Preach the word! —2 Timothy 4:2
{CHAMBERS} “We
are not saved only to be instruments for God, but to be His sons and daughters.
He does not turn us into spiritual agents but into spiritual messengers, and
the message must be a part of us. The Son of God was His own message— “The
words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). As His
disciples, our lives must be a holy example of the reality of our message. Even
the natural heart of the unsaved will serve if called upon to do so, but it
takes a heart broken by conviction of sin, baptized by the Holy Spirit, and
crushed into submission to God’s purpose to make a person’s life a holy example
of God’s message.[…] The purpose of Pentecost was not to teach the disciples
something, but to make them the incarnation of what they preached so that they
would literally become God’s message in the flesh. “…you shall be witnesses to
Me…” (Acts 1:8).”
{ELGIN} Our duty is to be a message of hope to the
world. That means that our lives must be
remarkably different from that of those who are bound for hell. Unfortunately for many Christians, that is
not the case. For many who call Jesus, Lord, watching them and
listening to them you can hardly distinguish them from the rest of the world. Would
someone be surprised to know you are a Christian? What does a Christian look like? They look like Jesus. Why do they look like Jesus? Because they are yielded to the Spirit, their
joy is walking by the Spirit, not because they are trying hard to manage their
sin, and put on good appearances. Being
a message to the world is a result of a relationship not of personal effort. What is it that you still cling to from your
old nature that hides the light of Christ in you? Can people tell you are different by the way
you talk or do profane words roll off of your tongue easily. Can people tell you are different by the way
you treat others? Are you “patient, kind? Don’t envy, don’t boast, are not proud? You don’t dishonor others, you are not self-seeking, you are not
easily angered, do you not keep a record of wrongs? Do you not delight in evil
but rejoice with the truth. Do you
always protect, always trust, always hope, always persevere? (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)
In other words do you live and love like Jesus? Are you one with the Father? Have you tried to be right, to live right, but
found it too difficult? Your trying was actually your problem. You can’t do until you are and then it’s not
you it’s the Spirit of God in you. Ephesians 2:8,9 says that we are saved
by grace through faith and not of works.
(Galatians 3:11) “Clearly no
one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will
live by faith.”” Galatians 2:20 says that the live we now live we live by faith in
the Son of God. And as you do, your
light begins to shine before men. The
way your life lifts Jesus up. (John
12:32) “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to
myself.” Jesus was referring to the cross and salvation through His sacrifice and
so should we.
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