There exists a condition common to many of us
who name Christ as Savior and are making an
effort to follow him, that saps one of the zeal
and power in his walk and fellowship with our
Lord or members of his church. Having strug-
gled with this condition for years following my
profession of faith in Christ, made at age ele-
ven, I can give testimony to conflict in those
years, and how it is being resolved.
There is also this; the walk of faith in Jesus
Christ is not, in a practical sense, to be easy
or free from trials or tests. This one element
in life will make us more like Him and bring
maturity into the life. Without struggle, there
is no healthy growth in any of God's creation.
It follows that struggles in our lives of follow-
ing Christ Jesus is expected and we should be
thankful our Lord allows trials and struggles
to come into our lives.
So, what is the conflict to which we refer?
It is the principle of the assurance of ultimate
salvation. Since our relationship to our Lord
is faith based, with no confirmation coming to
the believer through the five senses, can we be
positive in our relationship to him? The Short
answer would be; Scripture is plain concer-
ning the means of salvation. We are to simply
believe it; see 1 John 1: 9,
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness."
We read in 1 John 5:13, "These things have I
written unto you that believe on the name of
the Son of God that ye may know that ye have
eternal life, and that ye may believe (conti-
nue believing) on the name of the Son of God."
These two short passages give the basis for
a relationship with God in Jesus Christ.
There are many such passages in Scripture
such as John 3:16-18, John 6: 47, Romans 5:
8-9, 6:23, 8:31-39, and Romans 10: 9-10, 13
There are others, but these will serve. All of
these and others are factual statements giving
details on beginning an eternal relationship
with God the Father through Jesus Christ,
God the Son.
What then is the problem? In spite of all Scrip-
ture confirming Christ to be the author of our
relationship with the Father and security in him.
We still have a thought in back of our minds;
"Have I really done enough? Is there something
missing, that might disqualify me?" Other such
negative thoughts occur, specific to individual
experience. I experienced a lack of confidence
in my standing, because of failure to live up to a
standard of personal behavior and inconsis-
tencies in my walk with Christ as other's have.
My prayer life was weak.
There was always a part of me, inside, of which
I was ashamed and for that reason I hid it. My
Bible study was superficial. The problem? I did
not understand that my Lord had led a life of per-
fection in my stead. He had already fulfilled the
righteous requirements of the law on my behalf.
You and I are not expected, nor capable of living
this life on our own, without the power of God
in our lives. We are to live lives that do not bring
a reproach on that Holy name by which we live,
our Lord Jesus Christ. As we endeavor to live in
this way, we begin to understand the principles
from Scripture relating to this. Until then, we
will continue to struggle.
Then there is this; No one, outside of the Lord
Jesus Christ, ever lived perfectly, without mis-
steps and failures living a righteous life. Even
when we are empowered by His Holy Spirit we
still fail, even sin. We will struggle against our
nature until we meet Him face to face.
The first real knowledge for me, of the power of
the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer was in 1971,
twenty years after my profession of faith in Christ.
This opened to me the idea that many of us, who
claim the name of Jesus Christ, are trying to live a
watered down version of the law of Moses. If living
by the Law given to Moses had been satisfactory,
there would be no reason to bring about the chan-
ges described in the New Testament, nor would
Jesus Christ have had to come to this earth to die
for my sin.
Click the two links below:
This understanding has helped me in my walk with
the Lord, Jesus Christ.
http://biblicalclarity-don.blogspot.com/2013/12/law-or-grace-cant-have-both.html
http://biblicalclarity-don.blogspot.com/2013/02/holy-spirit-basics-acts-1-2.html
God bless; donporter,sr 5.12.14
http://biblicalclarity-don.blogspot.com/2014/03/worse-than-infidel.html
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