5.33 Epistles – Christ works in you both to WILL and to DO
The Old Testament was about man trying to keep God’s laws from the outside. There was no transformation from within because Christ had not indwelt the believer. After 1,500 years, Israel failed to meet God’s requirements.
Then Jesus came to the scene and fulfilled God’s righteous requirements. By His blood, He washed away our sins and made us righteous so that His Spirit could indwell us.
Finally, in the Epistles, we see Jesus indwelling the believer through His Spirit. Now that Christ is in us, we can experience true transformation from within. When Israel failed, God spoke through prophet Ezekiel that when the New Covenant is established, God would give us a new heart and put His Spirit in us. From within, He will cause us to walk in His ways.
(Ezekiel 36:26-27)
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
Christianity is God working on the inside, not us working on the outside. But for a long time, the Church has been focusing on what to do on the outside. When believers try to keep the law through self-effort according to the system of the Old Covenant, they would inevitably fail. But when we start to walk according to the empowerment of Christ in us, we begin to experience inner-transformation in the New Covenant.
Some people say that we have to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. They focus on man’s effort. But if we read on in that verse, it tells us the opposite. To work out our salvation is actually to allow the Savior to work in us both TO WILL (desire) and TO DO (perform) for His good pleasure.
(Philippians 2:12-13)
…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works IN YOU both TO WILL and TO DO for His good pleasure.
How do we live our life as a Christian? It is not by trying harder. It is by depending more on Christ in us. We depend on Christ to work in us, giving us His desires and empowerment to perform. Then everything becomes a flow, and it becomes easy and enjoyable. We end up doing things that we never imagined possible in our own strength. It becomes like an adventure. This is the Christian life of the New Covenant.
Then Jesus came to the scene and fulfilled God’s righteous requirements. By His blood, He washed away our sins and made us righteous so that His Spirit could indwell us.
Finally, in the Epistles, we see Jesus indwelling the believer through His Spirit. Now that Christ is in us, we can experience true transformation from within. When Israel failed, God spoke through prophet Ezekiel that when the New Covenant is established, God would give us a new heart and put His Spirit in us. From within, He will cause us to walk in His ways.
(Ezekiel 36:26-27)
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
Christianity is God working on the inside, not us working on the outside. But for a long time, the Church has been focusing on what to do on the outside. When believers try to keep the law through self-effort according to the system of the Old Covenant, they would inevitably fail. But when we start to walk according to the empowerment of Christ in us, we begin to experience inner-transformation in the New Covenant.
Some people say that we have to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. They focus on man’s effort. But if we read on in that verse, it tells us the opposite. To work out our salvation is actually to allow the Savior to work in us both TO WILL (desire) and TO DO (perform) for His good pleasure.
(Philippians 2:12-13)
…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works IN YOU both TO WILL and TO DO for His good pleasure.
How do we live our life as a Christian? It is not by trying harder. It is by depending more on Christ in us. We depend on Christ to work in us, giving us His desires and empowerment to perform. Then everything becomes a flow, and it becomes easy and enjoyable. We end up doing things that we never imagined possible in our own strength. It becomes like an adventure. This is the Christian life of the New Covenant.
posted by Joshua Lye @ 7:59 PM
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