The Exchanged Life is Not...
is not a new teaching.
is not sinless perfection.
is not a life of passivity.
is not a self-help teaching.
is not an undisciplined life.
is not a second work of grace.
is not a counseling technique.
is not an improved "old man."
is not in any way deifying man.
is not instant change in behavior.
is not a formula for self to imitate Christ.
is not peace through changed circumstances.
is not dying to self (wiping out our personality).
is not a guarantee that circumstances will improve.
is not overlooking or approving sinful behavior (promoting license).
is not a guarantee that emotions will line up consistently with truth.
What the Exchanged Life Is!
The Great Exchange is simply the pure gospel. It is exchanging my old rotten life for Christ's pure, holy, righteous life. The exchanged life truths are found Romans 5-8 which sets forth a practical application of the believer's identification with Christ in His death, burial, resurrection and ascension.
"The term 'exchanged life' is related to the believer's discovery of his identity in Christ: that is he is a new creation, one born of God, that he is not what he was before. J. Hudson Taylor made the English term 'exchanged life' popular through his testimony of how God made him a new man." (Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret, page 154.) The word "exchanged" is used to signify that God has made it possible for us to exchange our total insufficiency to live the Christian life for Christ's total sufficiency to live it through us. He did this by exchanging our old identity in Adam for our new identity in Christ and by uniting our newborn spirit with His (I Corinthians 6:17; Galatians 2:20).
The Great Exchange is the simple, profound secret of drawing for every need, temporal or spiritual, upon "the fathomless wealth of Christ.
