2 Corinthians 13:4-5 ESV
For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God. [5] Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!
What is the ultimate acid test as to whether a person is a real Christian or not? According to 2 Corinthians 13:5, it is the life of Christ indwelling you. It is Jesus Christ living in us that makes us a new creation, and Paul asked the bold question, “do not realize that Jesus lives in you?” Therefore, the ultimate description of a lost person is that they are someone independent of the indwelling life of Jesus. Why can’t God just save us by declaring us forgiven and kind of smearing us with the presence of Christ on us? It is because it takes Christ within to live by the power of God, and we were handcrafted to live by the power of God, not by our own strength for God. We were never created to live apart from the indwelling presence of the Lord. We were created to contain His life and manifest His likeness. We were created to need Him. At the Fall, the life of God within was withdrawn, and the life of Christ now in us is the presence of God restored to us that we might live from Him and His power. It is no shameful thing to declare that we are weak, for we were created weak intentionally so that we would never forget we are utterly dependent on His life, for in our weakness (the impossibility of making life work on our own), His strength is made perfect. In terms of living the Christian life, my spiritual father used to say, “We can’t, and He never said we could, but He can, and He always said He would.” Stop rejecting yourself because you have weaknesses. Instead, celebrate your weaknesses as platforms from which the indwelling Christ can manifest His perfect strength. This is the exchanged life. My weaknesses for His strength; for when we are weak, then we are strong in Him. Living from Him, not for Him.