Paul called himself a slave of Christ but the slavery was all to do with love. He could no longer imagine, or endure, the life that he had previously lived as 'his own man'. He wanted everything within him and everything he did to serve Christ. More than that, he wanted everything he was and did to be Christ.
Jesus said that without him, we could do nothing. He said he would come to us and live in us. and, in this way, we would bear fruit. This is the truth that Paul opens up in numbers of his letters, and particularly, in Philippians. In the opening verses, everything he reports or prays arises from Christ. In particular, he is focussed on 'the day of Christ', the day when everything will be judged by him, and the day when we will be with him in glory. The only way to be prepared for that day is to know in this present life, that our life is Christ. |
