Before I became a believer in Christ, I assumed that the only way to get to Heaven would be to earn my way by being "good enough". In my late teens, I was finally honest with myself and with God. I admitted that I could never be good enough to go to Heaven. I was acutely aware of my tendency to make wrong moral choices in my actions and especially in my thoughts -- even if I did "right things" the attitude in my heart was often wrong. I cried out for God's mercy and discovered the joy of my sins being washed away in His precious forgiveness (Luke 18:9-14; Titus 3:4-7). By receiving the grace of God through faith, I accepted that Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for my sins so that I will not have to (Romans 3:21-26). By God's grace, I was saved from the penalty for my sins! (Ephesians 2:8-9). I will go to Heaven because God saved me by His power, by His grace. I could not save myself no matter how hard I tried.
For some reason I assumed that after I was saved that now I was supposed to live the Christian life by my own will and effort. I again (wrongly) thought that I had to try to be good enough to earn God's love even though He had already provided for the forgiveness for all the sins I had committed and will ever commit. Trying to live the Christian life in my own feeble strength was quite a burden. Especially since I had scrupulosity OCD, it was an extremely difficult burden of trying to be perfect by my own will and effort -- and failing miserably every day. As a result, I often felt quite distant from God, and "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control" were definitely not characteristics that flowed from my heart (Galatians 5:22-23). This was tremendously discouraging to me. I felt like I was failing as a follower of Christ. I felt that God did not love me anymore. And I struggled for a very long time wondering if I was really saved or not.
In my previous blog post I referred to Galatians 2:19-21 (see below) and asked the question: What do these verses indicate are God's responsibilities and what are man's/woman's responsibilities as far as living the Christian life? I find that it is not within my power to live a life like Christ would. Christ -- not me -- has the power to live the life of Christ through me. It is therefore Christ's responsibility to provide the power, and it is my responsibility to make choices that invite His power to flow in my life (v.20). In other words, "the life I live in the body" I am to "live by faith in the Son of God" (v.20). I am to make choices of obedient faith as I walk by the Spirit; if I make sinful, disobedient choices, I am no longer walking by the Spirit and so stop the flow of Christ's power in my life (Galatians 5:16-26; Romans 8:1-17).
I have learned to live consistently as a victor because I have learned how to let Christ live through me by His power, by His grace. I cannot live a victorious life by myself no matter how hard I try.
Some challenges came up for me when I was learning how to live this way. What does it mean to "live by faith" (v. 20) ? What does it mean to live by the Spirit?
I have learned to live consistently as a victor because I have learned how to let Christ live through me by His power, by His grace. I cannot live a victorious life by myself no matter how hard I try.
Some challenges came up for me when I was learning how to live this way. What does it mean to "live by faith" (v. 20) ? What does it mean to live by the Spirit?
"For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 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. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" (Galatians 2:19-21, NIV 1984).
