Monday 24 August 2009

Christ 'in' me -versus- Christ 'as' me: by Nancy Fitzpatrick Gilmore


Her communal Post
Yesterday at 23:44
I’ve had this wonderful revelation, and I’m wondering if you also have had it. For a number of years I’m been telling folks; Christ is our life; as Jesus said, “I am the life”. I’ve found it’s fairly easy at times to convince believers to agree that Christ is their life; even when I’m meaning a much deeper concept than the one they are relating. So a few years ago I began to show believers they needed to change their ‘in’ to ‘as’ when they related to their union with Christ. Some would agree as the Apostle John said; as He was in this world now so are we. But they would not say Christ lives ‘as’ me. They would only say Christ is ‘in’ me with no recognition of who is doing the living. I attempted to show them the difference in Christ ‘in’ me –vs.- Christ ‘as’ me, by saying when we only relate to Christ ‘in’ me; we have Christ, and we have me; two! Not one. A gap exists between me and Christ. But in reality there is no gap; no separation of Christ with Him being our life; except the separation be in consciousness. However, when we say Christ ‘as’ me it closes the gap! And by faith I have an inner-recognition of Christ living as me. I have not disappeared, and I am not separated from Him. I have begun to recognize I am spirit in union with the Spirit of Christ. And this is my inner-recognition of abiding in the Lord, and the Lord abiding in me. Jesus said, if you abide in me, and I abide in you; you bear much fruit. Christ living ‘as’ me is our Vine-branch union-recognition of abiding in Christ. However, I’ve not been all that successful in convincing others to say Christ lives His Life “AS’ me. Some will say; that’s blasphemy. Others will say; you’re trying to be God! Others may agree that YOU can say it that way if you like, but it’s not for them! Still others will even say it’s just semantics! Even some will say, you can’t teach others to say, “Christ as me” when they are still sinning; and they bring up all the sin passages in the bible as though this replaces any reality of Christ living ‘as’ us, and they continue with their ‘teachings’ of law and grace.But I find this reasoning is not the real reason why they don’t want to say, Christ lives His life ‘as’ me. I find a deeper reason. I find the real reason being- …they like to be themselves, thinking this is true freedom and independence!I ask you, is this not the deception of the fall? Independence! Actually this deception is a license TO sin. This is the reason why it is affirmed by some; I’m just a sinner saved by grace, but God is not through with me yet. This dear friend is a deception! Deception is to believe a lie about our selves! And deception is dangerous.The fact is to be born again eliminates the sin issue! To be born again eliminates independent self! To be born again creates a new life! To be born again creates the reality of Christ being in us as our life, desiring for us to know Him as the one living as us; and with Him getting the recognition! You can know nothing apart from yourself and Paul makes this plain when he says; “It God who is at work in you ‘both’ to will and to do of HIS good pleasure”! In moving from little children, to young men, to Fathers as described in 1stJohn 2:12-14 there comes a time when we move by faith from Christ in me to Christ as me. Paul said when it pleased the Lord to reveal His Son in me, and Jesus said I will show him all the things that he must suffer for my sake. No separation there. This is union with God. This is oneness. This is Christ living “as’ Paul. This is eliminating the sin issue completely! And this is what the Apostle John was meaning when he said; “He that is born again sinneth not, for he is begotten of God, and keeps himself” 1stJohn 5:18. In reality our inner recognition is Almighty God in us by the Living Spirit of our Resurrected Lord making us one in Christ with God! And God continuing His work of redemption ‘as’ us.I have found when we say Christ lives His life ‘as me’ we are saying He is the Authority in me, and I am not an independent which is the source of all sin. Sin originated in and ‘as’ Satan deception when he made his declaration of “I will be like God!” “I will ascend!” The five “I will” that he announced and is recorded for us in Isaiah 14, and described in Ezekiel 28. To be born again is the inner-recognition that Christ has redeemed us from this lying spirit of Satan operating by us, and Christ has taken His own rightful place in us to operate and live “as’ us.For some reason it is not understood that ‘abiding’ is the prerequisite for bearing fruit. And the first step of abiding faith is my inner-recognition that Christ is living His life in me- ‘as me. Then; we can live being ourselves knowing it is Christ LIVING AS US as described in Galatians 2:20

2 comments:

The Lewis Family said...

I like that!

Chris Welch - 07000INTUNE said...

becca, isn't it...
thanks for those 3 comments.
that was a fascinating and very charitable comment towards the Brits rather negative bias. There may be something of the "control thing" there.
What freaks faith people out is that a faith person will go ahead and paint a whole wall , believing God for the paint, the right colour, and the skill to do a job, and the Brit will say...Oh dear you painted over that fly. Such a shame that tiny lump there!