It's not often you feel like you have the Lord's favor. Most of us struggle with trying to win the Lord's approval all the time. I know what some mean by this, but God accepted and loved us even before coming to Christ. How much more does he love us for struggling to overcome the flesh and serve him in the Spirit.
Having been reconciled to him through Christ, is he now going to condemn us for trying to live a life of holiness before him?
“8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood,
how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!
10 For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son,
how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
11 Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have now received reconciliation.”
Romans 5:8-11
Having the fact that we are firmed reconciled to God by his work, not ours, we must move forward in him. We cannot keep falling back to that same place of wondering if he loves us or trying to win his approval through our own efforts. Our labor for the Lord must arise out of a heart of love for him.
“We love because he first loved us.”
1 John 4:19
To often we constantly remind ourselves of our short coming and feel like we cannot measure up to what God desires of our lives. I'm not saying sin will not lead you astray and rob you of the blessings of knowing Christ, but we should not deceive ourselves into thinking our righteousness means anything to the Lord. The righteous act that brought about our salvation was the death of Christ at Calvary. You can't add anything to it and you can't take anything away from it. God said he would forgive us and "demonstrated" it through the cross.
Trying harder won't get you there because this is just another work of the flesh. We have all sinned and the only thing we can seek from the Lord is his forgiveness. Which he has promised he would do. The righteousness that comes through his forgiveness is a gift. It is not earned. It is only by grace.
"I do not set aside the grace of God,
for if righteousness could be gained through the law,
Christ died for nothing!"
Galatians 2:21
Most of what I am talking about today is found in the book of Romans. I believe that even the order of the books of the Bible was divinely inspired. Immediately after reading the Gospels and the history of the church in Acts, we are taken into the book of Romans. This is so God can firmly implant in us the doctrine of his grace before he begins to teach us about living in righteousness.
“Having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh?”
Galatians 3:3
The work of the Holy Spirit is little understood, even among Pentecostals. His primary work in the believer is to "conform us into the image of Christ." Our work is obvious — believe. To believe we must renew our minds to the Word of God, but we must allow the Spirit to do his work. Transformation happens by faith. Faith arises by the Word. No Word, no faith. The reason I'm posting this blog today is to address what I see in so many believers. They are still believing God is mad at them because of their behavior. They are still relating to themselves as unbelievers. No! You have been born again.
“He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion.”
Philippians 1:6
"Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him."
Hebrews 7:25
In my Bible the book of Romans takes up about 16 pages. Most Christians have never sat down and just read it. The day I did, it changed my life. I no longer labored to win God's approval, I worked because I had his approval. His grace covered my failures and my work would never be in vain.
"But by the grace of God I am what I am:
and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain;
but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I,
but the grace of God which was with me.”
1 Corinthians 15:10
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be stedfast, unmoveable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord,
forasmuch as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
1 Corinthians 15:58
I believe that if most Christians could get this one simple truth in their heads, about their relationship with the Lord, it would transform their lives and guilt would be a thing of the past.
“Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands,
let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.”
Hebrews 4:1
Remember to pray for the renovation of our prayer tower. Work has begun and about $300.00 has already come in towards the materials we need. The gutting out process is complete and the electrical materials have been purchased. Reconstruction begins this week.
There are great things happening at Calvary. The greatest is the move of prayer God has brought upon us. Our new Prayer Center will be dedicated on Sunday morning January 13th, 2013.