When it pleased God…to reveal His Son in me… —Galatians 1:15-16
If Jesus Christ is going to regenerate me, what is the problem He faces? It is simply this— I have a heredity in which I had no say or decision; I am not holy, nor am I likely to be; and if all Jesus Christ can do is tell me that I must be holy, His teaching only causes me to despair. But if Jesus Christ is truly a regenerator, someone who can put His own heredity of holiness into me, then I can begin to see what He means when He says that I have to be holy. Redemption means that Jesus Christ can put into anyone the hereditary nature that was in Himself, and all the standards He gives us are based on that nature— His teaching is meant to be applied to the life which He puts within us. The proper action on my part is simply to agree with God’s verdict on sin as judged on the Cross of Christ.
The New Testament teaching about regeneration is that when a person is hit by his own sense of need, God will put the Holy Spirit into his spirit, and his personal spirit will be energized by the Spirit of the Son of God— “…until Christ is formed in you” (Galatians 4:19). The moral miracle of redemption is that God can put a new nature into me through which I can live a totally new life. When I finally reach the edge of my need and know my own limitations, then Jesus says, “Blessed are you…” (Matthew 5:11). But I must get to that point. God cannot put into me, the responsible moral person that I am, the nature that was in Jesus Christ unless I am aware of my need for it.
Just as the nature of sin entered into the human race through one man, the Holy Spirit entered into the human race through another Man (see Romans 5:12-19). And redemption means that I can be delivered from the heredity of sin, and that through Jesus Christ I can receive a pure and spotless heredity, namely, the Holy Spirit.
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Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord
The issue can be stated thru metaphor: There isn’t room for two of us in the driver’s seat of my life. Like in Carrie Underwood’s song … “Jesus Take The Wheel” impending death on a black sheet of ice motivated giving up the wheel. Having had a few experiences like that, I find that they are good as a kickstarter of new life with you at the wheel… But mine haven’t lasted. Soon enough, I find myself back in control, wanting to look good, feel good, and be right (the Big Four of my heredity as a human) What JD and I are finding is that a daily determination to surrender those, to bring them to the cross for death, not just domestication and refinement is a good starting place. What else? Because, although we see progress, keeping those things crucified is a continuing challenge.
It will always be a work in progress, so don’t despair. I love your progress but more than that, I love you. How well you do at staying out of the driver’s seat and free of those Big Four motivations… won’t make me love you more or less. There are things you can do like putting reminders on your mirror or on your desk or calling each other. They all have some value, but the biggest thing is building our relationship. Invite me in. I will come in and we will commune together. Out of that you will find that your motivation and your whole heart will change. Those big four will fall away.
Revelation 3:20 (NLT) “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.
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