The Life of Faith

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

When we are crucified with Christ by faith in Him, we are to completely surrender every selfish desire and ambition to the perfect will of God. Self-promotion and self-pleasing desires are the greatest obstacle between man and salvation because it is the nature of man to want to please himself, and this self-recognition is a building block for sin. All sin erupts from the desire to please self, and this is what must be crucified with Christ in surrender to the will of God before salvation can bear fruit. This, as Paul attests, is an ongoing process because the spirit, which has been crucified with Christ, still resides within in the flesh, which is still very much alive. (Romans 7:18–25)

Man cannot overcome his inherited sinful nature on his own and needs the power and assistance of the Holy Spirit to make this happen, but the surrender of his own will to that of God’s will is essential for the elimination of his own desire’s powerful motivation and enslavement. This is part of repentance. True repentance is not just asking for forgiveness of sin but is also a willingness and desire for change that conforms to the will of God. It is surrender of one’s own control and will to the power and will of the Holy Spirit that is the beginning of being crucified with Christ.

This beginning brings a quickening of the Holy Spirit within man, which brings forth a new spiritual life in him as he is born again of the Spirit of God. Old, corruptible desires are replaced with a new and more powerful motivation to experience the holiness of God. Temptation for the former corruptible ways that enslaved him to sin are defeated, not by man’s own effort to battle his corruptible nature, but in surrender of his own will to God’s will. (1 Peter 1:23) 

This proves to be a great challenge for many people because we attempt to control our sinful nature on our own with the result being repeated falls into the same old, sinful ways they are attempting to escape. If it had been possible for man to overcome his sinful nature by his own power and will, there would have been no need for Jesus to die for our sins. Man could have simply overcome his sinful nature, obeyed the Mosaic Law, and stopped sinning on his own by the power of his own will. But because man is not capable of denying his sinful nature on his own, by the grace of God man has been given this victory through the gift of spiritual rebirth if he is willing to fully surrender in repentant contrition to God’s will. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8)

Many Christians want to be obedient but continue to stumble in sin because they try to hang on to parts of the old self they think they are able to control. This is a self-defeating rationale that relies on the idea that man saves himself by his own works. The Bible teaches us that nothing a man does can save his soul, and salvation is only by the grace of God. (Ephesians 2:8–9) Through this gift of grace, man can be born again and be given a new nature to replace the old, sinful self. He must be born again if he is ever to see the kingdom of God (John 3:3), and if he is to be born again, his sinful nature must be crucified with Christ, and he must be filled with the Holy Spirit of God.

The apostle depicts a parallel between Christ's course and ours. Christ's sacrifice was substitutionary. Thus, when He was crucified, and we then accept His death for the forgiveness of our sins, it is as though we were crucified and our sins paid for in full.

However, the parallel does not end there. Sacrifice was a way of life with Jesus Christ, and it is to become our way of life. Every time we obey God's instruction as part of His purpose rather than unresistingly following the dictates of human nature, we are sacrificing ourselves to God and His purpose as a living sacrifice. Every time we sacrifice our time and energy to serve rather than merely pursue our own interests, we are following the patterns shown in the sacrifices of Leviticus and Jesus Christ's life. We are to strive to live just as He lived, and thus the daily sacrifice continues.

At times a deep sense of our unworthiness will send a thrill of terror through the soul, but this is no evidence that God has changed toward us, or we toward God. No effort should be made to rein the mind up to a certain intensity of emotion. We may not feel today the peace and joy which we felt yesterday; but we should by faith grasp the hand of Christ, and trust Him as fully in the darkness as in the light.

Satan may whisper, 'You are too great a sinner for Christ to save.' While you acknowledge that you are indeed sinful and unworthy, you may meet the tempter with the cry, 'By virtue of the atonement, I claim Christ as my Savior. I trust not to my own merits, but to the precious blood of Jesus, which cleanses me. This moment I hang my helpless soul on Christ.' The Christian life must be a life of constant, living faith. An unyielding trust, a firm reliance upon Christ, will bring peace and assurance to the soul.

Have You Performed a Spiritual Checkup?

I don't look forward to getting my physical. They do a lot of tests, and they always check my blood pressure. The last time I went, they told me, “You know, your blood pressure is a little high.” I told them it was high because I knew they were going to take it.

So I told my doctor, “You walk into the room, and my blood pressure goes up. It is your fault. You need to sneak up sometime when I am not looking and then take it. I bet it will be lower.” We kind of joke back and forth a little. But we know it is an exam. I fill out a questionnaire, and he asks a lot of questions: Are there any lumps? Are there any growths? Are there any things out of the ordinary? It is an exam to determine my physical state.

There is a spiritual exam as well. The Bible says, “Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith”. (2 Corinthians 13:5)

In other words, are you really a Christian? Or are you just pretending? You are really a Christian when you have put your faith in Jesus Christ and Christ alone to save you, and you are trusting in Him and walking with Him. It will show itself in the way that you live.

Sometimes when people go through hardship, they say that event or tragedy has shaken their life; it has shaken their faith. In fact, they say they have lost their faith. But the faith that can’t be shaken is the faith that has been shaken. If it is genuine faith, then it will stand up to the test.

Today's Prayer:

God our Father, you conquer the darkness of ignorance by the light of your Word. Strengthen within our hearts the faith you have given us; let not temptation ever quench the fire that your love has kindled within us. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. AMEN