BECOMING LIKE CHRIST is both the motivation and the never-finished outcome of the devout Jesus-follower. Paul says that we are “to put off our old self, and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness.” (Eph. 4:22-24) If we are not well-versed in Pauline theology, we might mistake this as a call to a performance-based act of personal force of will, with strong roots in a goal-driven legalistic framework. But if we read Paul’s letters in their entirety, we soon find that he abjures legalism as antithetical to God’s grace in Christ Jesus.
Foundational to Paul’s theology are his thoughts from the Book of Romans, and none more so than this: “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Rom. 6:4-5) Paul is informed by a radical encounter with Jesus Christ on the Damascus Road. (c.f. Acts 9:4-7) His zealous persecution of Christians was overcome in an instant in the presence of the living Lord. Paul’s description of death and new life in Christ is firmly rooted in this experience.
It is only from a similarly-established view that our own Christian life has an undeniable source by which our unregenerate life is continually put to death as an accomplished fact, and from which our regenerated life is called forward and upward. This is only possible in an encounter and ongoing relationship with the eternally-living Jesus, however that might uniquely happen for each one of us. Central to such thought, not philosophically but theologically, is Jesus’ own statement: ““I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:6-7) This is something we grasp most firmly, not by intellect or emotion, but in spirit.
In Jesus, we are beckoned towards a view of our own immortality. Through him we sense we can finally find the answers to the great questions we have about our source, purpose, and destiny. But only by him are we made like him, and only as our righteousness is made pleasing to God in him do we fully arrive at a factually experiential faith. Paul cries out, “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.” (Phil. 3:10-11) O, how we struggle to understand such things!
Paul has been where we are, and his experience and wisdom speak encouragement to us. He encapsulates the essence of his experiential knowledge for us, saying “Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.” (1 Tim. 3:16)
If we want to grow into an understanding of what Paul is teaching about new life, we must begin to understand the mystery of these things of God. This is an open secret, hidden from those who deny Christ, but open to those who accept him in trust, faith, and obedience. The first part of this ‘mystery’ is that ‘He appeared in the flesh,’ born of a virgin (c.f. Isa. 7:14). This we accept in faith.
Next, he ‘was vindicated by the Spirit.’ At both his baptism at the river Jordan and the epiphany on the Mount of Transfiguration, God’s voice is heard, recorded in the scriptures: “This is my Son…” (c.f. Matt. 3:16, Matt. 17:5) Then, he ‘was seen by angels’: “angels came and attended him.” (Matt. 4:11, Luke 22:43) These things also we receive by faith.
Two thousand years of history authenticate Paul’s words that he was/is ‘preached among the nations’ and ‘was believed on in the world.’ Christianity has long been the dominant religion of our world, with currently some 2.1 billion adherents of an 8 billion population. We don’t have to have faith to believe this. This is a verifiable factual statement. We might question the individual validity of such a wide claim, but to do that is to deflect from the main point. We have to believe in Jesus if our faith is to be authentic.
Finally, Paul stresses that Jesus was ‘taken up in glory.’ This is a post-resurrection statement that necessarily affirms Jesus rising from the dead while it points towards the destiny of our own souls. If Jesus rose from the dead, then so do you and I. If Jesus’ current life is with God in heaven, then so one day yours and mine will be also, and even now is, yet imperfectly. Paul expresses this promise in this way: “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 2:6-7)
He adds this great balancing thought, lest we think too highly of ourselves: “it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9)
God expects righteousness from us, but it is a righteousness that he offers, and we must accept, only in his son Jesus. The mystery of godliness is made clear to us in Christ Jesus, and we may now lead a life “hidden in Christ in God.” (Col. 3:3) Our part in this is to lead godly lives. (c.f. 2 Pet. 1:3-4) Let this be our guide: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” (Prov. 4:23)
Q. Beyond the desire to do so, am I living a godly life?
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