31st, March, 2025

The apostle Paul said that for him "...to live is Christ..." (Phil. 1:21)... But is this really possible for every Christian believer?

Was this even possible for Paul, or was it just hyperbole... Meaning, an exaggerated statement meant to make a point but not meant to be taken literally?

The answer begins with gaining clarity regarding what the apostle John wrote in chapter 3 of his New Testament gospel account. In verses 1-7, John presents a few key thoughts related to a Christian's daily living (often referred to in the Bible as our "walk").

In this post I'll break down these key thoughts, in the context of what the apostle Paul said in Philippians 1:21. And in a following post I'll speak to their practical application in our daily living.

Let's first take a look at these verses from John's gospel...

John 3:1-3... "But there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the JEWS. . . . This one came to Him by night and said to Him, Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him. . . . Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

In the verses above we read about someone, a Pharisee named Nicodemus, coming to Jesus "...by night..." (hiding himself from others who might condemn him for doing so). Nicodemus came to Jesus because he wanted to know more about who Jesus was. This is indicative of a person pursuing understanding, which is an instruction found in the Old Testament. Nicodemus, being a Pharisee, would have been familiar with this. Yet, he was being cautious because of the negative feelings other Pharisees had toward Jesus.

Here we find the first two key thoughts related to a Christian's walk... Be aware of the environment you are in, including the people you associate with... And, find a way to pursue the Lord even when the environment you find yourself in is against you doing so.

We then read that Nicodemus told the Lord what he knew of Him, specifically regarding that Jesus had "...come from God as a teacher...", as testified to by "...these signs..." that Jesus did... And more, Nicodemus said that Jesus was able to do "...these signs..." because "...God was with..." Him.

Now, for more contextual clarity, let's go back to the end of John chapter 2. We read about people who, because of the miracles that they saw Jesus perform, believed that Jesus was some type of teacher sent from God (as per Nicodemus' own thoughts regarding Jesus)... But... And this is important to note... Jesus would redirect Nicodemus' thinking/focus away from His performing of miracles, to the matter of life.

Note that Jesus didn't say that He had come to perform miracles... Jesus declared in John 10:10... "The thief does not come except to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and may have it abundantly."

Jesus was very clear... He had come "...that they may have life and may have it abundantly...".

Which sounds wonderful... Ask yourself... From a human perspective/experience, who doesn't want to have "...life...", even "...abundantly..."?... Thing is though, this "...life..." is not our natural human life... Here, the word used in the New Testament scripture manuscripts (from which we get Bible translations), uses the Greek word (what these manuscripts were written in) that is transliterated as zoe, which means divine life... Specifically, God's own life.

Jesus, in saying that He had come "...that they may have life and may have it abundantly...", was in fact saying that He had come so that man might have divine life... Meaning, that we might have God's own life.

Understanding that Jesus came so that we might have divine life, zoe, God's own life (really, God as life)... We need to make note of the miracles that Jesus performed being called "...signs..." in the scripture verses. Signs point to something. Signs are visual representations of concepts, ideas, or messages that convey meaning and information quickly and effectively.

Yet signs can often be misread/misinterpreted, which is what we can read happened at the end of John chapter 2... And because of this, John chapter 3 begins with the word, "...But...", as a coordinating conjunction (connecting two contrasting thoughts), indicating that although people believed in the Lord because of the miracles they saw Jesus perform, this was not the type of believing that He was after... Jesus wanted people to believe because of the "...life..." He would place within them... The zoe, divine life, that we receive when we are "...born anew..."... Natural human life will always fail... God's life is victorious, overcoming life.

This is why Jesus responded to Nicodemus, saying, "...Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

The gospel of John is not a book that testifies to the miracles that Jesus performed while here on this earth... The gospel of John testifies to these many miracles being "...signs..." that point to something else... These "...signs..." point to something far greater than the miracles Jesus performed... They point to the Lord Himself, and the "...life..." (zoe)in and through which He performed all His miracles.

