, genuine life, and genuine salvation. According to Paul, Christ is the only thing that is true and genuine (John 14:6, Gal 2:20, 1 Cor 2:2), and he considers everything else as "dung" (Phil 3:8), in comparison to knowing Christ.
Some think that Paul's writings are somehow contradictory to the gospels. But Jesus also uses the language of a union between God and man, when he says in John 15 how we must abide in Him and He in us, and in John 17:20-25 when he prays for oneness and unity and to be "in them" (John 17:25).
The key to understand the apparent contradiction, is that with Christ living in us and joined to our spirit, everything that Christ has done, is and has, is now also ours.
For example:
We are crucified with Christ (Gal 2:20) - we don't crucify ourselves.
We have died with Christ (Rom 6:4) - we don't kill ourselves.
We are resurrected with Christ (Eph 2:6, Col 3:1) - we can't raise ourselves.
We live by Christ (Phil 1:21) - we don't live by ourselves.
We are seated with Christ in the heavens (Eph 2:6) - we cannot reach heaven by ourselves (Rom 10:6).
We have the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16).
Paul writes:
Phil 4:13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
In essence,
Christ's strength becomes our strength.
Christ's righteousness becomes our righteousness.
Christ's faith becomes our faith - we are saved by Christ's faith, not our own faith - Romans 3:22.
Christ's works become our works
Christ's crucifixion becomes our crucifixion.
Christ's death becomes our death.
Christ's life becomes our life.
Christ's resurrection becomes our resurrection.
It is not that our own faith, life, works, etc cease to exist, and that only Christ lives in us, and we don't exist at all. We continue to exist, we are living, we have our faith, but Christ is also living in and through us - we are working, but Christ is also working in and through us. It is a grafted union - much like one plant is grafted into another (Rom 11:17).
On the one hand, salvation cannot come to us unless Christ first lives in us, and on the other hand, Christ living in us is our salvation.
Calvin said that "both justification and regeneration are the results of the believer's union with Christ through faith"
Eastern Orthodox doctrine says: .
"In Christ God becomes one with us in order to make us one with him; he stooped to take our nature, in order that we might be restored to become partakers of his nature".
The Baptist theologian Augustus H. Strong positively describes the nature of the believer's union with Christ with five adjectives. (Strong, Augustus H. Systematic Theology. Valley Forge: Judson Press, 1907, p. 800-801) This union is:
1. An organic union - in which believers become members of Christ and enjoy a mutual, reciprocal dependence on Christ for life and He on them for expression (Eph. 5:29-30).
2. A vital union - in which Christ operates within believers as their life and becomes the dominating principle within them (Gal. 2:20; Col. 3:3-4).
3. A spiritual union - that is, a union originating from and sustained by the Holy Spirit in their spirit (Rom. 8:9-10; Eph 3:16-17).
4. An indissoluble union - that is, a union which, by virtue of Christ's eternal, divine, and incorruptible power and grace, can never be dissolved (Matt. 28:20; Rom. 8:39; Heb. 7:16).
5. An inscrutable union - that is, a divine and mystical union of knowledge-surpassing intimacy and value (Eph. 3:19; 5:32; Col. 1:27).
Our Practical Experience
The experience of every saved person is the knowledge and awareness of Christ living inside of them, and this is a personal knowledge and awareness that cannot be taught or learned via theology or bible study (1 John 2:27).
This person Christ tells them to do and not do certain things (John 10:27).
Obedience to the voice of Christ is the experience of living in the kingdom of God and results in peace, joy, righteousness (Rom 14:17).
Praying according to the voice of Christ within is otherwise known as praying in the Spirit (Eph 6:18).
When we pray, the Spirit prays also, if we cannot pray but only groan, the Spirit also groans (Rom 8:26).
God often brings us through a number of experiences to realize that we cannot rely upon and trust in ourselves and we cannot live by ourself.
Living in the Spirit is the default position of every saved person and does not depend upon what we think or how we feel.
Even though we may think and feel a certain way, this does not change the truth that the Spirit lives within us and that we are in the Spirit.
Even though we may feel sad, lonely, depressed, that we are a bad person or a terrible Christian, this does not change the truth that the Spirit is in us and we are in the Spirit.
If we pray, we pray in Christ (in the Spirit), we live and walk in the Spirit, which is about living by Christ in us, and not by ourselves (Gal 5:25).
The way to practically live by Christ and not ourselves, is to turn to Christ by prayer at every occasion and consider his (not our) thoughts, feelings and directions in everything we do (1 Thess 5:17). The way to live the Christian life is not merely to consider "what do I think Jesus would do", but "what is Jesus telling me to do".
As a concluding remark - the underlying principle for the Christian life being dependent upon a union between Christ and man, is because the Holy Trinity itself, operates as a tri-union between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (John 5:19, John 8:38, John 10:30, John 17:21-22).
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