OPINION —
When I decided as a teenager to live for Jesus, I had no idea how frustrating that would be. My struggle to live “like Jesus” met with disappointment at every hand. It began to seem foolish to think that I could imitate Jesus in all my attitudes and relationships.
Then I met E. Stanley Jones, an author and missionary to India. He had an inner peace that I wanted but had no idea how to obtain. Jones showed me the way to that peace. It had nothing to do with self-effort, constantly striving to be like Jesus.
The secret was wrapped up in two words: “In Christ.” The answer was simple yet profound: Live in Christ and let Christ live in you. That’s it. That was an awesome moment in my life. I had been blind, struggling in the darkness of self-effort. Jones opened my eyes to see for the first time the great secret of the Christian life.
It was the secret of the Apostle Paul’ amazing life. The heart of the gospel, Jones insisted, is found in Paul’s words in Galatians 2:20:
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
It was obvious that Jones was not struggling to live like Jesus. Instead of trying to imitate Jesus, he was surrendered to Jesus. His whole being seemed invigorated by the presence of Jesus within him. Jesus, for Jones, was not a great example who lived in the first century; he was the Risen Lord, here with us, right now. Jones spoke of Jesus as though he was in the room with us, unseen but powerfully present.
Instead of struggle, I saw in the man I would come to know as Brother Stanley an effortless joy. He was in sync with God. He was in a groove. His life was in cruise control, or better yet Christ control. This was obviously the Spirit-filled life I had heard about but never experienced. Christ was in Jones, and Jones was in Christ. The reality of the man’s deep relationship with Jesus was truly captivating. I sensed a peace and calm in Brother Stanley that could only be explained by the presence of Christ within him.
I wanted what Brother Stanley had – a sense of the presence of Christ in my life. Seeking his counsel, I met with him and confessed my hunger for the assurance that Christ was living in me. He asked me to claim for myself the promise of Jesus found in Mark 11:24, “…. Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
We knelt in prayer. Brother prayed simply that God would give me the assurance I was seeking. No bells rang as we stood up. No angels sang. But since that day, blessed assurance has been a constant gift of God. I surrendered my life to Jesus that day in a way I had never done before. I invited Jesus to take over and he did. Ever since that moment I have by faith believed that Christ was living in me. I exchanged “imitation” for “incarnation” and God gave me a new joy.
Instead of struggling to imitate Jesus I began to focus on letting Him live his life within me. This made sense for, after all, he had said clearly in John 15:5 that he is the Vine, we are the branches, and without Him “we can do nothing.”
The gospels became more exciting to me. Everywhere I see that “Christ lives in me” is the heart of the gospel’s good news. Repeatedly Paul writes of living “in Christ” or of Christ living “in me.” The great secret of all secrets is not complex but simple: Let Jesus be Lord and live in your heart. The way to a victorious Christian life is not struggle but surrender.
The same week that I embraced the joyous peace of Christ living in me, my friend Thomas Carruth gave me a copy of Brother Stanley’s latest book. It was no surprise that the title was “In Christ.” As I devoured the book, I was blessed to read that Brother Stanley had searched for a concept that would reduce the whole of life to the utmost simplicity. I loved what he said:
“If you have that, you’re ‘in’; if you don’t have it, you’re ‘out.’ By ‘in’ I mean ‘in life,’ and by ‘out,’ ‘out of life.’ He concludes: “If you are ‘in Christ,’ you’re ‘in life’; if you are ‘out of Christ,’ you’re ‘out of life.’”
The more I reflected on Jones’ claims, the more the secret made sense. It cleared up much confusion for me. The Christian life is not about religion; it is about life in Christ. So, the phrase “in Christ” is the ultimate idea in the Christian faith because, as Jones says, “it locates us in a Person — the Divine Person — and it locates us in Him here and now. It brings us to the ultimate relationship — “in.” “This takes us beyond being “near” Christ, “believing” in Christ or “following” Christ or “walking with Christ.”
I was captivated by Brother Stanley’s explanation: “To be ‘in Christ’ means to pull up the roots of one’s very life from the soil of sin and self and herd and plant them ‘in Christ.’ He becomes the source of our life, the source of our thinking, our feeling, our acting, our being.”
“This obviously involves self-surrender,” he said. “Not merely the surrender of our sins, our bad habits, our wrong thinking, and our wrong motives, but of the very self behind all these. All of these are symptoms: the unsurrendered self is the disease. So, the phrase ‘in Christ’ is not only the ultimate concept, but it demands the ultimate act — self-surrender.”
Jones was so convinced that he was right that he said, “If this concept is not true, then it doesn’t matter — forget it; but if it is true, then nothing else matters — you can’t forget it!”
I jumped “all in” and embraced Brother Stanley’s concept. It has been the focus of my journey with Jesus to this very hour. In the midst of faults and failures, storms and trouble, it has been my chief desire to let Christ live within me, to guide, comfort, discipline, mold me and use me as one of his servants.
Again and again, I have become aware of the presence of Christ around me and within me. Often, he has manifested his presence when I was deeply troubled. One day I sat at my desk miserably downcast, feeling that my world was coming apart. In walked Jake Pearce, a dairy farmer and faithful member of my church.
Removing his straw hat, Jake said quietly, “The Lord told me to come and pray for you, pastor.” With that, he knelt beside my desk, and I knelt beside him. He prayed, “Lord, I don’t know what problems my pastor is facing but I know you love him and want to help him, so Lord I am asking you to give him victory over whatever he is facing and restore your joy in his heart. Fill him with your spirit and help him be the man you want him to be. In the name of Jesus, Amen.”
I thanked Jake for coming and sat there stunned as he went on his way. I began weeping, but they were tears of joy. I started thanking the Lord for loving me enough to send a man to pray for me, a man who knew nothing about the problems I was facing. I cried for a long time and continued praying, “Lord, I want to be a man like Jake Pearce, a man who knows you so well that you can send me to pray for someone who is hurting.”
Jake’s coming made me realize I had become too absorbed with myself and my problems; I was more conscious of Walter than I was of the Christ within me.
I prayed for forgiveness and pleaded with the Lord to help get back on track — believing that because Christ was within me that he would give me the strength and wisdom to resolve my problems.
David Livingstone was once asked how he had been able to serve God so well and for so long in Africa. He said the source of his strength had been “the divine companionship of Jesus.” In my journey I have known that same divine companionship, the strengthening presence of Christ, enabling me to get up every time I have stumbled and fallen.
The calming and energizing presence of Christ has inspired many songs but none but that captivates my heart like this little chorus:
He is here!
He is here, Hallelujah!
He is here, Amen.
He is here, holy, holy,
I will bless His name again.
He is here, listen closely,
Hear him calling out your name.
He is here, you can touch Him.
You will never be the same.
I love to sing that chorus and celebrate the certainty that Christ is “here with us,” calling out our names and inviting us to let him come into our hearts and sit on the throne of our lives. He is more real than anything we can touch or feel. He is life and true life is found only “in Him!”
Now, as the shadows are lengthening for me, I can declare that Brother Stanley affirmation is my own:
“My creed and my song are one – my creed: ‘Jesus is Lord’; my song: ‘Jesus is Lord!’ I’m in Him and He is in me. Hallelujah!” I must add one word: Glory!
There is no doubt. The great secret of Christianity is: Christ living within us!
Paul was right. Brother Stanley was right. You and I can be right — if we choose to surrender and let Christ live within us.
I’m in Him and He is in me! Hallelujah!
If He is not “in” you, then surrender to Him; let Him take over. It will be the greatest decision you have ever made!