Where did the term “The Exchanged Life” originate?

The Origin

"Exchanged Life" is a term coined by Howard Taylor to describe the life-changing realization that occurred in the life of his father, famed missionary to China, Hudson Taylor. Hudson was instrumental in establishing the China Inland Mission. His years of toil and hard work for the Lord in the mission field yielded many saved Chinese. Ironically, this work that revealed life to so many also sapped the life and energy from the man who was behind it.

Hudson Taylor strove to do his best for the Lord he was serving. His greatest desire was to be an imitator of Christ. To achieve his goal, he did what seemed more fruitful: he studied the Bible more fervently, prayed continually and fasted more often. He was so engrossed in his effort that his life became an endless effort to please God rather than to know Him.

In a moment of divine insight, Hudson Taylor suddenly understood the Truth about his relationship with God. Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches." (John 15:5, NKJV). He realized that the vine is not merely the root that provides nourishment to the branches, but is itself the whole plant - root, branches and leaves. Jesus is not merely our provider, but is a part of all who have called on His name. Fruitful labor was far more dependent upon an ever-deepening fellowship with Jesus than upon works designed to please Him. Consider Paul's statement: "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 up for me." (Gal. 2:20, NKJV)

My best for Christ's work...

So, then, how does one live the exchanged life? The first step is to realize that you absolutely cannot do it. That is, you cannot do it, but Christ who is in you can. John 3:30 gives us this injunction, "He must increase, but I must decrease." The key to gaining any Spiritual understanding, as Hudson Taylor discovered, is not our effort, but rather our submission to God's effort.

The pitfall that claims many Christians is that we lose sight of the fact that Christ is our life (Col. 3:4) and that He desires to express His resourceful life through our unique personalities. We often go about our daily tasks using the power of our flesh, never talking with or depending on Him until something has us sufficiently confused or irritated. Paul was very candid about his own battle with the flesh (Rom. 7:14). We as humans typically carry on in this flesh-faith cycle until we encounter some crisis that is absolutely beyond our control. This process of breaking down our 'system' is God's way of giving us an opportunity to make a clean break from the cycle. By denying our flesh the power to manipulate our decisions, we leave room for Christ to sit at the controls (Phil. 2:14).

Is the exchanged life, then, only a passive life? By no means! Scripture tells us that we are "created for good works" and that we are to be continually in prayer and renewing our mind (Rom. 12:1-2), loving both our God and the people He has placed in our life. This is an active life founded on an intimate, submissive, yet bold relationship with God.

You see, God has given us minds and hands for a reason. We are like the performers in an orchestra. If we wanted, it is certainly within our power to play whatever notes we choose. But in order for the symphony to be presented as intended, the best and most pleasing plan is to follow the sheet music that has been given to us (the Bible) and to look to the conductor for direction. He does not control our actions, but merely leads us in ways that our own earthbound perspective cannot conceive. The best performers are the ones who are so intently focused on the conductor's baton that their own playing becomes an afterthought.

We cannot draw closer to God through our own power. It is only when we set our minds on the things that are above (Phil. 4:9) and submit ourselves to His leading that we will begin to realize and live these central truths:

Christ lives in me (Rom 8:9, II Cor. 13:5).
I live in Christ (Col. 3:3, I Cor. 1:30).  

Portions of this article used by permission from the Association of Exchanged Life Ministries (aelm.org)