I have been crucified with Christ . . . —Galatians 2:20
The inescapable spiritual need each of us has is the need to sign the death certificate of our sin nature. I must take my emotional opinions and intellectual beliefs and be willing to turn them into a moral verdict against the nature of sin; that is, against any claim I have to my right to myself. Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ . . . .” He did not say, “I have made a determination to imitate Jesus Christ,” or, “I will really make an effort to follow Him”-but-”I have been identified with Him in His death.” Once I reach this moral decision and act on it, all that Christ accomplished for me on the Cross is accomplished inme. My unrestrained commitment of myself to God gives the Holy Spirit the opportunity to grant to me the holiness of Jesus Christ.“. . . it is no longer I who live . . . .” My individuality remains, but my primary motivation for living and the nature that rules me are radically changed. I have the same human body, but the old satanic right to myself has been destroyed.“. . . and the life which I now live in the flesh,” not the life which I long to live or even pray that I live, but the life I now live in my mortal flesh-the life which others can see, “I live by faith in the Son of God . . . .” This faith was not Paul’s own faith in Jesus Christ, but the faith the Son God had given to him (see Ephesians 2:8). It is no longer a faith in faith, but a faith that transcends all imaginable limits-a faith that comes only from the Son of God.
March 21, 2012
Journal Entry for Today-JDV
Lord, Chambers makes it sound so easy; that all I need do is identify with Jesus and become holy. If that also means that I no longer fall short of the mark, well, that cannot be right. Your word says that if I say I have no sin, then I am not being honest. I know I fall short of the mark…too often. Is Chambers saying we are holy, regardless of our behavior and thoughts, because we identify with Jesus?
And God says…”When you identify with Jesus and the cross, you are holy, even when you miss the mark; even when you consciously act out your natural inclinations. I knewthe beginning of time, that you would fall short of the mark yesterday, today and tomorrow. Jesus and His cross covers all your failure; yesterday, today and in the future. You were not saved by grace and then left to complete the process on your own, nor is your “effort” and personal commitment of value. The grace of God and power of the cross covers your entire life; yesterday, today and tomorrow. Simply trust and identify with Jesus.
Remember, you cannot determine your position with Me by evaluating your every wayward thought or deed. You are to trust in Me, identify with Jesus, and let the power of the cross and the sacrifice of Jesus have its life changing way in your life. Simply trust in Jesus, and identify with the cross, and you become holy, not because of your deeds or thoughts, but because of Jesus.
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