If your desire is to have the qualities listed in Galatians 5:22,23 then you know that the Holy Spirit is leading you. At the same time, be careful not to confuse your subjective feelings with the Spirit's leading. Being led by the Holy Spirit involves the desire to hear, the readiness to obey God’s Word, and the sensitivity to discern between your feelings and His promptings. Live each day controlled and guided by the Holy Spirit. Then the words of Christ will be in your mind, the love of Christ will be behind your actions, and the power of Christ will help you to control your selfish desires.
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The Law has two functions. On the positive side, it reveals the nature and will of God. On the negative side, it points out peoples sin’s and shows them that it is impossible to please God by trying to obey all his laws completely. God’s promise to Abraham dealt with Abraham's faith: the law focuses on actions. The covenant with Abraham shows that faith is the only way to be saved: the law shows the way to obey God in grateful response.Faith does not annual the law; but the more we know God, the more we see how sinful we are. Then we are driven to depend on our faith in Christ alone for our salvation.
(Reference Galatians 3:18-19) And our Thought for the day . . . The law teaches us the need for salvation. God’s grace gives us that salvation. The Old testament still applies today. In it, God reveals his nature, his will for humanity,is moral laws, and his guideline for living. But we cannot be saved by keeping that law - we must trust in Christ. Eternal Life is a gift from God. If it is a gift, then it is not something that we earn, nor something that must be paid back. A gift cannot be purchased by the recipient. A more appropriate response to a loved one who offers a gift is graceful acceptance with gratitude. Our salvation is a gift from God, not something of our own doing. (Ephesians.2:8,9). He saved us because of his mercy, not because of any good things that we have done (Titus 3:5). How much more we should accept with thanksgiving the gift that God has freely given to us. Salvation cannot be found by obeying the law.
No matter who we are, only Jesus can set us free. In the church of Paul’s day, Immersion was the usual form of baptism: that is new Christians were completely “buried in water”. They understood baptism to symbolize the death and burial of the old way of life. Coming up out of the water symbolized (resurrection) to new life with Christ. If we think of our old, sinful life as dead and buried, we have a powerful motive to resist sin. We can consciously choose to treat the desires and temptations of this old nature as if they were dead. Then we can continue to enjoy our wonderful new life with Jesus.
See Galatians 3:27 and Colossians 2:12,3:1-4 and Romans 6:1-5 for more on this. And our “Thought For The Day” Now that we are bound to Christ, he is our Master and he gives us power to do good rather then evil. We are no longer under the law but under Grace. |
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November 2022
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