Loving Jesus Style

  Scripture: Galatians 5:25 (NIV) "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." Devotion: Paul's sentence is brief, but it carries the whole logic of the Christian life: an indicative followed by an imperative. "Since we live by the Spirit" is the statement of fact; "let us keep in step with the Spirit" is the call that flows from it. Scripture consistently grounds our obedience in what God has already done, never the other way around. Consider first the indicative. We live by the Spirit. This is not a status we hope to attain but the present condition of every believer. Apart from Christ, we were dead in trespasses and sins, and the Spirit made us alive, bringing us to repentance and faith. Jesus told Nicodemus that no one can see the kingdom of God without being born of the Spirit. Our new life is His gift, real and undeserved. Now consider the imperative. The word Paul chooses for "keep in step" is a milit...

Scripture: Galatians 2:20 (NIV) "I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Devotion Few verses in Scripture compress so much of the gospel into so few words. Here Paul gives us not merely a doctrine to affirm but a testimony to share: the Christian life begins with a death. "I have been crucified with Christ." The verb is in the perfect tense, describing a past event with abiding consequences. Paul is not speaking of a goal he is striving toward but of a reality already accomplished. When Christ died, all who are united to Him by faith died with Him. The old self, bound to sin and condemned under the law, has been put to death. Our union with Christ is not a metaphor to be admired from a distance; it is the ground of our standing before God. "And I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." Paul does not...

Scripture: Galatians 5:1 (NIV) "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Devotion: We live in an age that talks constantly about freedom yet rarely defines it. The world tells us freedom means autonomy: the liberty to follow every impulse, to answer to no one, to author our own meaning. Paul's understanding could hardly be more different. Notice first the grammar of the verse. Freedom is not something we achieve; Christ accomplished it. "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free." The work is finished, the chains are broken, and He alone takes the initiative. We did not negotiate our release, nor did we earn it by moral effort. The Reformers rightly insisted that we are justified by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, and Paul's letter to the Galatians is the great charter of that conviction. Notice also the purpose clause: it is for freed...

Scripture: Philippians 3:14 (NIV) I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Devotion: Paul loved the image of a runner. Here he pictures a man in the final stretch, leaning forward, every muscle straining toward the finish line. He describes his Christian life this way: a race run with all his strength, not a leisurely stroll. We should understand this verse in the context in which it occurs. Immediately before this, Paul regards all his religious qualifications as "garbage" in order that he might "gain Christ and be found in him" (verses 8–9). The reference to winning a prize does not mean that it is about how one earns salvation; rather, he goes on to say, "to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me" (verse 12). The race starts by grace, since Christ first laid hold of Paul. That is why Paul can run so hard. He is not running to be accepted. He runs because he has been...

Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:13–14 (NIV) What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. Devotion: Paul wrote these words from a Roman prison, near the end of his life. Many had deserted him (v. 15). Soon he would be gone, and Timothy would carry on without his spiritual father. So, Paul tells him what matters most: keep the truth, and keep it rightly. The word "pattern" suggests an architect's outline or an artist's sketch. Paul had given Timothy more than scattered opinions. He had given him a coherent body of sound teaching, healthy doctrine that nourishes the soul. Timothy was not to improve on it or trade it for something more fashionable. He was to hold it fast. But notice how he was to hold it: "with faith and love in Christ Jesus." Paul knew that orthodoxy can be held in the wrong way. A...

  Scripture: Ephesians 6:13 (NIV) Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Devotion: The word "therefore" sends us back to Paul's reminder that "our struggle is not against flesh and blood" (v. 12). Real spiritual enemies stand behind the temptations, accusations, and discouragements of the Christian life. We cannot meet them in our own strength, so Paul commands us to put on the full armor of God. Notice whose armor it is. In Isaiah, the Lord Himself puts on righteousness as His breastplate, and the helmet of salvation (Isa. 59:17). The armor Paul describes is God's own. Every piece points to Christ: His truth, His righteousness, His gospel of peace, faith in Him, the salvation He has won, and the Word He has given. To put on the armor is to put on the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 13:14). Notice also what Paul expects. He does not s...