The successful Christian life is impossible. Jesus said Himself that Salvation for man is impossible.
This is because to live a successful Christian life is to live a life of obedience.
But obedience is impossible for a human being, born with Adam's fallen spiritual DNA.
For God to command a human being to do something is like commanding a blind man to see, or a man with no legs to walk. It is not possible.
Yet that is what God did in giving mankind the Law. God in sum of the Ten Commandments asked man to do two things, to love Him and to love others.
Why did He do that? Why would he command the lame to walk, the blind to see, when he cannot? Why command us to do things that He knows that we cannot?
It was to reveal the utter sinfulness of our nature. It was to reveal that we are nothing. God gave an obstacle that is so high to reach, so that we will hurt ourselves trying to climb it, and realize how utterly impossible, how utterly impossible it truly is.
It was to reveal that salvation is by faith alone. Just as Abraham gave up all hope in himself in trying to make a baby by his power, and gave himself to trust rather in God who gives life to his and Sarah's dead body, so must a human being trust in God, that God through Jesus Christ may work in Him to give life.
The successful Christian life can only be achieved by one thing: trusting in God. We must realize how hopeless we are apart from Christ's help, and ask Him to give us the strength, that we may obey His commandments, not only in the letter, but of the spirit, in the heart. This is only possible through the Holy Spirit's help, through our utter dependence on Him.
The only hope for us is to trust in God's grace to work in us to give us the desire and the power to obey Him. Nothing else will work. No amount of "5 steps to a holy life", or will-power will work. A blind man desiring to see, and really seeing is different. It is Christ who gives sight to the blind, and life to the dead limbs, and breathes life into our being.
We cannot wait to be healed before we go to Christ, or we will never go to Him. We must go to Him with our uncleanness, with our blindness, our deadness, trusting that Christ will give life to us. And going to Him never ends. We will go to Him until we are completely healed. He is our only source of true life. Let us give up all trust in our selves, and trust in Him who gives life to the dead!!
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