We all know from our human experience that being born is a matter of life, and so when Jesus said to Nicodemus, "...Unless one is born anew,...", Jesus was speaking about life... Except, Jesus was not speaking about human life, He was speaking about zoe, divine life... The life of God... And this is confirmed in the following scripture verses...

John 3:6..."Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. . . . That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."

Jesus was declaring that to be "...born anew..." is to be born of "...the Spirit...". And since "...the Spirit..." is the Spirit of God... What Jesus is saying is that to be "...born anew..." is to be born of God... Born of zoe... Born of God's own divine life.

This is confirmed in the following scripture...

1 John 5:1... "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been begotten of God, and everyone who loves Him who has begotten loves him also who has been begotten of Him."

Are you beginning to see something related to our Christian walk?... What the true source of our Christian walk is?

And now we come to the apostle Paul's declaration of living Christ... Philippians 1:21... "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain...".

The apostle Paul had come to realize that, as a born-again of God believer, two things had happened... First, he had believed INTO Christ Jesus (Jhn. 3:16... The Greek word that is often translated as "in"— Greek word "en"—is actually the Greek word "eis" that means "into")... And second, he had received Christ Jesus as life into his being (2 Cor. 13:5)... As he testified to in the following scripture verses from his many epistles...

2 Corinthians 13:5... "Test yourselves whether you are in the faith; prove yourselves. Or do you not realize about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you, unless you are disapproved?...".

Romans 8:10... "But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness...".

2 Corinthians 4:6-7... "Because the God who said, Out of darkness light shall shine, is the One who shined in our hearts to illuminate the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. . . . But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us...".

Galatians 1:15-16... "But when it pleased God, who set me apart from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, . . . To reveal His Son in me that I might announce Him as the gospel among the Gentiles, immediately I did not confer with flesh and blood,...".

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

Galatians 4:19... "My children, with whom I travail again in birth until Christ is formed in you,...".

Ephesians 3:17... "That Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love,...".

Colossians 1:27... "To whom God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory,...".

2 Thessalonians 1:10... "When He comes to be glorified in His saints and to be marveled at in all those who have believed (because our testimony to you was believed) in that day...".

The apostle Paul was absolutely clear... The Lord came so that every born-again of God believer could have zoe, divine life, God's own life... And the Lord did this so that God might be multiplied in His expression in and through man...

John 12:24... "Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit."

This "...much fruit..." that the "...the grain of wheat..." that "...falls into the ground and dies..." produces ("bears"), are all those who have been born-again of God and have received Christ Jesus as our life (zoe), and who corporately, are built up by the Lord into His one church... Which is the glorious increase of Christ, the accomplishment of the mystery revealed in the gospel of John... Its ultimate consummation being the New Jerusalem, as declared in the book of Revelation, which was also written by John.

And this is only accomplished in and through the Christian walk being carried out in zoe, in divine life, the life of God... Which is only possible when Christ Jesus becomes the center and source of our life and living.

The reality of our Christian walk must be Christ Jesus Himself... He must become our person... Our humanity must simply be a vessel that contains and expresses Him.

This is the ultimate paradigm shift for our human being... A shift from taking our familiar natural human life as the center and source of our living and being... To taking God, realized in the Son, Christ Jesus, and applied by the Spirit, as the center and source of our living and being.

This is not just our trying to be like Christ, as most Christians think... But it is our actually being Christ, by possessing Him as our life, and thereby being able to abide in Him and live Him out.

Yet we need to be absolutely clear... The Body, which we are the many members of... Is not the Head... The Body is simply the living faculty with its many members who all possess God's life and nature, in and through whom the Head gains and carries out His will, for His eternally desired expression.

When we who are born-again of God are given to taking this way, at all times and in all places during the earthly lifetime God has given us... We are in reality, living Christ... Just as the apostle Paul declared he was.

May the Lord gain this reality in all His people, so that He may have His bride who has made herself ready, that we may bring Him back.

Amen.