Real Life

...As of right now, I am working on about 5 different blog posts. Each of them requires a bit of study, and right now they're each about 50% done...I think. 

Last night I thought of this and just had to post it. So I'm laying aside all those other posts for a time to get this out of my brain. 

We often talk about "in real life..." don't we? We talk about how things are going to happen and how we want them to happen - what we do and what we want to do - some of it is real, and some of it is dreams. 

...But what is our real life as Christians? 

Called to More

2 Timothy 1:8-9 "Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,"

It says here we have a holy calling. Before the foundation of the world, God gave us a holy calling in Christ Jesus. 

Ephesians 4

Ephesians 4 is really the ground work for this post. I want to focus on the latter half of the chapter (verses 17 - 32):

"The New Life"

"Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ! - assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."

Do you see that? Our "new self"; our former manner of life is to be put off - this earthly life is not our "real" life! 

Pay attention to this: 

Colossians 3:1 - "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." 

Our life is hidden with Christ - our real life is in Heaven, where Christ is. What a beautiful thought! Don't you agree? Our salvation can never be lost, because it is kept in the safest place imaginable - with Christ, in God. 

What is the response to such assurance? 

1 Peter 2:16 - "Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God."

2 Corinthians 5:20 - "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."

We are servants and ambassadors for Christ - God works through us on this earth to bring the message of salvation to all. This is why we are told to "go out into the world". Not that we will save people, but that God will save them through us. We are His instruments - His letter to a dying world. 

2 Corinthians 3:3  - "And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts."

So, here's the question: Are we doing what Christ has commanded us to do? Are we proclaiming His name to all nations, no matter the consequences? Are we standing up for Christ in a day and age where doing just that is not that popular? 

Are we living our real life?