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Set Apart for Christ

By David A. DePra

In the inspired W ord of God, there are a number of names given to

designate one who is in Christ. The name, "Christian(s)," is used three
times. But the most often used name for someone who is in Christ is the
name, "SAINT." This is not without significance. The word SAINT comes
from the same Greek word that is otherwise translated, "holy." Thus, "a
saint," or, "the saints," are God’s HOLY ONES.

Yet what does it mean to BE HOLY? This is the real question. In both
the Old and New Testaments, the word HOLY means, "to be set apart for
God." If you examine that, you will see that this definition is not so much
talking about our works – although HOLY ONES will obviously have HOLY
W ORKS. But, "to be set apart for God," is much more. "To be set apart for
God," means TO BELONG TO GOD. This speaks of a RELATIONSHIP,
and really an IDENTITY.

W hat is a Christian? W hat is a Saint? A saint is one who belongs to God

– is set apart FOR GOD. That is the meaning of HOLINESS. But link that
up to the fact that a saint is one in whom Christ dwells. This tells us that if
we are IN CHRIST that we are, by definition, one who is set apart for God.
Indeed, CHRIST IN US – or us in Christ – is what sets us apart for God.
HE sets us apart. HE is our holiness.

Now, if this were merely a matter of vocabulary and religion, it wouldn’t

matter much. But through this name, "saint," we are actually being told
W HO we are to God, and W HO God is to us. W e are being told what are
relationship is to God through Christ – we belong to HIM. W e do not
belong to the world, and we do not belong to ourselves. W e belong to
GOD. But every bit of this is possible only because Christ is in us. As
Paul said:

And you are Christ's; and Christ is God's. (1 Cor 3:23)

Does Christ belong to God? Yes. Do we belong to Christ? Yes. Then we

belong to God. This is the core of HOLINESS. And as you can see, it is all
made possible by CHRIST IN US. In short, Jesus Christ in us IS our
holiness.

Born From Above

 Since the apostolic age, continuing to today, Christianity has generally
become nothing more than a religion, or a belief system – yes, based on
the Bible, and yes, one that talks about Jesus Christ – but generally
speaking, Christianity has become nothing more than a religion that
people practice in the name of Jesus. This is even the case in some of the
movements where emotionalism and supposed signs and wonders are
happening. Most of these things are products of the flesh – religious
flesh. Some folks don’t want to hear that, but it is a fact. And the fruits
prove it.

Even in some of the churches today that claim to honor the W ord of
God, Christianity is nothing more than a religion that has emerged from
people’s doctrinal understanding, and from their Biblical interpretation.
Yet it doesn’t matter how accurate such interpretations and doctrinal
constructs are, this still isn’t the Christianity of the Bible.

The Christianity of the Bible never emerged from doctrines. Rather,

doctrines emerged from Christianity. Neither was Christianity a religion, or
a religious movement. Rather, the Christianity of the Bible was the result
of those first saints receiving from above the spiritual life of Jesus Christ.
They were BORN FROM ABOVE – and that is what made them SAINTS. It
is what made them, "Christians." All of their doctrines and teachings, as
well as their new understanding of the OT, then emerged out of their
experience and understanding of the Christ who now dwelled within them.

But once the original apostles were gone, and that generation of the
saints passed away, what was left were the doctrines and teachings of the
W ord of God. This was wonderful, essential, and thank God we are
blessed to have the Bible. Yet built into this was a possibility. That
possibility was that people would BYPASS the Person of Jesus, and the
necessity of being born from above, and establish the doctrines,
traditions, and practices – in and of themselves – AS CHRISTIANITY.
W hat you end up with is dead religion – although it is nevertheless
possible to have the right doctrines.

