"I'll be good even if it kills me!"

I’ll be good even if it kills me!

Nothing in this world gives me more joy than watching a person go through genuine spiritual metamorphosis. And, it is an inside job! Then, there is the tragic farce of those who are attempting to live the Christian life without real faith in the power of the Holy Spirit. They work hard at being religious. There is no mistaking their sincerity. Yet, they fail. Dallas Willard coined a phrase to describe that lifestyle. They are practicing the “gospel of sin management.”  Using various behavior modification techniques, an attempt is made to be moral and devout.  Failure is inevitable.

The Bible says that “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ." (2 Corinthians 5:17-18, NIV) “In Christ!”  That is not the same as ‘member of a church,’ or ‘competent in knowledge of the Bible.’  It is a state of being, a result of a response of faith to the invitation of the Spirit. The Word tells us that "to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn! This is not a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan—this rebirth comes from God." (John 1:12-13, NLT)  “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16, NLT)

This is not new information to you, is it? We know that we are made right with God through faith in Christ.  The tragedy is that once we come to Him in faith, many of us revert to trying to live for Him by our own determination!  Like the Christians in ancient Galatia, come to know Jesus in faith and then slip back into the old patterns of religion. Paul rebuked those Galatian believers: "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— … You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" (Galatians 1:6, 3:1-3, NIV)

Because of this error, determination is more common among Christian than delight. Guilt is the more common feeling than joyous freedom. The Holy Spirit was given to us so we may live without fear of sin, so that we can be holy people, from the inside out.  Take your guilty feelings and leave them with Christ.  Confess your inadequacy for holy living honestly and thank God for the gift of the Spirit.  Receive the gift.

Ponder this passage prayerfully today.  It’s an amazing one.  "When the time arrived that was set by God the Father, God sent his Son, born among us of a woman, born under the conditions of the law so that he might redeem those of us who have been kidnapped by the law. Thus we have been set free to experience our rightful heritage. You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, “Papa! Father!” Doesn’t that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a child? And if you are a child, you’re also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance. Earlier, before you knew God personally, you were enslaved to so-called gods that had nothing of the divine about them. But now that you know the real God—or rather since God knows you—how can you possibly subject yourselves again to those paper tigers? For that is exactly what you do when you are intimidated into scrupulously observing all the traditions, taboos, and superstitions associated with special days and seasons and years." (Galatians 4:4-10, The Message)

The paradox (at least from our human point of view) is that the more we are willing to abandon our need to do something to earn our acceptance with our Father and trust radically in Christ’s sacrifice for sin, the more freedom we find.  Love springs from our heart and we are known as ‘children of God.’  Is anything more wonderful than that?

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In Christ Alone

In Christ alone my hope is found

He is my light my strength my song

This Cornerstone this solid Ground

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm

What heights of love what depths of peace

When fears are stilled when strivings cease

My Comforter my All in All

Here in the love of Christ I stand

No guilt in life no fear in death

This is the power of Christ in me

From life's first cry to final breath

Jesus commands my destiny

No power of hell no scheme of man

Can ever pluck me from His hand

Till He returns or calls me home

Here in the power of Christ I'll stand

Keith Getty | Stuart Townend

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