“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20
In trying to live the Christian life, it’s easy for us to forget the central message of the gospel. Jesus Christ came to set us free. This is what the gospel is all about! FREEDOM!! He came to release us from the power of sin and make us the men and women God meant us to be! The Galatians were a people who tried to go back to a mixture of law and grace. Weren’t BOTH given by God? Isn’t that an improvement on just grace by itself? If there is no law, won’t people start doing whatever they want? The apostle Paul saw this as the worst kind of problem, a partial truth that set aside the gospel of the grace of God!
One of our main problems is that inside we love control. We are kind of little “do it yourselfers” in the Christian life. We like to think of church as a little “Home Depot” or hardware store where we go to get a little advice, some tools and then we go off and fix it! But, understand this, we cannot live the Christian life! It’s not hard, it’s impossible! It takes the power of God! Every attempt to do it on our own will end in failure! On the one side is GRACE through Christ, the Father, the Spirit, freedom, joy, fruit, deliverance. On the other side is LAW, human effort, laws, bondage, discouragement, futility, slavery, rules and regulations, good intentions. Even serving in the church, witnessing and good deeds can be a substitute for knowing Jesus in your heart. Blessed is the man or woman who comes to the end of themselves and realizes they are spiritually bankrupt. OH GOD, HELP US COME TO JESUS TODAY!!!
A dear Christian lady gave this testimony: “I was excited and overjoyed when I was reborn into a new life with Jesus. I started going to church with my family and reading the Bible. A friend invited me to a Bible study and I was thrilled to attend. I thought how exciting it would be to get to know God so much better. But my ideas were still my ideas…Sure, I wanted to get to know God, but I only wanted to do it on weekdays. I thought if I gave my life to God Monday through Thursday, I certainly could still party and whoop it up on weekends without regrets, RIGHT??? So, I did for a while. But things didn’t feel the same as they used to. I didn’t have as much fun with my friends, the drinks didn’t taste the same, the smoking didn’t smell so good, the jokes weren’t as funny and the atmosphere made my stomach hurt.
After many struggles with wrong habits, I found myself down on my knees day after day begging God that if He wanted me to quit He had to ….slam the liquor cabinet shut because I did not have the willpower. But His mighty arm never did. One day I asked myself the same question Jesus asked the paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda, “DO YOU WANT TO GET WELL??” I had to let God take control of my situation. I offered my life up to Him that night and God has been protecting me from old habits ever since! It has been four years since I have had a drink or a smoke and I stand here a witness to the healing, loving power of our Lord Jesus Christ!
I have found out along the way, that by myself I am not a gardener. I do not have the green thumb that it takes to produce fruit, I only have the ability to produce hurt and pain. I cannot control my life and live the way God wants me to live, except by the power of the Holy Spirit! Jesus said in John 8:32, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” It feels so good to be free! Free from the past, free from my own ideas of what makes me happy. I am not perfect and I am not finished. The Lord says we will not be finished until we are home in heaven.”
“Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” 1 Corinthians 15:57.
Your friend, Jean