Not I But Christ

Galatians 2:20-”I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me , and gave Himself up for me.”

This is my first blog entry here. I have been thinking of what I should write. Finally, I decide on writing about something that has impacted me so tremendously recently-an ordinary book named “THE NORMAL CHRISTIAN LIFE”, written by Watchman Nee.

This book has been with my family for years, kept in the bookshelf. I took it out not long ago. Its pages were torn and tatterred. The cover was breaking apart. But apart from the book’s terrible appearance, a quote on the front cover caught my attention. It says:

Which means: It is no longer I but Christ

It was interesting as this quote is place beside the title ‘The normal christian life’, implying that the two goes hand-in-hand. I began to read the book. Indeed, in the first page, the author states that this is how Paul summarised the normal christian life. The normal christian life is Galatians 2:20: It is no longer I but Christ.

This words struck me hard that I have been pondering over this for a long time. We look at us christians today. What is our normal christian life? On weekends, it is going to church, singing worship songs, listening to sermons, participating in church activities and outings and on weekdays, it is reading a short chapter in the bible daily or perhaps weekly or even monthly, whispering a short little prayer before meals or before we go to bed. This is our normal christian life that we live.

One question popped up in my head: “Are we normal christians?”

Yes, I said initially. Of course I’m normal. This is almost what every single christian I believe is doing. How abnormal could this be? We are all christians. If we aren’t christians, who are?

Then, I was taught something that rebuked my answer. I can’t say it is normal just because everybody is doing it. Neither can I say it is normal just because it seems to be normal. I can only say that it is normal on the basis of the word of God. It is written so clear in the bible. Paul says, “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me.” This is how I ought to live as a normal christian. I believe that Paul is not boasting about an attainment that only he has and we don’t, but he is explaining how he lived his life as how we ought to live our lives.

This is the normal christian life: Not I but Christ. This how I ought to live as a normal christian. All other forms of living is abnormal for a christian.

I began to understand that it is not the things I do e.g attending service that make me a christian, but it is the life I live that determine whether I am christian. The life I live is no longer my own life, but Christ’s life lived out in me, through me and for me.

Thanks be to God.