"The Exchanged Life"
"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 I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
— Galatians 2:20
Most have heard me say a time or two how I wish I knew how to play the piano. I would love nothing more than just to be able to play the hymns. I really have no excuse. We’ve had a piano in our home for decades. I just have not disciplined myself to take the time to learn to play. What if, though, there was another way to do what I am incapable of doing?
What if it was made possible that some piano virtuoso could play the piano through me. Someone like the late Vladimir Horowitz or the great Van Cliburn or in a contemporary church setting Stan Whitmire could somehow run their musical genius through my feeble and untrained fingers. What a joy that would be to experience their unparalleled greatness and mastery through me! I would have to do nothing other than consciously let go of my own will and effort and let the true performer have his way. As long as I released my own control, I’d be playing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto #1 or some of the most beautiful arrangements of our beloved hymns. If I did not try to insert my own improvisations into the mix the perfectness and beauty and grandeur of the master playing through me would be untainted.
While this sounds whimsical and frankly silly, it does illustrate a basic principle of the Christian life. Jesus comes into our lives to reside there, working in us by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit gifted to us through covenant. Working in us “to will and to do of his good pleasure.”> (Phil. 2:13) Working in us to do what we naturally are incapable of doing no matter how hard we try.
The Christian life is not about working as hard as we can to live right. It is about allowing Christ Himself to live out His life through us. It’s more about releasing our will and letting His will play out in us. When that happens, Jesus’ character and glory are displayed in us for all to see. Living rightly through obedience and keeping the commandments becomes a natural outflow of His Spirit in us – as natural as breathing because the breath of God dwells in us.
The context of the entire Galatian letter is the contrast between self-righteousness and righteousness found through our Savior. Self-righteousness is even a misnomer. There is no way for us to make ourselves righteous. But the Galatians believe that they could by keeping the Law. Paul tells them that “a man is not justified (made righteous) by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” (Gal. 2:16)
Paul applies the image of death and resurrection (I am crucified with Christ) to help explain his old relationship to the Law and his new relationship with Christ. Far from being a pathway to life, the Law only showed Paul his sinfulness, leading him to the true way – Jesus Christ. “Through the Law” Paul realized his own unfitness for the kingdom and was driven to the gospel, which is the end of the Law. Having died to his obligation to keep the Law in order to gain righteousness, Paul was not left for dead. Instead, he was made alive to God (nevertheless I live), enjoying a direct, personal, intimate relationship with the Law-giver Himself (yet not I, but Christ liveth in me).
Having stopped trying to please God by keeping the Law, Paul exchanged his failed pursuit of self-righteousness for the life-giving grace of Jesus Christ. The death Christ died was reckoned to him, and he therefore died to the old life and was raised together with Christ to a new life. How can we receive this new life? How can we exchange our wretched lives for a life in Christ? It comes when we die with Christ. When we bury our old sinful self beneath the wave and rise from that watery grave born again. Born from above. Those baptized into Christ have put on Christ. (Gal. 3:27 paraphrased)
“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection; Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead to sin is freed from sin.” (Romans 6:3-7)
When we are born again, we live an exchanged life. We give ourselves to Christ and He gives Himself to us, empowering us with His infinite strength so we can live as He desires. This is not lawless living. This is freedom that transcends the dos and don’ts of self-righteousness and releases us to a life of true love, devotion, and faithfulness.
No piano virtuoso will ever play through me or anyone. That is nothing more than a fanciful dream. Living a life in Christ is not a fanciful dream because He who loved us and gave His life for us, lives in us.