Putting on Christ

July 7, 2015

Putting on Christ

“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Galatians 2:20

To become a Christian is to enter into an altogether new identity, or as the Apostle Paul puts it, “And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27). In the verse quoted above, Galatians 2:20, Paul reveals that ‘putting on Christ’ is a matter of making a conscious decision to ignore our natural instincts and choose to live our life by trusting in Jesus to show us a new way to live. Jesus modeled a life lived as a child of God, and as we are Christianoi, the people of Christ, he will empower us to do the same.

A good spiritual discipline is to pick one of the four Gospels, and read it with the goal of discerning as many personality characteristics of Jesus as you can. After you have made your list, study it with the thought that Jesus wants you to embody those characteristics in your life; this is putting on Christ. A caveat: it is easier to identify the characteristics than it is to make them your own. This is because God wants to completely transform our lives, which means a complete reorientation of how we relate to God, ourselves and to other people. This is also why Paul used such hyperbole to describe how he ignored his flesh and trusted in Jesus instead: “My old self has been crucified with Christ. . . “

Some of the characteristics I have noted in Jesus’ personality include an openness and acceptance of his feelings, simplicity of conversation, intimacy with his Abba, and humble obedience to his Abba’s will. Choosing to let God work these characteristics into our lives is choosing to take the road less traveled, and while we do have to reaffirm our choice, sometimes moment by moment, we want to remember that ultimately “God is working in (us), giving (us) the desire and the power to do what pleases him” (Philippians 2:13). This truth inspired Paul to affirm, “I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms is available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ is available as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.