W asn’t this the case with the Old Testament? The Old Testament was
OF GOD. It contained written Truth, and pointed the human race to the
One who would later come. But the very same W ord of God tells us that
the law could NOT make perfect the worshipper. Indeed, even Jesus said
that during that time, "the Holy Spirit was W ITH you, but shall be IN you."
Anyone can practice a religion in the outward by keeping rules, laws, and
by proclaiming doctrine. But only if we receive life from above is it
possible to experience the PERSON to whom all of these point. W e must
not try to have a relationship with a SHADOW . The substance and reality
is CHRIST HIMSELF – and we are to receive Him IN US.
 I mention all of this to point out that it is quite possible to try to
establish doctrinal teaching, and to establish rules – all in an attempt to
achieve a holy life, and all in an attempt to be a saint. Christian people
still think that holiness is the result of living according to law and rules.
But this is error. It is legalism. The source of holiness is not works. The
source of holiness is the HOLY ONE – Christ in us.

This may astound some people, but if I try to make myself holy by works
– if that is what I am doing – then not only is my faith not in Christ, but in
my works, but I am actually living in UNHOLINESS. Sure. Religious flesh
is NOT holy. Only Christ is holy. W orks cannot make me holy. But if I
abide in Christ, holy works will emerge. W e need to see the difference.

The fact that most of us haven’t a clue about this distinction, indeed,
don’t understand what it means, shows our utter ignorance of Jesus
Christ. W e still mistake the flesh for the Spirit. Yet, this is basic Truth in
the epistles of Paul. But we still don’t get it.

It is possible to read the Bible, and to see what a saint is supposed to

be, and to see how a saint ought to live – and then to try to create a
religion which imposes the traits of a saint upon those who desire to be
saints -- THROUGH LAW . This is done all the time. For example, people
read the book of Acts and try to duplicate what happened there by forming
communes, or imposing laws and authority systems, and think that this is
going to bring about New Testament Christianity. It will not. As mentioned,
if this is what I’m trying to do, then it is of religious flesh, and in fact, an
UNHOLY thing. Any mixture of religious flesh with the Person of Jesus is
unholy.

The reason those things happened in the book of Acts was because of
the LIFE of Jesus Christ. Try to DO even Biblical things without the LIFE
of Jesus, and you will meet disaster. No. You must receive His LIFE from
above, and come to where His life governs in Spirit and in Truth. In other
words, you cannot be made HOLY by merely doing holy laws. Rather, you
are MADE HOLY by being born from above. That is how it begins, and it
must, from that beginning, be lived out by those set apart FOR GOD.

Here we see the absolute necessity of being BORN FROM ABOVE. And
yet if we are born from above, through which Christ comes to dwell in us
by the Spirit, we have seen that this is exactly what makes us SAINTS,
and which SETS US APART UNTO GOD. Sure. This is all ONE Truth, and
ONE reality. It is what Christianity is, and who SAINTS are. Christ in us
sets us apart for God. Christ in us is the only holiness there is.

Belonging to God
 A saint is one who is set apart UNTO God – for His purposes. According
to scripture, this is the only kind of saint there is in the mind of God. This
is a fact even though many saints don’t act like they are set apart for God.
In other words, it is entirely possible to be a saint, to be set apart for God,
but to nevertheless violate this relationship. And if I am violating it, I am
actually walking in UNHOLINESS.

I mentioned earlier that, "to be holy," was not merely accomplished in

our works. No. "To be holy," means to belong to God – in every way by
relationship. W e can see how that certainly includes works. But it goes
beyond works. "To be holy," means that my SELF belongs to God. This
means that there is no aspect of a human being who is in Christ which
does not belong to God – our works, our wills, our desires, our motives,
and everything about us, both inward and outward. ALL of a saint is set
apart for God.

Once this is understood, then many Bible verses make sense. For
example, Paul wrote about being, "baptized into Christ." Baptism means
to be, "immersed into." W ell, we are, "baptized into His death." Can we
see that ALL of our, "self-ownership," has been buried in the death of
Christ? But then we are raised from that death – as saints who no longer
belong to themselves, but are HOLY UNTO GOD. Again – this is the
meaning of being IN Christ. There is no other meaning.

