“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20
September 28, 2022
An extraordinary change takes place in the life of someone who places his or her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Among other things Christ lives within the believer. The reigning power of the old sinful life is broken. There is power given to live with the joy of resurrection power to experience a God-pleasing life. This is a freedom that the attempt at mere law keeping can never bring. The apostle Paul says, “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure”(Phil. 2:13). This is why we have to reject any teaching that says or implies that there is no relationship between saving faith and sanctification (transformation into Christlikeness). A true believer receives a new nature, the Holy Spirit, and a yearning to know Christ better and better. This doesn’t mean that a Christian cannot sin, “If we say we have not sinned, we make Him (God) a liar”(1 Jn. 1:10). How long will a genuine believer persist in sin? It may be for extended periods as did King Solomon (Neh. 13:26) and King David (2 Sam. 12; Psa. 51, 32). There was a time in their lives that they rebelled against the Lord. Some believers cannot end up finishing their Christian life very well (1 Cor. 11:30). But such qualifying spiritual realities cannot be taken to mean that God will not convict the believer of sin and chasten us in love as a father does his children who persist in disobedience (Heb. 12:9-10). We ought not to be giving professing Christians a free pass that they can live out their lives bearing no fruit of a changed life. Is keeping Christ’s commandments an uppermost goal in our lives? Are we comfortable living with lust-driven habits? Is the Bible a book that offers me no interest? Such questions and their answers should drive us to God who knows our hearts and gives us a hungering for His righteous ways. H
A time to pray: “Precious Father in heaven, keep me from stumbling and bringing dishonor to your name. I want to finish well for your glory.”