To become one with Jesus Christ, a person must be willing not only
to give up sin, but also to surrender his whole way of looking at
things. Being born again by the Spirit of God means that we must first
be willing to let go before we can grasp something else. The first thing
we must surrender is all of our pretense or deceit. What our Lord wants
us to present to Him is not our goodness, honesty, or our efforts to do
better, but real solid sin. Actually, that is all He can take from us.
And what He gives us in exchange for our sin is real solid
righteousness. But we must surrender all pretense that we are anything,
and give up all our claims of even being worthy of God’s consideration.
Once we have done that, the Spirit of God will show us what we need
to surrender next. Along each step of this process, we will have to give
up our claims to our rights to ourselves. Are we willing to surrender
our grasp on all that we possess, our desires, and everything else in
our lives? Are we ready to be identified with the death of Jesus Christ?
We will suffer a sharp painful disillusionment before we fully
surrender. When people really see themselves as the Lord sees them, it
is not the terribly offensive sins of the flesh that shock them, but the
awful nature of the pride of their own hearts opposing Jesus Christ.
When they see themselves in the light of the Lord, the shame, horror,
and desperate conviction hit home for them.
If you are faced with the question of whether or not to surrender,
make a determination to go on through the crisis, surrendering all that
you have and all that you are to Him. And God will then equip you to do
all that He requires of you.
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