«　WEEK 1　DAY 6　»

　　Gal. 2:20 I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God…

　　Rom. 3:26 …So that He might be righteous and the One who justifies him who is of the faith of Jesus.

　　Through our organic union with Christ, we share whatever Christ is and has. As soon as this union takes place, in the eyes of God Christ becomes us, and we become one with Him. Only in this way can we be justified before God.

　　Many Christians have a mere doctrinal understanding of justification by faith. According to their concept, Christ is the just One, the righteous One on the throne in the presence of God. When we believe in Christ, God reckons Christ to be our righteousness. This understanding of justification is very shallow. In order to be justified by faith in Christ, we need to believe in the Lord Jesus out of an appreciation of His preciousness. As Christ’s preciousness is infused into us through the preaching of the gospel, we spontaneously appreciate the Lord and call on Him. This is genuine believing. Through such a believing, we and Christ become one. Therefore, God must reckon Him as our righteousness. When we heard the gospel, we began to sense the Lord’s preciousness. This gave rise to the living faith that joined us to Christ organically. From that time onward, Christ and we became one in life and in reality. Therefore, justification by faith is not merely a matter of position. It is also an organic matter, a matter in life. The organic union with Christ is accomplished spontaneously through the living faith produced by our appreciation of Him. This is to be justified through faith in Christ. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 3274)

　　The expression the Son of God [in Galatians 2:20] denotes Christ’s person, which is for the impartation of God’s life into us. Hence, the faith in which we live God’s life is in the Son of God, the life-imparting One. The Son of God loved us and purposely gave Himself up for us that He might impart the divine life into us. The life which we now live in the flesh is not bios, the physical life, or psuche, the soulish life, but zoe, the spiritual and divine life… The divine life, the spiritual life in our spirit, is lived [not by sight or feeling but] by the exercise of faith, which is stimulated by the presence of the life-giving Spirit.

　　One secret of experiencing Christ living in us is revealed in a phrase in Galatians 2:20—in faith. Paul did not live by his own faith; he lived by the faith that is both in and of the Son of God. This indicates that we need to live by a certain kind of faith. However, this faith is not something that we ourselves have. Rather, it is the faith of the Son of God. What we need is not only faith that is in Christ but also faith that is of Christ. The faith is His, not ours, but we can be in this faith.

　　In speaking of faith, Paul refers to “the faith of the Son of God.” This expression implies that the faith mentioned in this verse is… the faith which He Himself possesses. However, this phrase also means faith in the Son of God. According to our Christian experience, the genuine living faith which operates in us is not only of Christ but also in Christ. Hence, Paul’s meaning here actually is “the faith of and in Christ.”

　　After the Lord has been infused into us, He spontaneously becomes our faith. On the one hand, this faith is of Christ; on the other hand, it is in Christ. This faith is Christ revealed to us and infused into us. Faith is related not only to the Christ who has been infused into us but also to the Christ who is continually infusing Himself into us. As Christ operates in us, He becomes our faith. This faith is of Him and also in Him. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3280-3281)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 2, 128, 325; CWWL, 1986, vol. 1, “Elders’ Training, Book 7: One Accord for the Lord’s Move,” ch. 3