Balance!

On my perpetual calendar, “Spiritual Refreshment for Women,” for October 22nd was this statement:

Salvation is hard work!  Not only did it require Jesus’ crucifixion for our sins, but we have a part in the effort, too.  We have to live out the commands in God’s Word that make our faith have an impact on the world.

In our Christian walk, there needs to be balance.  Ephesians 2:8  tells us that,”… by grace  you have been  saved, through faith– and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God  not by works, so that no one can boast.”  Our part in salvation is pointed out  in John 15:5 where Jesus says, “…if a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit.”  We are called to remain in Christ and bear fruit.  Fruit that comes by walking with Christ and allowing the Holy Spirit to work in our lives .  Christ calls us to grow up.  To look less and less like the world and more and more like his example.  This is the hard work we must do in cooperation with God’s grace.

As Christians we are all at different points in our spiritual journey.  But where ever our starting point, scripture is clear that no one who encountered Christ remained unchanged.    And so it should be in our lives. There should be change, not from rules, but from the inside with the renewal of our minds by the Holy Spirit, revealing himself in our daily lives.

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