Many people are comfortable with Jesus as a historical figure. Christians are different in that they believe the evidence that he rose from the dead and is still alive in heaven today. But that's only half the story. Believing that scandalous fact propels believers in Jesus into becoming spiritual containers of that same Son of God himself, via God's Holy Spirit!
In Paul's first letter to the Christians in Corinth, in the context of teaching on why Christians shouldn't be joined to (i.e. sleep with) sex-workers, Paul says:
“But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.” (1 Cor 6:17)
This says that when someone believes the message about Jesus' death and resurrection their spirit gets spiritually joined to the Lord Jesus', through the indwelling of God's Holy Spirit, such that they are “one spirit with him”. Despite the context, this isn't a sexual thing, but a deep spiritual union that mysteriously begins to change the new believer from the inside out (Col 1:27), inclining them towards goodness in the deepest part of who they are. It doesn't make us perfect, at least not immediately, but like a rudder on a ship, he (i.e. God's Spirit) begins to steer us away from bad (i.e. sinful) thoughts and actions, and towards good (i.e. holy) ones (Gal 5:16-18).
Another metaphor for this inner transformation in the Bible is being “born again” (John 3:3), that is born a second time, or equivalently being “born of the Spirit” (John 3:6). This means that when someone believes the message about Jesus, they receive the Holy Spirit dwelling within them (2 Cor 1:22; John 14:17), and become a new spiritual creation (2 Cor 5:17) that is spiritually alive and in relationship with God (Eph 2:5).
The wonderful thing about this inner transformation, is that it doesn't happen by obligation or coercion. It's not a long list of shoulds and oughts from a distant lawmaker. It's not even just inner guidance about what I should and shouldn't do. No, according to the Bible the problem humanity faces is that our desires have been corrupted (2 Pet 1:4; Eph 4:22). God's solution therefore is to forgive us through Jesus' perfect earthly life and sacrifice on the cross, and then join our spirits to that same perfect living Jesus who is in heaven, such that our very desires begin to come into harmony with his perfect desires.
This was prophesied in the Old Testament:
For example, Ezekiel 36:26-27 says:
“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”
Then Jeremiah 31:33-34 says:
“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts… For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Notice in both cases: God initiates and empowers this. God doesn't say "just try harder"; he says “I will” do it in you.
Both of these bible passages contrast the Old Covenant (i.e. old agreement with God through which we can relate to him) that was made through Moses on Mount Sinai, with the New Covenant that Jesus enables. Where the Old Covenant provided an external list of rules, most notably the Ten Commandments, the New Covenant takes the desires and behaviours outlined by those rules and brings them inside us (Gal 5:16-25), by his Spirit.
There are various ways in which this affects how we can think and act as Christians:
- seeking everyday guidance from God by discerning what our new holy desires/Christ's desires in us are (Gal 5:16-18), rather than being driven by the fear of making a mistake and expecting God to “tell us” what to do externally for every decision we make (Acts 15:28; Col 3:15).
- humbly no longer taking personal credit or glory for the good things we do because they're inspired by Christ in us (1 Cor 15:10; Eph 2:10; Rom 12:3),
- respecting every single Christian as a priest (1 Pet 2:9) in whom God's Spirit dwells, and
- no longer thinking of ourselves as really distant from Jesus, but as close and intimately joined to him: us as his companions and him as ours (Matt 28:20).
So where do we go from here? If you're a Christian, perhaps consider regularly reminding yourself that Christ lives in you by his Spirit, that you are one spirit with him, and that he is therefore pleased with you and inspires the good desires that arise within you as God's adopted and much loved child. If you're not yet a Christian, why not consider asking Jesus to give you his Holy Spirit, so that you can be joined to him and receive eternal life, and then seek out Christian community so you can learn more about him and be encouraged through others? All you have to do is ask:
“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13)
Either way, I'm loving the fact that, through no merit of my own, my spirit is now eternally joined to Jesus'!
Note: scripture quotes above are from the anglicised English Standard Version.