“And you will come to know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:23).
We are not set free by knowing the truth, but by obeying it; many know the truth but are not set free, from self, from carnality and worldliness. While Jesus has paid the price for their redemption from the hands of the evil one, yet they have not really left his dark domain and seized firmly the power that is in the redeeming Blood of Jesus.
The Son of Man, the truth incarnate, is come to seek and save them that are lost (Luke 19:10); He stands at the door and knocks (Revelation 3:20) but we must open that door before He can come in; obedience is what opens the door.
Truth is seeking us; we don’t have to search for it, but surrender to it. Truth is hunting for those who would take hold of it by obedience – few do these days because we are taught to rely on partial teachings of the Word, rather than on the whole body of scripture. Many live by repeating those comforting scriptures like religious mantras, while neglecting any notion of a living, intimate, personal and private relationship with the Lord of Glory. It is too easy to be comfortable in belief, which is where Christianity is, rather than progressing to true Biblical faith, which is where Christ is.
But what says the scripture? “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).
This is our only hope to see glory; that Christ dwells IN us; not that we are Christians, or that we are regular Churchgoers, or that we believe in Him; but that Christ is IN us. Of course, Christians claim that, as a matter of doctrine, Christ is in all Christians; but that misses the point.
What is the evidence of Christ is IN us? Is it purely theological or is it meant to be experiential?
The answer to that question is that Christ was not a theologian, but a living manifestation in the flesh of the one true God; if then, Christ is IN us and we IN Him, as He was in the Father and the Father was in Him (John 14:11), we will live lives that reflect His holy presence within; we will do the things that are pleasing to Him; our lives will bear His fruit that speaks of His work in us (John 14:10); there will be the same love in us that Christ had for men, even the lost; we will be impatient to get alone with Him; we will hear His voice and follow Him; we will have peace in our lives, not the peace of the world, but an inner peace that speaks of Him (John 14:27); all these and more are to be the experiences of those in whom Christ dwells and who abide in Him.
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