Christ Like
5/26/2013
George Poulo


My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until
Christ be formed in you. 
Gal4:19

            We are looking at life without law.  While one lives under law, one lives in judgment, bondage, condemnation, guilt, fear, and anxiety or pride, conceit and arrogance.  So one of the advantages of being free from law is that there is no longer any burden.  Is that the only advantage of living free from Law? The answer is a resounding no.  Until one gets out from being under law, one is incapable of loving the way Paul speaks of it in Corinthians thirteen.  Living under law makes one either puffed up or inferior.  Living without law makes one Christ-like.  When I enter this new life it is only then that Christ can be formed in me.  It is only then can I crucify the flesh and begin to walk in the Spirit.  The formation of Christ is one of the most important goals of the Christian life.  Rather than self-realization it is a life committed to being like Christ.  After one is born again and filled with the Holy Ghost one must free oneself from the law and walk in love.  Here is where the Father comes into play.  Just as it was the role of the Father to form Christ in Jesus, so to it is the role of the Father to form Christ in us.  Jesus continually gives credit to the Father for the miracles he performed in his ministry after he received the Holy Spirit.  In the same way we give credit to the Father for all the miracles we perform in this life.  The Father communicates to the Holy Spirit what needs to be done and the Holy Spirit communicates that to us in order for the Word (Jesus) to be made manifest in our lives.  As we obey the inner witness of the Spirit through the knowledge of his word and the infilling of the Holy Ghost, we  experience the fulfillment of the only commandment in the Christian life : “to believe in the name of Jesus Christ and to love one another as he gave us commandment.” (1Jn3:23)

            In simple terms the Christian life consists only in two things: believing in Jesus and loving the way He loved.  To do this we must know the word, be filled with the Holy Spirit, be free from law, crucify the flesh, and obey the inner witness of the Spirit which is communicated to us from the Father, to the Holy Spirit, to make Jesus present and real in the world in which we live.  God is love and only God is the author of love and Jesus is the author and the finisher of our faith.  Be people of love.  

Amen






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