There is no need for us to make up our minds to live a certain kind of Christian life. Christ today is the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit within us. This Spirit is the processed Triune God who indwells us. We should not try to be loving, kind, or gentle. To do this is not to live Christ. Instead of making up our minds to do certain things, we should simply live by the Christ who is now the life-giving Spirit in our spirit. We should tell Him, “Lord, I don’t know what it is to be loving, humble, or kind. Lord, I only care to live You.” When a brother is tempted to argue with his wife, he should say, “Lord, do You intend to argue with my wife? If You are doing this, then I shall be one with You in it.” In the same principle, when you are about to speak to your children, you need to tell the Lord that in this particular matter you want to live by Him and that you want to be one with Him as He takes the lead to talk to the children. This is living Christ. Making up our mind to act in a certain way is of no avail. It simply does not work. What we need to do is just live Christ.
In 4:2 Paul tells us to persevere in prayer. It is not Paul’s intention that we forget all the practical necessities of daily life and simply give ourselves to prayer. He means that we should pray in order to live Christ in all that we do day by day. As we have said, we should pray as we are about to talk with our husband or wife or with our children. In such prayer we may say, “Lord, I am one with You, and You are one with me. Lord, I am about to speak to my children. Lord, will You take the lead in this matter?” This is to persevere in prayer, to pray unceasingly.
Actually, living Christ is a matter of praying. If we would live by Christ, we need to pray. If you intend to go shopping, ask the Lord if He is pleased to go with you. As you are about to purchase a certain item, ask the Lord if He is happy about buying that item. Even in the smallest details we need to inquire of the Lord. To do this is to persevere in prayer and thereby to live Christ. The way to live Christ is by praying to Him all day long.
If we live Christ in this way, Christ will have a great deal of ground in the church life. Then we shall have a church life apart from culture. No matter what our cultural background may be, we shall live according to Christ, not according to culture. Believers from many different backgrounds will be the same, not in culture, but in the living of Christ. This is the proper church life, the Body life in which Christ is expressed. In such a genuine church life, we all are filled, permeated, and saturated with Christ. There is no sin, worldliness, self, flesh, or culture. There is nothing but Christ, the all-inclusive Christ who is versus culture.