2 CORINTHIANS 1:8-10 – “For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.”
THEME OF THE DAY: IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE IMPOSSIBLE. Ask any mature Christian this question, “Is the Christian life hard to live?” and they might pause, smile, and respond, “No. It isn’t hard. It is impossible.”
Our holy God determined that in His eyes, none are righteous, no not one. There is not a single human being born who is exempt from the sin that makes a living and harmonious relationship with Him possible. Try as we may, and there are millions of people dedicated to working their way to God and heaven who will always fall short. It is impossible.
On the other side, there are genuinely millions of true Christians who know they cannot earn their salvation by their works and efforts. They realize their total dependency on God’s grace alone, through faith alone, by Christ alone for their eternal salvation . . .
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name (Jesus) under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Yet, there are many true Christians who struggle seeming to always live in spiritual defeat because they forgot that not only is becoming a Christian impossible in themselves, so is living the Christian life. Oh, they don’t consciously say, “I am living the Christian life on the strength of myself” but their conduct reveals that is actually what they are doing. For example, we have drifted into inconsistency in reading our Bibles and praying. So, we make a resolve to do better. Starting tomorrow we are going to be in the Word and prayer daily. Off we go, and our resolve lasts maybe a week or two. We fall into the same inconsistency of trying to live the impossible Christian life in our own strength. We have failed to grasp that we are saved by grace AND walk each day by the strength of grace . . .
“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10).
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
So, how are you, how am I doing in living the impossible Christian life? Are we stumbling because we are keeping grace in the “salvation only vault” failing to see all the Christian life is by grace from start to finish? If we need to, let’s learn that lesson starting today that everything is by grace. Our joy will deepen!
PRAYER: Father, I praise You for teaching me how impossible it is to live a life pleasing to You in my own strength.
REFLECTION: We are not only saved by grace but live by grace, not sometimes, but every second of our lives.