Gospel Logic For Daily Living
Good morning, Immanuel. The Christian life is marked by a profound transformation that redefines our identity and way of living.
“… If with Christ you died…If then you have been raised with Christ…” (Col. 2:20;3:1).
The logic of the Christian life is not “do until you become something new”; rather, it is “do because you have already become something new.” The gospel so radically changes our identity that we have two entirely different points of reference to live out the Christian life: with Christ, you died…and with Christ, you have been raised. As believers, our union with Christ so deeply identifies us with Him that His death is our death, and His resurrection ours, too. By grace, we have been relocated into Christ and His accomplishments on our behalf.
So, we are not trying to become something new by what we do. In Christ, we have already become something new. We died, and the Risen Christ is our life! “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17). So, if with Christ you died…and if then you have been raised, we can live as the people we have become. This is gospel logic for daily living. We are new, so we are free to be in practice what we have already become in position.