How would you characterize the Christian life? If we believe that the goal of our life in Christ is to be like Him, and that to accomplish this, our faith needs to be anchored in Him, then how do we do it? Through Christ’s victory on the cross, He has given us all that we need to live out this life in Him. The apostle Peter speaks about this when he wrote:
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).
These things spoken about here are, at least in part, the disciplines that He has afforded us because of our union with Him. These things can be added to the spiritual blessings that the apostle Paul speaks about in the first chapter of the book of Ephesians, where he said:
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3).
He goes on to tell us just some of the blessings that we have in Christ. As we live for the Lord, and things become difficult, due to the enemy of our soul constantly making his bid for our faith, we can rely on at least three things, as our faith remains rooted in Christ. These things not only define the Christian life, but at the same time, help to instruct us on living for the Lord.
“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
First, we are to approach boldly. When is the last time you really needed the Lord? Truth be told, we need him every day. Yet there are those times in our life when we find ourselves overwhelmed for one reason or another, and we need in a special way those three things mentioned in this verse: namely, mercy, grace, and help.
As referenced earlier, Satan plays his part in trying to shake us loose from our trust in the Lord. Sin can also creep into our lives in various ways, as we take our eyes off the Lord. The world system, corrupted as it is, also wants a piece of our life. All these things individually are enough the drive the most faithful of us to our knees, but when these things converge, we must quickly cast our cares upon the Lord.
This boldness means that as we approach the throne grace in prayer, we are to do it in full confidence and assurance, holding nothing back. Our attitude should be that of the psalmist David when he wrote:
“Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge” (Psalm 62:8).
As we approach His throne it is good to remember that our Lord is not so far removed from us that he cannot understand what we are going through. Two powerful verses come to mind from the book of Hebrews which bear this out:
“Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrews 2:18).
“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).
As the apostle Paul dealt with an exceptionally painful time in his life, he approached the throne of grace boldly, and received just that—grace. We read his powerful words:
“Or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).
We can expect no less as we approach his throne; He will give us the grace that we need when we need it. So let us approach boldly.
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“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:4-5).
Second, we are to abide faithfully. Have you ever felt like giving up? Perhaps there has been a time in your life when you uttered the words, “I can’t take it anymore.” When these words are spoken in reference to our walk with the Lord, Jesus has commanded us to remain in Him. If we would ever entertain the thought of walking away from the Lord, we not only take these words to heart, but also remember this dialogue between Peter and the Lord:
“From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. ‘You do not want to leave too, do you?’ Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God’” (John 6:66-69).
At this point in Jesus’ ministry, He had many followers. In order to sift out those who were not truly devoted to Him, Jesus spoke some very powerful words about commitment and “eating His flesh,” that left His listeners stunned. His words resulted in many of His followers no longer walking with Him. He then turned to His core group and asked if they would go too.
Whenever we are tempted to give up, Peter’s words should ring in our hearts, and we should ask ourselves, “Where are you going?” Paul spoke these familiar words to the Christians in Galatia:
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).
Don’t give up! There is nothing that we go through that should cause us to forsake His faithfulness to us. We do not speak these words insensitively; we are fully aware of the damage the enemy seeks to bring to our faith. However, we must remain fully assured that God will never put more on us than we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13). Satan on the other hand, would like to see us abandon our faith, and give heed to his lies. He wants us to believe that we can somehow live this life apart from the Lord.
Though we may not do such a thing spitefully, or with malicious intent; it happens nonetheless; subtly at best. But just taking our eyes off of Christ indicates that we are attempting to live for Him in our own strength; and Jesus has spoken to us clearly that we can do nothing without Him. Abiding in Christ faithfully ensures that we will have the help we need when we find ourselves overwhelmed.
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like” (James 1:22-24).
Finally, we are to apply abundantly. I recently heard someone make a statement that I had never heard before, and it rang so true in my spirit; maybe it will do the same for you. He said, “Proclamation without application is hallucination.” Wow. It simply says that you can speak the word all you want (or hear it for that matter), but if you do not apply what you speak or hear to your life, it will gain you nothing. As cited previously, we have been given all things that pertain to life and godliness. One of these things is the Word of God.
“But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever” (2 Peter 3:18).
The only way we can grow in grace is by regularly ingesting the Word of God and then living it out. How else will we even begin to meet our goal of becoming more like Christ?
As we approach boldly, abide faithfully, and apply abundantly, all the while keeping our faith in Christ, we can rest assured that He will be faithful and see us through our most difficult times as we navigate through our time here with the Lord.
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