Once we come to Christ for salvation, His Holy Spirit moves into our spirit and begins His sanctifying work in our soul – our thoughts, emotions, and choices. Our former sinful human passions and desires were nailed to the cross with Jesus and crucified there (Galatians 5:15-23).
Now, as we live by God’s Holy Spirit’s direction each moment of our day, we follow His leading in every part of daily life (Galatians 5:24-25). There is no striving and straining to accomplish this effort, because although we cooperate with the Holy Spirit, sanctification is not something we can do for our self (Philippians 2:11-13; Ephesians 2:7-10).
Under the Holy Spirit’s tutelage, we gradually mature spiritually until we mirror the nature of Christ in us and live a righteous and holy life (Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:10). We are a new creation in Christ and our former lusts are replaced by the fruit of God’s Spirit.
We are no longer slaves to sin, but dead to its temptation. We may falter from time to time, but we do not live in a continuous lifestyle of sinful behavior (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 5:22-23). As we consider God’s mercy and grace to us, we offer our body as a living sacrifice that is holy and pleasing to Him.
This is only reasonable and our truest form of worship to Him. His Spirit leads us to live a transformed life according to God’s will for each of us (Romans 12:1-2). Aligning our thoughts, words, and behavior according to worldly standards makes us an enemy of God (James 4:4). Allowing God’s Spirit to control them, makes us an adopted child of God.
The keys to holy living are to trust God with every fiber of our being, to reject our human thoughts and wisdom, to consult Him for His will for each moment of our life, to shun evil, and to honor God with our thoughts, words, and choices (Proverbs 3:5-7).
Prayer:
Father God, thank You that Jesus bore our sins in His own body all the way to Calvary’s cross, to give us the desire and power to obey You, and to die to our self-life as we live in Jesus’ righteousness. Thank you also that His wounds healed our sinful nature and united us with Christ in us (1 Peter 2:24). Many in today’s culture continue to live in sin, even after supposedly making a profession of faith. They believe that Your grace covers even their willful sin, and they are ashamed in front of their friends to live a holy life (Mark 8:38).
They do not embrace the reality of the fact that when we pray for forgiveness and for salvation, we are actually baptized into Jesus’ death too (Romans 6:1-6). We are raised to walk in a new life with new ambitions and desires through Your glory. We are dead to sin and no longer slaves to satanic lies and leadings as Your Spirit lives in and through us (Romans 6:8). If temptations arise to gratify our fleshly human desires, help us to resist satanic warfare and clothe our self with Your holy begotten Son (Romans 13:14).
Thought for the Day:
God challenges us to give up our former way of living and everything we once held dear in order to follow Jesus and to live as His disciples. For Him to consider us as His disciple, we daily die to self and everything that used to be important to us, and we continually carry His cross to the grave. We grow to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and mind – which is the greatest commandment for us to follow.
- Luke 14:27-33; Matthew 10:37, 22:37