W hen we come to the Cross of Jesus and take our place in His death,
we are actually separated by His death from the old creation in Adam. But
we are likewise planted into His resurrection. This is the birth from above
– which Jesus said can only happen, "through water and Spirit."

Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of
water and of 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. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. (John 3:5-
7)

Jesus is saying that the birth from above; the new birth; is only possible
through water – which is representative of coming to the Cross and taking
my place in the death of Christ, which is what being, "baptized into His
death," means. I must be born OF W ATER – through that baptism into the
death of Christ – and then through Spirit. W hen I take my place in the
death of Christ, I have been separated from that old creation in Adam. But
then I receive NEW LIFE FROM ABOVE – the very resurrection life of
Jesus Christ. Thus, having been separated from this old creation by the
death of Christ, I am set apart UNTO GOD through new life in Jesus
Christ. I am then a SAINT.
 Our birth from above – and the fact that we no longer belong to
ourselves, but to God – is the result of being BOUGHT with the price of
the blood of Jesus. "Redemption," means, "a buying back." The saints are
those who have been bought OUT OF the old creation UNTO God through
the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is what a saint IS.

Thus, we see that a saint has been set apart FROM the world; from the
old creation, and set apart UNTO God. A saint is HOLY because a saint is
IN CHRIST. Thus, when a saint lives contrary to this Truth, he is living in
an unholy way. W hen a saint uses himself or his own purposes, he is not
living as if he belongs to God, and this is UNHOLY. In short, holiness is a
life that is according to the Truth that a saint belongs to God. Unholiness
is a life that is a violation of that Truth.

There is no need to speculate as to whether a saint belongs to God, or

as to what this means. It is clearly spelled out all through the Bible:

W hat? know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost
which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your ow n? For
you are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in
your spirit, which are God's. (1 Cor 6:19-20)

You are bought w ith a price; be not you the servants of men. (1 Cor
7:22-23)

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible

things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by
tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a
lamb without blemish and without spot: (1 Pet 1:18-19)

The Truth that saints BELONG TO GOD – and not to themselves –

actually defines the entire Christian life. It tells us what a Christian IS,
and it tells us what a Christian is supposed to DO. It rightly represents
how we become saints, and it tells us what our relationship with God must
be if we are to continue in His purposes. A saint belongs to God. That is
holiness. A saint does NOT belong to the world, or to himself. That would
be unholiness. These are unchangeable Truths.

The World

Through the new birth – which is a passing from death to life – we are
set apart FROM the world UNTO God. Actually, we are birthed into
another realm – the realm or kingdom of God.

In scripture, this is stated in a number of ways. W hen we are born from

above, we are separated by the death of Christ from the world, from the
Adam race, from the old creation, from the kingdom of darkness, and from
the flesh. W e are birthed into the kingdom of God, into the new creation in
Christ Jesus, into the Light, and into the Spirit of God. This separation is
NOT some impractical legal designation. No. Paul says, "If any man is in
Christ HE IS a new creation. Old things have passed away, behold, all
things are become new." (II Cor.5:17) God does not merely CALL us new
creations, or legally designate us as being IN CHRIST. No. W e ARE new
creations who ARE in Christ. This is real. It is not merely religion or
theology.

God’s Purpose of Christ

Now, all of this leads us to a great Truth. W e use words like HOLINESS,
and sanctification, and character, but in the end, it all comes back to one
fundamental purpose of God – to gather up all in Christ. Or, to apply this
to our present thought of being set apart for God’s use, the primary USE
for which God has set us apart is CHRIST. W e are set apart FOR Christ –
as those in whom Christ will dwell and do a great work to God’s glory.

