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December 24, 2024
- By Ed Powell
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"As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him." Colossians 2:6
When the Holy Spirit awakened us to our separation from God because of our sin, and revealed God's provision for our reconciliation and forgiveness through the atonement of Christ on Calvary, we received Him into our hearts by faith. It was the great work of God and the gift of His grace when we received His gift by opening the door of our heart and asking Him to come into our life. We did not initiate this or deserve it, nor could we have obtained it by our works.
Salvation is by His infinite love and grace. Paul says that we should henceforth live our Christian life on that same principle. It was the principle that possessed Paul in every phase of his life and empowered him in his every action. When we are born into the family of God, it is the "beginning" of an exciting life of "becoming" all God wants us to be. This requires us to reach out in faith to the unknown plan and purpose of God for our life, by trusting Christ to lead and to maintain His life within us.
His life lived in and through us daily will demand the continual cleansing of our lives so there will be no impediments to hinder the full flow of the Holy Spirit through us. Having received Christ as our Savior by faith we are now "in Christ" and are made partakers of His life. We must die to the old nature with its sin and corruption of fleshly lusts and desires and live anew to the purpose and will of God. We cannot do this in our strength or ability. The Holy Spirit who now indwells us and will enable us that "in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us" (Romans 8:37). We thus begin our journey of "becoming" like the image of God's Son through the surrender of our will to His lordship and authority.
God said, "Be ye holy for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:16). Our walk before the Lord and our fellow men should be motivated by His love within that constrains us to follow Him with unreserved devotion. "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2 Corinthians 7:1). This journey with Christ is enriched and blessed of Him as we exercise child-like faith in our Almighty God. It is a "growing in grace" day by day as we dare to trust Him for what He only can do in us.
Holiness is not an attainment but an "obtainment" through His work of grace in us. It is the receiving of more and more of His qualities and attributes as we abide in Him. F. B. Meyer said, "He teaches us that we may know: He indwells us that we may be." How necessary it is for us to "be" before we seek to do things in our walk with the Lord. The doing should be the outcome and overflow of our being all He wants us to be. Obedience is the key to our being "conformed to the image of His Son" (Romans 8:29). Thus, as we yield to Him daily, He will do that work in us of "becoming" the spiritually mature person that He seeks for our life. Such a life will manifest more and more of the fruit of the Spirit as His life is lived through us.
"He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit" (John 15:5). The essential condition of an effective spiritual life of power and blessing is daily, continuous, unbroken abiding in Christ Jesus. To walk by faith, it is imperative that the Holy Spirit renew us daily with His life, His power, and His abiding presence. Then we may say with Paul, "Thanks be unto God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ" (2 Corinthians 2:14-15).
© 2007 by Ed Powell. Used by permission.
This page was reprinted by permission from: http://litmin.org/dare.php?date=2024-12-24&print=1
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