Is our salvation and sanctification our responsibility,
or is it the work of God's Spirit within us? Some will say, "We are to
work out our own salvation." (Philippians 2:12) Others will counter with,
"It is the Holy Spirit who gives us both the desire and the power" to
do that (Philippians 2:13).
Most people agree that salvation is through grace by
faith; but believe that we have to work for sanctification (Ephesians 2:8).
Yet, the foolish Galatians were reprimanded by Paul for attempting to perfect
themselves through their own self-efforts (Galatians 3:1-3).
Paul was amazed that they actually believed they could
sanctify their life by their works. Paul constantly reminds the early Saints that
nothing in our Christian walk is by works, because then we could boast
(Ephesians 2:8-9).
God is not interested in our ability, but in our
availability to His Spirit. The works of the flesh can only be crucified by the
work of the Spirit (Romans 8:14; Galatians 5:16). We live and walk only by the
Spirit of God; otherwise, we spin our wheels and end up exhausted (Galatians
5:25).
We boldly claim that we can do all things through Christ
(Philippians 4:13); but when we put the emphasis on "we" can do all
things, we fail time and again. We pull our self up by our boot straps until
they are totally worn off.
This verse is actually saying that we cannot do anything
except "through Christ". When we completely capitulate to the Holy
Spirit and allow Him to both save and perfect us, we enter God's rest (Hebrews
4:10).
It is the Spirit, not our self-effort, which transforms
us from one stage of sanctification to the next (2 Corinthians 3:18). Even the
armor of God, which Paul encourages us to wear, is the work of God's Spirit in
our life (Ephesians 6:10-18).
God's Spirit transforms our mind to the mind of Christ
(Romans 12:2). He also renews our character with the divine nature of Christ (2
Peter 1:4). He who began the work of salvation in us, will continue to perfect
us through His work of sanctification (Philippians 1:6).
Prayer:
Father God, we humans do not want to admit that we are
helpless without a Savior. We want to believe that even if we cannot save our
self, we can attempt to perfect our self through our diligence and
self-discipline by obeying Your Word.
Remind us that we can do good works only as we abide in
the faith of Christ within us (James 2:17). We could not justify our self by
keeping the law and we cannot sanctify our self through self-effort either.
Keeping the law never gave us life prior to salvation and there is no way that
walking in obedience to the law can perfect us after salvation. Without Your
Spirit doing the sanctifying work, we are totally lost and undone.
Thought for the Day:
When we do choose to obey, the desire and ability is
generated by God's Spirit within us; God has a perfect plan for our life, and
we find it only when we walk in the Spirit each moment of the day. - Ephesians
2:8-10
