“I’ve been struggling lately. I’ve been burdened down by the cares of this world, riddled with worry and anxiety. . . I’ve wasted so much time worrying about things I can’t control, and I’m tired of letting it steal the peace my Lord has for me . . . Let me live in the Lord.”

This text from a young friend touched my heart, for her struggles mirror those of many Christians, including myself at times.

Living the Christian life can be hard, especially when we don’t fully understand the key to victory. We can become very good at talking the talk but struggle to walk the walk.

Some of us become whirlwinds of activity in the church. Some of us even spend time in Bible study, prayer, and meditation but still feel like failures. Some of us throw up our hands and go back to life as usual concluding we just can’t be “good enough.”

When my boys were small, they delighted in putting on their Superman and Batman costumes and pretending they were mighty superheroes. For a few hours, they would try to act like those characters, but deep down inside we knew it was a charade.

Such is the life of what Paul calls the carnal Christian. It’s as if we put on a costume in the morning called “Christian” but take it back off at the end of the day only to drag it out later and put it back on.

Paul describes it this way:

“And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t.  I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway . . . Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 7:18-19, 24-25 NLT)

What, then, is the problem? Dr. Charles Solomon, author of Handbook to Happiness: A Biblical Guide to Victorious Living,  has concluded that we are trying to live the Christian life under our own power and have not yet fully experienced what he calls the “exchanged life.” Rather, we are “selfers.”

Hudson Taylor who founded the Overseas Missionary Fellowship first coined the term exchanged life to describe his miraculous encounter with the Lord. A  missionary in China, he had struggled for years to lead others to Christ but continued to face difficulty after difficulty–loss of loved ones, sickness, and disappointment. A selfer, he found that the harder he worked, the more discouraged he became. During a time of great frustration and nearing despair, he finally surrendered to God and experienced the mysterious transaction Paul writes about in Galatians 2: “And I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20 HCSB)

The Message explains:

“What took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work. So, I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

According to Dr. Solomon, who built on Taylor’s insights, the church is very good at getting people to the point of salvation—that point where we recognize our sinfulness, confess those sins, and ask Jesus to save us. Sadly, though, we stop short and never get to the next two critical steps—surrender and identification. Instead, we become “selfers” trying to “do” good works rather than “be” Christ-filled vessels.

Solomon explains that the mystery of the exchanged life is a three-step process:

1. Salvation:

“If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 20:9 NLT)

2. Surrender

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable.” (Romans 12:1 NLT)

3. Identification

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20 NLT)

To become a Christian, we accept the mystery of a spiritual exchange transaction where we offer our filthy sins for Christ’s sinless perfection. (2 Cor. 5:21)

The transaction, though, is in some ways incomplete until we surrender ourselves and exchange our very lives for the life of Christ himself. (Phil. 4:13)

One of my favorite verses illustrates this principle:

^“But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31 NKJV)

Did you know that the word “renew” in this verse actually means “exchange?” Thus, those who wait on the LORD can exchange their meager strength for his mighty power.

Henry Blackaby, author of Experiencing God Day by Day, explains: “The Christian life is an exchanged life. Jesus’ life for your life. When Christ takes control, your life takes on dimensions you would never have known apart from Him.

“It is marvelously freeing to know that God controls your life and knows what it can become. Rather than constantly worrying about what you will face, your great challenge is to continually release every area of your life to God’s control. The temptation will be to try to do by yourself what only God can do. Our assignment is to “abide in the vine” and to allow God to do in and through us what only He can do (John 15:5). Only God can be God. Allow Him to live out His divine life through you. He is the only One who can.” https://blackaby.org/an-exchanged-life/

Isn’t that amazing! We come to accept whatever is happening around us as a means of bringing glory to God. In our flesh, we don’t have to like or enjoy our circumstances, but we can bring glory to Him as we endure hardships. Jesus certainly didn’t like being crucified. He even asked the Father to take it away. But in the end, he followed through and made a way for the salvation of the world.

As I have reflected on what it means to live an exchanged life, I have also wrestled with the question: If we really “put on Christ” and allow Him to live through us, how would life be different?

First, I think we would stop struggling and just let Jesus take over. (Philippians 4:13 NLT)

Second, I think we would devour the Word and stop nibbling on Satan’s bait. (Psalm 119:11)

Third, I think we would stop being anxious and would rest in Him. Philippians 4:6-7 NLT)

Fourth, I think we would stop habitual sinning and instead exhibit the fruit of the spirit. (Galatians 5:24-25 NKJV)

Fifth, I think we would no longer wrestle with unrighteous outbursts of anger and rage. (Ephesians 4:26-27)

Sixth, I think we would experience a “mind transplant” and begin to see circumstances through Christ’s eyes. (1 Cor. 2:16)

Seventh, I think we would have no fear of death. (John 5:24)

Living the exchanged life is not easy. Some days we have “downers” when we take back control and revert to our old ways. Some days we truly allow Him to live in us. Paul understood the challenge:

^“I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” (Philippians 3:12-14 NLT)

Challenge: What about you? Have you taken the three steps in the exchanged life process: Salvation – Surrender – Identification, or are you struggling to live the Christian life under your own power? Why not exchange your mind for that of Christ and allow him full reign in your life! That old slogan “What Would Jesus Do” may help us think things through. When in doubt, just ask the Father. That’s what Jesus did!

PS My young friend I mentioned earlier texted me again: “When I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior, I became a citizen of heaven. He paid for my first-class tickets. He’s eagerly waiting for us to exchange our messed-up tickets with his. My old tickets consist of control, pride, anger, selfishness, and many others. So, I prayed to have the Lord give me strength to surrender my old tickets for the new ones. I prayed to be able to have the courage to let go of the bad so he can give me the good. Too often I find myself consumed with anxiety, fear, doubt. None of those are of the Lord. Today I pray to have a rock-solid trust in my Lord who has not only loved me through it all, but he is the one who has never let me down. Thank you, Jesus, for my freedom from sin. Help me live in your light, in your will. I want to look more like you and less like me. Today I claim victory in you. You are so good, always loving and always caring. Help me to be that for others. Today I surrender.”

Praise the Lord!