I want to state this again, because it is the whole point and purpose of
God. The purpose for which God has set us apart is CHRIST. A saint is
one who is set apart for God’s use – and that use is to be a vessel for
Christ. W e are to be a living epistle. W e are to be living witnesses unto
Christ. THAT IS GOD’S use for His saints.

Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his
good pleasure which he has purposed in himself: That in the dispensation
of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in
Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in
him…W hich is his body, the fullness of him that fills all in all. (Eph 1:9,
23)

God’s use of us is that we become a living expression of the resurrected

Christ – that we become the temple of God. Thus, when we talk about
being separated unto Christ, or being set apart for God’s use, that use is
not for THINGS, or a job, or a ministry. No. God’s use for us is CHRIST –
that we might become a vessel though whom Christ can be manifested.
THAT is the primary reason God has set us apart – and the one upon
which all else depends.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the
power may be of God, and not of us. (2 Cor 4:7)

Christianity is Christ in us, the hope of glory, or conversely, Christianity

is BEING IN CHRIST. All that God has for us is in the Person of His Son.
He is the great treasure. But we are the earthen vessel in which the
Treasure dwells. Thus, we see God’s use for us – we are to be the
earthen vessel in which the great Treasure Himself dwells and is
manifested. THIS is God’s primary use of those that he sets apart.

Now, of course, any time God gets glory in and through a person, that
person benefits. Indeed, if you want an abundant life, it is here that we
find the answer. An earthen vessel does not have an abundant life
because he or she is given THINGS. Rather, an earthen vessel has an
abundant life because there is the Treasure Himself within – in whom are
hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Col.2:3) Material THINGS
can be added as they serve the life of Christ in us. But all abundance is
found in the Person of Christ, and issue out of our relationship with Him –
yet to God’s glory and purpose.

Christ In and Through Us

The saints are those who belong to God – for His use and purpose. That
purpose is Christ – to be a vessel that manifests Christ.

There is great misunderstanding and error everywhere today over this

matter of Christ in us, and living through us. For example, today we have
the false gospel of self-esteem proclaimed by Joel Osteen, Robert
Schuller, and some others. More and more this false gospel is becoming
the theme of ministries, because they have seen that it brings in the
money and the members. People want to be told they are OK, and they
want to feel good about themselves. And frankly, it no longer matters
HOW or W HY you feel good about yourself – just so you do! Christian
people seem blind to the fact that error and evil spirits can make you feel
marvelously good about yourself. Satan works in the realm of the flesh
and in the psychic realm. These are the, "feel good," areas of natural man
– but void of Jesus Christ.

I have personally heard such statements on Christian television as,

"Jesus Christ died to bring out YOUR greatness," "W e don’t preach about
sin in our church because we don’t want to put people down," "God wants
to rebuild the real you," "God is pleased when YOU are YOU," and, "God
wants to give you all of your desires." In addition, many ministers are
offering to be your, "life coach" -- for a fee, of course. (Can you imagine
the apostle Paul charging money for being a, "life coach?") Some
churches are offering classes on inner healing, and sessions on how to be
delivered from, "generational curses." I could go on. But every one of
these things is false. They are not the Truth. And to a greater or lesser
extent, they are able to be passed off as Truth because we do not have an
inward revelation of Jesus Christ, nor do we understand what Christian
growth really is. Thus, we fill the void with substitutes.
 The Bible tells us the Truth about God’s purpose – and the reality of
Christ within:

But of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom,
and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as
it is written, He that glories, let him glory in the Lord. (1 Cor 1:30-31)

(W e are) always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus
that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we
which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life
also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death
works in us, but life in you. (2 Cor 4:10-12)

Here we see that God has no intention of making YOU into a better
person. Rather, He intends to crucif y the flesh – to absolutely bring an
end to the government of the natural. If God does that, then Christ will be
seen – because He already dwells in those who are born from above.

