A Christian's virtues are not superficial

Philippians 1:19-20 [For I know that for me this will turn out to salvation through your petition and the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I will be put to shame, but with all boldness, as always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death.]


A Christian's virtues are not superficial they are not without root. The root of the Christian virtues is Christ. When we believe in Him with our heart and call on Him with our mouth, He enters into our spirit and enlivens our spirit. In this way we are regenerated. Now, this all-inclusive Christ lives in us. When we live Christ and magnify Him, all His human virtues are expressed in our living.

Paul said in Galatians 2:20, "I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me." God wants "I" to be crucified in the death of Christ so that in His resurrection Christ may live in us and be the source and everything in our living. This is why Paul said, "As always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death. For to me, to live is Christ."

God created man according to His image. God's image is all that God is. God is love, light, holiness, and righteousness. These are what God is; Hence, they are the image of God. Since man was created in the image of God, within man there are human virtues, such as love, light, holiness, and righteousness. But these human virtues are not the reality, they are merely the image of the reality. Man's virtues are a picture of God's image. A picture is not the reality of a man it is not the man himself. When we believe in Christ and receive this pneumatic Christ, He enters into us to be our life within, and He lives Himself out from us. By this we will have the reality of all the virtues of God's attributes, and we can live out the real love, light, holiness, and righteousness, which are the expressions of Christ in us.

When the Lord Jesus lives in us, we can love others in a genuine way. We do not love by our own love; rather, we love by the Christ who is living in us and who is our bountiful supply. This Christ who is living in us is the Spirit with the bountiful supply. He has become on with us. We do not need to do good or to be moral by ourselves. Everything we do and all our living should come about by the bountiful supply of Jesus Christ.

The supply and dispensing of His life cause us to be saved in our living of Christ, so that we may not be put to shame because we have not lived Christ, and may not lose the testimony that we ought to bear for Christ because of our failure to magnify Christ. On the contrary, with all boldness, as always, even now, daily, Christ will be magnified in our bodies, whether through life or through death.


Reference: Life-study of Philippians.