For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourself, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9 (NASB)
What can I do to save myself? Nothing! In my own works, I am dammed to hell. I was born into sin, and from sin, I grew. My desires were always of this world, seeking pleasure, vice, and corruption. There was nothing good in me. If I even realized my depravity, which I was oblivious to, I would have no idea what to do. I was sinking into a mire of despair.
But something happened, Christ Jesus revealed Himself to me, a sinner, a wretch without worth, and He redeemed me, taking on the penalty and debt of such a sinful man, and He paid that debt making me innocent before the Judge of the Universe.
It is a radical work of my savior Jesus who shed his blood for my sins. Jesus was despised and rejected of men for my sake:
He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like on from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Isaiah 53:3 (NASB)
But Jesus rose from the dead, and now presides over Heaven and Earth at the right hand of the Father. Jesus has paid a price I could not pay and has redeemed me, I am a new creation. Now my only response is to praise Him, but also to Mortify sin and put it back into its place. I still live in a fallen world, and sin is not a friend but an enemy which lurks around every corner. Each day I must start and end with prayer and Bible study, not because I need to, but because I desire that rich food for life. Each the Holy Spirit reveals cracks of my ‘Old Man’ which need to be torn down.
Jesus didn’t stop there, he provided the Holy Spirit to live within me and cause me to seek the things of the world to come rather than seeking the things of this fallen place. I seek to strive to bring Him glory for the things he has done in my life. The Holy Spirit has changed my heart from stone to a heart of flesh and caused me to seek after Him.
Am I perfect, no! Yet Jesus has provided other Christians who struggle and seek to also mortify the things of this world. This is the Church, and it’s more than a Sunday morning thing. This is an Hour by Hour, 360 Days a year thing. When I’m apart from my church family, I long for their presence, I long to live life side by side with them. Why? Because they are a mirror, they see my faults and help me correct them, they hold me accountable to scripture and we the church serve side by side on the front lines of winning more souls in this fallen world.
Photo by Ahmed Adly on Unsplash
Journals of a Fallen World 