Of course, God does none of this without our faith and surrender. Christ
doesn’t live through us by bypassing us or live through us to the disregard
of us. And I’m not talking only about works. I’m talking about the SELF
and all that is of the natural. God not only wants to set us free from sin,
but also to set us free from SELF – even what we might think is GOOD
SELF.

So what we see is that despite the fact God isn’t out to make YOU a
better person – under the conventional understanding of that – He is out
to manifest Christ in and through us. This is what is necessary if we are to
be witnesses unto Christ.

Spiritual Fruit

It would seem that there are so few that understand this great Truth of
Christ in us, and manifesting Himself through us. Christian people simply
do not see the relationship between themselves and the Christ in them.
W e either have no consciousness of Him, or we mistake our emotions,
temperament, or soul power, for Christ. W e just don’t understand what it
means for Christ to live in and through us – we still think this is about God
making us a better personality.

But no. This is not about God bringing out the best in us. It is about God
crucifying the best out of us, so that Christ might be seen. Such a Truth is
foreign to the thinking of most people. In fact, we don’t even get the
definition of spiritual gifts, or spiritual fruit, correct. W e think these are
about signs and wonders, etc. No. Spiritual gifts are Christ. Spiritual fruits
are Christ. They are HIM – by His Holy Spirit – being seen, and moving,
operating, and manifesting God. Do we seriously think that the gifts of the
Holy Spirit are different, or separate from, the Christ who dwells in us
through the same Spirit of God? Never. W hy do we think that Jesus
stressed that the Spirit of God would always reveal HIM, and manifest
HIM, and testify to HIM, and glorif y HIM, and reveal the Truth about HIM?
The Spirit of God – the Spirit of Christ – has the job of revealing Christ
TO us, IN us, and THROUGH us. Everything done by the Spirit of God is
unto that end, one way or another.

Read John 14-16 and you will see that this is the Truth. Read also
Ephesians 4 – even the ministry gifts of the Spirit of God are unto the
purpose of EDIFYING the church IN CHRIST. This means, "to build up ,"
in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God was given
for no other reason.

Jesus actually, in one sentence, gave the Truth about how He would
manifest Himself through us. He simply said:

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself,
except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am
the vine, ye are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the
same brings forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. " (John
15:4-5)

You will note the words, "abide in Me, and I in you." "Abide," means to,
"live in." Thus, Jesus is speaking here of the Truth of CHRIST IN US, and
US IN CHRIST. Sure. "Live in Me, and I in you." This is exactly what He is
talking about.

He states that the key to bearing spiritual fruit – which equals

manifesting Christ – is to ABIDE or LIVE IN HIM. W hat does that mean,
exactly?

W ell, for one thing, it surely means to LIVE FROM CHRIST – instead of
living from myself. A branch cannot live apart from the Vine, but this is
precisely because the branch lives from OUT of the Vine, that is, gets all
life resources from the life of that Vine. In short, if we are IN CHRIST, we
are to live from OUT of Christ as our source of life. "Christ, who is our
life." (Col. 3:4)

How often this is misunderstood. W e still think that God has given us a
THING called, "eternal life." Or that eternal life is nothing more than a
legal classification that God has given us because we put our faith in
Christ. No. Eternal life is not a THING at all. Eternal life is THE PERSON.
Thus, the reason we have eternal life is because we are ONE W ITH LIFE
HIMSELF. W e are one with Him spiritually – our spirit is one with HIS
SPIRIT. (I Cor. 6:17) Seeing this Truth would not only clear up the
meaning of so many Bible passages, but it would make us able to see the
very nature of the new birth.

Through the new birth we are made ONE with Christ, and this is why all
that HE IS stands forever available to us. This is why Paul wrote:

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives
in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the
Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Gal 2:20)

But of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom,
and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as
it is written, He that glories, let him glory in the Lord. (1 Cor 1:30-31)

These passages are explained ONLY if Christ, who is in us, is actually

ONE with us. Paul did not write, "Christ was crucified FOR me." No –
although that is a fact, and Paul writes about it other places. But here he
writes, "I am crucified W ITH Christ." Can we see a spiritual ONENESS –
but not just a oneness that is doctrinal. No. This is the Truth – we are one
with Christ if we are IN CHRIST – this is what being IN CHRIST means.
And that means IMPACT, and change IN US.

