The gospel of Jesus Christ always forces a decision of our will.
Have I accepted God’s verdict on sin as judged on the Cross of Christ?
Do I have even the slightest interest in the death of Jesus? Do I want
to be identified with His death— to be completely dead to all interest
in sin, worldliness, and self? Do I long to be so closely identified
with Jesus that I am of no value for anything except Him and His
purposes? The great privilege of discipleship is that I can commit
myself under the banner of His Cross, and that means death to sin. You
must get alone with Jesus and either decide to tell Him that you do not
want sin to die out in you, or that at any cost you want to be
identified with His death. When you act in confident faith in what our
Lord did on the cross, a supernatural identification with His death
takes place immediately. And you will come to know through a higher
knowledge that your old life was “crucified with Him” (Romans 6:6). The proof that your old life is dead, having been “crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20), is the amazing ease with which the life of God in you now enables you to obey the voice of Jesus Christ.
Every once in a while our Lord gives us a glimpse of what we would be
like if it were not for Him. This is a confirmation of what He said— “.
. . without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
That is why the underlying foundation of Christianity is personal,
passionate devotion to the Lord Jesus. We mistake the joy of our first
introduction into God’s kingdom as His purpose for getting us there. Yet
God’s purpose in getting us into His kingdom is that we may realize all
that identification with Jesus Christ means.
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