Friday, October 6, 2017

Why You Have A Problem With Consistency As A Christian

My Utmost For His Highest

When it pleased God…to reveal His Son in me… —Galatians 1:15-16

{CHAMBERS} “[…] I have a heredity in which I had no say or decision; I am not holy, nor am I likely to be; and if all Jesus Christ can do is tell me that I must be holy, His teaching only causes me to despair. […] Redemption means that Jesus Christ can put into anyone the hereditary nature that was in Himself, and all the standards He gives us are based on that nature— His teaching is meant to be applied to the life which He puts within us. The proper action on my part is simply to agree with God’s verdict on sin as judged on the Cross of Christ. […] The moral miracle of redemption is that God can put a new nature into me through which I can live a totally new life. […] Just as the nature of sin entered into the human race through one man, the Holy Spirit entered into the human race through another Man (see Romans 5:12-19). And redemption means that I can be delivered from the heredity of sin, and that through Jesus Christ I can receive a pure and spotless heredity, namely, the Holy Spirit.”

{ELGIN} Sin entered in through the first Adam.  Redemption entered in through the second Adam, Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:45)  Pretty simple.  So why is it so hard to live in that redemption? The truth is that it is not, so long as you are willing to lay your life down and live by the faith and the power of the Spirit.  You --- cannot live the new life through determination and effort.  You can only live the new life through submission and sacrifice.  We must stop trying to “be good” and allow Him IS good to live through us.  The word Father means Source.  God is the source of all that is good.  It is by His grace that we are saved through our faith.  Do not be content with a mediocre Christian existence.  And it’s not attending church that makes you a better Christian.  You can sit in a pew with a hard heart just as easily as you can sit on your sofa at home.  Another conference is not the answer.  Yielding your heart to God is the answer.  Picking up your cross daily and following Jesus is the answer.  Offering yourself as a living sacrifice is the answer.  Living by faith.  Walking by the power of the Spirit.  Not leaning on your own understanding but trusting God is the answer.  Do you need other Christians to help, most probably.  A cord of three strands is not quickly broken!  But you can hang out with Billy Graham with your hard heart to no avail.  And this culture, this fallen world will certainly harden your heart toward the things of God.  Don’t kid yourself.  Don’t pretend.  We all struggle with this malady.  Friend we all need more Jesus.  He is the way, truth, and life. 

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