I. THE CHRISTIAN LIFE BEING THE LIFE
IN WHICH THE BELIEVERS OF CHRIST
LIVE CHRIST AND MAGNIFY HIM
The Christian life is the life in which the believers of Christ live Christ and magnify Him. This is based upon Philippians 1:20-21a, which says, "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. For to me, to live is Christ." Paul said that for him to live was Christ. This means that we need to live Christ. If we add a preposition to the phrase to live Christ, this changes the meaning. To live out Christ, to live by Christ, to live through Christ, to live with Christ, and to live in Christ are not quite the same in meaning as to live Christ. According to my knowledge, I never heard anyone use this term—to live Christ. This describes the fact that Paul’s life was to live Christ. He lived Christ because Christ lived in him (Gal. 2:20).
The term to live Christ bears a particular significance. We are here to live Christ. We are not just living by Him, living with Him, living in Him, or living Him out. We are living Christ, and this living of Christ is for us to magnify Him, to make Him larger in others’ eyes. Paul was confined in prison. He was fearful that he might not magnify Christ, not make Christ larger; he could have made Christ small in the eyes of those observing him. Paul desired, even in prison, to make Christ bigger, to make Christ larger, to magnify Christ.
The Christian life is not merely an ethical life, a good life, or a moral life. The Christian life, of course, should be ethical, moral, and excellent. But strictly speaking, it is not an ethical life. It is something higher than an ethical life. The Christian life is a life that lives Christ. In our living as a Christian, others should not see merely our goodness, our ethics, or our morality. They should see Christ. We Christians should live a life that lives Christ and magnifies Him.
(The Christian Life, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee)