It is because we are ONE with Christ spiritually that it is possible that

by living IN Him, and FROM OUT OF Him, that He will be seen – that is,
the fruits of the Spirit that belong to Christ will be made manifest. If we
abide in Christ – living by His faith and drawing upon Him for ALL that we
are – that Jesus says is the key to bearing fruit.

Now note something here. It is vital to see. W e NEVER bear fruit by

trying to bear fruit. W e never bear fruit by developing a religious system
that is supposed to, "build character." Oh, how utterly sickening some of
these things are! People take classes from supposed teachers and are
given a bunch of Bible based principles to follow, and told that if they
follow them, that these will develop Christian character in them, and make
their lives come out to look the way God wants it to look. Such nonsense
is nothing more than getting under a LAW – it’s just that this law doesn’t
read like law. But it is law. And it will often make arrogant Pharisees out
of Christians. Or it will bring us under the kind of condemnation that law
always brings us under.

You cannot build character in yourself. There is NOTHING in you to

work with. You are an earthen vessel. In fact, I believe that a great part of
the Christian life – a great part of the work of the Cross – is to bring us to
total a defeat and a total end of these crazy attempts to do for ourselves
what is already found ONLY in Christ. If you want to manifest Christian
character God MUST crucif y out of you this entire desire to BE like Jesus!
You will never BE LIKE Jesus. But you can manifest Christ by abiding IN
HIM.

Read again those above passages. CHRIST HIMSELF – who is IN US –

is our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. HE IS THAT
– we are NOT, and never will be. W e will never be the TREASURE. W e
are the earthen vessel in whom the Treasure dwells. But we get to
experience all that He is.

So to ABIDE IN and FROM OUT OF Jesus Christ as our Vine means

that we live in the Truth that HE is our wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. W e no longer look to ourselves for those
things. W e do not put our faith in ourselves to be those things. W e do not
try to be those things. Rather, we abide in the Vine because we KNOW He
is those realities to us.

It would seem that one indication that we are, in fact, abiding in Christ,
and calling upon Him for all of our resources, is that we are able to
LEAVE OURSELVE ALONE. W hat I mean by that is that we are not
continually fussing with ourselves and trying to be this or do that in order
to be right with God, or in order to feel good about ourselves. Does a
branch focus in on itself and try to develop all kinds of techniques and
systems so that it can bear fruit? No. All the branch does is abide in the
Vine. In fact, I honestly believe that the more we KNOW JESUS and the
more we LOSE OURSELVES TO HIM – I believe the more we will be free
from any sort of focus or obsession with ourselves. This is a Truth that
goes back to Adam and the fig leaves he used to cover his nakedness. It
is all right in that account.

Natural thinking knows about high-self esteem and low self-esteem.

BOTH are all about SELF. The true knowledge of God in Jesus will result
in a condition completely OUTSIDE of that – it will be a total focus on
CHRIST. But you see, this requires faith in Him – a faith that will be a
rest. W e will leave ourselves alone to Him. And ironically, the result will
be spiritual fruit to God’s glory.

Fruit that is produced by the flesh – religious flesh – will always result
in pride. That which is born of flesh will be flesh. But if we simply abide IN
HIM – and live from out of Him by faith – there will be real spiritual fruit.
But it will be CHRIST IN US seen through us.

