Life of Faith
From beginning to end, our Christian lives must be lives of faith. From the moment we are born again into new life until the moment we are glorified in the next life, salvation is by faith alone.
"For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith" (Rom 1:17 NIV).
If salvation was by our works, Christ died in vain (Gal 2:21).
When we became believers, what did we believe? We came to believe the gospel story which centers on the work of Jesus Christ. His work, not ours. "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ" (Rom 10:17). Christ is the message, therefore Christ is who we must believe in. We cannot place our faith, even the smallest amount of it, in ourselves, our morality, our righteousness, our works, our status, or even the sincerity of our faith. We must believe in Jesus Christ.
"...yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified" (Gal 2:16).
We cannot add anything to the finished work of Jesus Christ! There is nothing lacking in Jesus Christ. He is the perfection of glory. And Christ's sacrifice of himself was once for all, perfectly sufficient, rendering all other sacrifices obsolete. Christ's death perfectly satisfied God's justice forever (Rom 3:21-26); his atonement was enough to perfect all believers for all time.
"But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified" (Heb 10:12-14).
Since Christ's work is perfect and he has already perfected us, we can have great confidence that we are secure in Christ. He has already made us acceptable to God, therefore our boast is in Christ! "God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God" (1 Cor 1:28-29).
Additionally, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is always accompanied by repentance from sin. Faith and repentance are two sides of the same coin and the gospel demands that we respond with both. "Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel'" (Mark 1:14-15).
Turning from sin is not limited to things that are clearly evil. You must also renounce personal accomplishments, the so-called good things you have done. Have you thrown every "good deed" of yours, past, present, or future, in the trash along with all of your wickedness and fled to Christ alone? By turning to Christ in faith, you must turn away from everything else including yourself!
"But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed,
I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that
depends on faith” (Php 3:7-9).
Therefore, in light of all that Christ has done for you, how must you now live? The gospel teaches you to "no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds" (Eph 4:17) and "to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life" (Eph 4:22a). Instead, you are "to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness" (Eph 4:23-24). Believer, Christ has already made you new; this is the promise of the gospel! Now walk in Christ by the power of the Spirit according to your new identity! Become more and more of who you already are in Christ!
Reckon the old you crucified, dead, and buried. The old you is dead (Rom 6; Gal 2:20). And continue to walk in your new life, looking to Christ every step of the way. As you do, you know all too well that you will still struggle with sin; your faith can waver. Yet Christ's faithfulness, as God's Son, is steadfast (Heb 3:6). Keep running to Christ. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 Jn 1:9).
Beloved, God the Father "will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord" (1 Cor 1:9). Trust in the faithfulness of the Father and the Son, not your own faithfulness.
Also beware that there are sins to flee from other than the obvious. Satan is sneaky with the Christian. False gospels abound, seeking to seduce YOU away from a firm faith in Christ to something that either takes away from Christ's all-sufficiency or adds to it. The flesh is at work! If you think that you must do something to catch God's attention or gain his favor, you've added to Christ's work. If you think you're better than others because of something you do or don't do, you've added to Christ's work. If your identity is fixated on something other than Christ (your social media may reveal this), you have taken away from Christ's work. If your heart longs for a pleasure, a beauty, a status, a life beside the identity you have in Christ, then you have idolized another identity. You have diminished Christ.
Do not live your Christian life by the flesh but by the Spirit. "Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" (Gal 3:2-3).
From beginning to end, the righteous live by faith. And our Savior will keep every believer secure to the end.
"Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen" (Jude 1:24-25).
