Section 9
her to stop. This inner sense comes from God operating in her. If by God's mercy, she obeys this inner sense, she will experience salvation and be filled with joy.
We may say that, outwardly, objectively, Christ is the pattern. But when the pattern works within us, it becomes the operating God. Not only did Christ die on the cross as our Savior, but now He lives within us as the operating God. Christ as a man was not able to live in us. How ever, as God it is possible for Him to dwell in us. Thus, Christ is both the pattern objectively and the operating God subjectively. Once again we see that the pattern, Christ, and God are one.
In 2:13 Paul clearly says that God is operating in us. But elsewhere he usually speaks either of Christ or of the Spirit being in us. For years I did not understand why in 2:13 Paul spoke of God and not of the Spirit. Now I realize that Paul did this deliberately in order to show us that the Christ who is the pattern for our salva tion is the very God operating in us. If we con sider the context of this verse, we shall see that Christ as the pattern is also the operating God. Objectively, He is the pattern. Subjectively, when He comes into us and operates within us, He is the operating God. On the cross, He was Christ.