Christ Is Our Life

Paul said, "W hen Christ, w ho is our life, shall appear, then shall ye
also appear with him in glory. " (Col 3:4) Christ doesn’t simply give us a
THING called, "life," – Christ IS our life. Do we realize that this proves
that IN HIM is everything? I mean, if He IS our life – then what could be
outside of LIFE? W e read earlier how Christ is unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Sure. Christ THE LIFE –
Christ is OUR life. In Him are all of those realities – and He is in us. He is
the only reason we are alive to God. Indeed, Christ is the only life we
have – because if we are born anew f rom above, we relinquished the old
life at the Cross.

Now, once we realize that Christ is our life, and the only life we have, it
brings home all the more the fact that God is not bringing out OUR
greatness, or making us better people. No. Christ is our life. Everything
that is good and of God is in that life – is in HIM. This is about HIM IN US,
and then, through bearing fruit, HIM THROUGH US. It is all Christ. It is
not of us. Again, we are the earthen vessel. He is the Treasure.

Here we see what HOLINESS really is: Holiness is, first, Christ in us –
Christ is our sanctification. Then secondly, holiness is Christ being free to
live through us and be seen in us. This involves works. It involves
character. It doesn’t happen separate from us. But it is CHRIST, not us.

Can we see what is required if Christ is to be seen in and through us? It

requires a great change IN US! But not a change in the sense that we
build character in ourselves, by taking what we are as a person and
making it better. No. The change is that we relinquish what we are – we
lose ourselves to Him. W e are crucified out of the way; out of the place of
government.

If Christ is already IN US, then we don’t need to ADD more of Christ.

No. W e are COMPLETE IN HIM. (Col. 2:9-10) Rather, what we need is to
have, "subtracted from us," all that is hindering Christ. This is the work of
the Cross. Often, the Bible calls it CHASTISEMENT:

For whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he
receives. If ye endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for
what son is he whom the father chastens not? But if ye be without
chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not
sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us,
and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection
unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days
chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that w e might
be partakers of his holiness. (Heb 12:6-10)

If Christ is our life, then Christ is our holiness. Holiness is when we are
out of the way, and Christ is seen. You cannot be made holy separate
from Christ. Holiness is not something God does to you, or that happens
to you. Holiness is not something that you build in yourself through works.
No. Holiness is Christ. Holiness is the result of receiving that which is
holy from above – Christ through the HOLY SPIRIT. Then, holiness is the
result of coming into the purpose for which God has set us apart – to be
used as a vessel of Christ. THEN works emerge. But your works are only
holy if Christ is your holiness.

That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which
is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of
your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in
righteousness and true holiness. (Eph 4:22-24)

W ho is the NEW MAN? Is the new man US – only an improved model?

No. The NEW MAN is essentially CHRIST IN US. The new man is the
union of our spirit with the resurrected Christ through the Spirit of God.
The new man is the Treasure within the earthen vessel.

If we lose ourselves to Christ – and God Himself has to bring this to us

– then we will BE FOUND IN HIM. But what does this mean? Paul told us
what it means:

And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the
law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection,
and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his
death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
(Phil 3:9-11)

To be found in Christ means that you no longer base your righteousness

on ANYTHING about yourself, but Christ IS your righteousness. You
KNOW HIM and the power of His resurrection – not merely the doctrines –
but you are experiencing these things in Christ. Or, as we read earlier,
you are able, in a progressive way, to say with Paul:

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives
in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the
Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Gal 2:20)

But you see, as long as we continue to look at ourselves, and our

emotions, and our performance, and our flesh – as long as we base things
upon US – we will never break through. You and I will NEVER find any
fulfillment of God’s purpose in ourselves. No. Rather, CHRIST IS OUR
LIFE. That covers it – it covers everything. HE IS everything that God
desires – and He is in us.
 A person who is born from above is holy unto the Lord. They are a
SAINT – a holy one. They are one who is set apart for God’s use; one who
belongs to God. But God’s use is not merely for THINGS, or for ministry.
No. God’s use, and the purpose for which saints are set apart, IS
CHRIST. A saint is one who is set apart to be a vessel containing Christ,
through whom God can glorify Himself.

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