19.1 Walk in Life
© 2015 Christ Revealed Bible Institute
Abide in Me and I in you (John 15:4). – Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4).
We understand that walking in life means taking every step, doing every action, speaking every word, thinking every thought inside of the Lord Jesus Christ. Okay, we get that as an idea. But HOW? How do we walk in life? Most say: “Hear what Jesus says and be sure to do it.” But that is separation, not walking INSIDE of Jesus.
How to Walk in Life
The seventh most important verse tells us how, but our approach to this “verse” will be different from previous verses. First, I want to merge together the three verses that make up this seventh most important verse. A careful look at the text will show that I am not twisting the words.
We have become partakers of Christ IF we hold fast the beginning of our confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm/steadfast to the end – for God always leads us in triumph in Christ (Hebrews 4:6/14 & 2 Corinthians 2:14a). When we are finished with this verse, we will know HOW to walk in life every moment; this verse sets the stage for real obedience to Christ – abiding always in Him.
Abide in Me
Abide in Me and I in you (John 15:4). There is no other commandment in the Bible. As we keep this commandment Christ Himself fulfills the entire Bible in our lives. Those who fail to keep this commandment, though they “keep” all others, live only separated from Christ in their imaginations and thus do not please or know God. Inside of “Abide in Me and I in you” we find everything of God. Outside of that place, everything is all wrong, including every word in the Bible. Jesus lives in our hearts by faith; today we abide in Him.
Extending Verses
But of God you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— (1 Corinthians 1:30).
God has already put us into Jesus; we do nothing to “get there.” But there are actions of God through us that cause us to know what is already true. There is action inside the seventh verse, but action that becomes practical only by extending out into those actions that constitute abiding in Christ. The verses we will add to it are extending verses, verses that show us the simple actions of faith by which we know that we do live only inside of Jesus.
Christ Sustaining All
Study this diagram carefully, drawing it’s full meaning into your heart.
Seeing Christ or Not-Christ
Jesus is always sustaining all things every moment by goodness, by life, purity, and power. Those words define the substance of all things. HOWEVER, they cannot enter by knowledge except through faith, through willing and active acceptance.
The unbeliever sees nothing of those words of Christ, but lives life entirely by his or her own story of self. The believer sees nothing but those words of Christ, making them his or her only story of self. The Nicene Christian, however, knows the good speaking of Christ, but as One far away, preferring rather to live by accusation, by a double hearted, double minded story.
The Bible as Life or Death
The accuser can speak only by using God’s words. Consider “the Bible” possessed by Adam and Eve, words from God already spoken. We know that neither possessed Word as Jesus inside of them because they had not yet eaten of Life.
The extent of that word on the outside of them was three things: the directive to fill the earth and subdue, the invitation to freely eat along with the command not to eat from one tree lest they die, and the establishing of marriage, eight verses total. The serpent used two of those eight, the negative verse and the identity verse, to shape the lie he inserted into Adam and Eve.
The Bible for us is the clearing in the middle of the garden, containing both life and death, according to how we hear.
Word Inside of Us
This diagram shows the inside of the believer.
As Jesus penetrates by Word into us through faith, He becomes all that we are. But the Bible is FILLED with external word, and the believer who keeps those words on the outside by unbelief can say only, “I am fallen short!” The Bible becomes life to one and death to the other.
Preferring Accusation
Study the diagram in the last slide carefully. Note that the gray circle is not real; it is imagination only. The one who prefers to live inside of it, seeing Christ far away and not-Christ close at hand, does so only by not accepting the good speaking of Christ. Such a one prefers to hear the Bible as obligation, from a distance, while always falling short. Yet they are carried entirely inside the good speaking of Jesus.
Note that Jesus enters in as Word through faith, through our willing and ACTIVE embrace of Him as our life. BUT – accusation remains outside. To live by accusation is truly without purpose.
Confidence
Do you see why we do not ourselves “cast down” or rid ourselves of the accusation? We have no need to do such a thing for accusation is not inside of us, only Jesus is inside us with all of His good words. Accusation is outside of us, whereas the good speaking of Jesus is infinite and fills us full. We defeat accusation by ignoring it, and we ignore it by devouring with pure joy all the goodness that already fills us.
Remain in Me and I in you. To abide is to remain. We don’t “enter into” Jesus, we ARE in Him. And we remain in Him by active CONFIDENCE.
Actions of Grace
Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Grace is the gift of God Himself dwelling now in us. The Grace to come, now come in us, is the grace to walk in this newness of life, to walk AS IF God Himself fills us full, connecting Himself with us as one person through the speaking of Christ, though we “see it not.” This walk of grace is pre-resurrection; our appearance as weak humans does not yet change.
We walk by substance, paying no attention to appearance. And God has given us actions of grace we can do that engage us directly with this Word that is our only life, our only story.
We Are Part of Christ
We are part of Christ BECAUSE we cultivate absolute confidence that we are part of Christ. God always leads us in triumph; we never fall short of His glory.
We acknowledge the good things of Christ inside of us; Christ is in our mouths. We ask God, as Mary did, to fulfill in us all that He speaks, and having asked, we know that He has done all that we ask. We give thanks for all things, counting it all joy regardless of the many strange and difficult trials we encounter.
And we walk every moment in the expectation of God arising in us, expectation of favor, expectation of all victory.