Opinions
Veteran: You Fought for Your Country, Now Set Yourself Free
Memorial Day is a time to remember those who have fallen in the service of ...
War
Christian War Veteran Talks NATO Protest, War, Faith and Peace
Jacob George, a Christian war veteran who served three tours of duty in ...
Column
Hypnosis and Yoga Open Hidden Spiritual Doors
Hypnosis and yoga are a couple of mystical practices which have basically gone ...
Pastors
Seven Keys to Preventing Pastoral Burnout
I have the incredible opportunity to interact with pastors regularly. In recent ...
The Christian life is just that-a life, not a lifestyle. Sadly, a lot of churches preach Christianity as a list of dos and don’ts. Then faith looks like a formula: Jesus’ saving grace plus doing good things minus doing bad things = righteousness. Most of us have enough problems without worrying about whether we’re following the extra-biblical rules of one church.
A man-made formula for righteousness runs counter to scriptural teaching. In fact, Jesus condemned the Pharisees for such heavy-handed religion (Matt. 23:1-4). He, on the other hand, offered liberty through grace. Neither keeping God’s Law by self-effort nor adhering to extra rules makes a person free. Legalistic believers are in bondage and growing ever weaker.
When a person accepts the saving grace of Jesus, he or she receives a new life (Rom. 6:4). This is not an uptight lifestyle of doing good works. A believer is a changed person-same body but a transformed mind and heart. Christ lives through you. His Holy Spirit flows into your spirit as sap runs in a grapevine. It’s like getting a spiritual blood transfusion! Strength pumps into places where weakness once prevailed. Why rely upon your frail self when the courage and power to follow God’s will is available through Christ?
I know what it feels like to burn out from trying to do good in my own strength. My desire for you is that you’ll surrender to the Lord. Depend upon Him to change you from the inside out, and trust that He will. Jesus is your life. He will never get tired of transforming you.
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