Two Roots

I have a split personality. Not in the clinical, psychological sense though. A shrink would never diagnose me so, but the Scriptures do. According to God, and in line with my experience, there is the life of a sinful nature, and the life of Christ living in me. Two natures.

One of them is supposed to be dead, but not dead like a critter run flat by a car. In the Bible, dead means separation, and in this case, separation from God. That old sinful nature cannot respond in a positive way to God or trust Him. Instead, it resists all things spiritual, all things right and true. It is dead.

The other life, that of Christ, is responsible for all things good and godly. I cannot claim them apart from acknowledging their source. Apart from Him, I cannot do anything that pleases God. It is Jesus in me that accounts for any goodness, any obedience to the Lord.

It’s not that the old nature isn’t capable of doing things that look good, it’s just that behind every such action is some sort of self-serving motivation. I either want to defend or protect myself, promote myself, or look good, or feel good, or make people think I am good.

It seems logical that someone with two natures would pick the best one to live by. After all, having the Son of God in charge of your life sounds absolutely wonderful. Such grace, such power. I could do all things, be the most irresistible person, heal the sick, move mountains. Why not let Him have total control of my life? It makes sense.

All that reasoning comes from the old nature, because the truth is, living under the control of Christ means I have no control over what He does with me. I can say ‘no’ to it, but I cannot tell Him what comes next. Instead, I have to trust Him and do what He says, without any of my grand and self-serving ideas popping in to shape my words and actions.

Galatians 2:20 says, “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.”

I get an odd picture of a tree with two root systems. One goes down into a mud puddle, the other goes into living water. The branches come up out of those two root systems and intertwine at the top, making one tree—me. Sometimes an observer cannot tell which branch comes from which root, but God can. He knows the part that is dead to Him, and the part that is Christ living in me. And He knows how to make one sit down and shut up and the other get to work.

The key word in that verse is faith. It is something like the recruit who hands his life over to his commander officer to be trained and serve in the armed forces. His life is no longer his own. It is something like a servant who gives himself totally to his master. His life is no longer his own. The recruit and the servant may or may not trust the one in authority over them though, and have other reasons for obeying.

Not so with those who have Christ living in them. I must obey because I trust Him. I have no idea what He is going to ask me to do, no idea what will happen next under His control and direction, and certainly no idea of the outcome. I cannot control any of that. It is His decision and under His will.

It seems illogical to have doubts about the will and power of God. He has proven His power and goodness. Why not trust Him? Why not let Him run things? (Truth be known, He does anyway.)

After examining my own heart, and listening to a zillion excuses made by those who don’t, I’ve concluded doubt and resistance isn’t about trust. It is a control thing, a decision about power. The Jews in Jesus day said, “We will not have this man rule over us” and that is the crux of the matter, both for them and for me.

The Bible also says that “it is God who works in you both to will and to do His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). He is able to make me willing when my old nature jumps in to resist Him. He is able to produce in me the ability to carry out His commands. He is able to make that confusing and intertwining tree produce the fruit of the Spirit.

Apart from Him, I could not and would not. So today I am celebrating the reality of Jesus in my life. These past couple weeks side-swiped our family, yet He has and is taking care of us, and His presence keeps the wind of change and the storms of uncertainty from blowing that odd tree over.

Actually, the storm seems to blow just enough to pull and loosen one of the root systems and deepen and strengthen the other. He does know what He is doing.