Understanding that Christ died for us to give His life to us to live His life through us is made clear in the Scripture. Sadly, what is not so clear is the fleshly belief that we can add to His life in us with our own fleshly abilities; and by so doing we somehow enhance the kingdom of God and perhaps our own standing in the eyes of God.
We know the truth of God’s Word, but knowing the truth is not the challenge. Practicing the truth is the hard part. The Apostle Paul said very clearly, “to put no confidence in the flesh “ (period). Phil 3:3.
Now believing that your life is now hidden with Christ in God and that Christ is your life is the pure truth of God’s Word (Col 3:3, 4). However, the temptation we have to add to this declaration of truth, our successes, our abilities, our talents and our contacts is at times overwhelming to us. Before we know it, it is no longer “Jesus Christ plus nothing.” It becomes Jesus Christ plus us and all of our good works.
The Apostle Paul came to understand that anything he contributed to God’s work was derived from his fleshly abilities apart from Christ’s life within him. Paul stated emphatically in Philippians 3 that any gain based upon his own credentials (work in the flesh) failed to endorse Christ and Christ alone as the source of life. As Paul considered this, he likened it to something our modern translators have determined is impermissible to write in a cultured letter written to mixed company. They called it rubbish. But in the King James translation, it is called what it is, DUNG.
Any effort to hang on to the least bit of our flesh will only serve to diminish the life of Christ within us. Why do we always attempt to find good in our flesh when the best of our flesh is the worst of it? There is no USDA Choice flesh. It’s all by the grace of God. Let me give you a definition of grace from a friend of mine, Michael Wells. It need not be preached, but it has been proven by the experience of many believers.
GRACE: At my point of need, God is everything to me that I thought He was not!..That’s grace…
Moses had spent 40 years being trained to be everything…a god, a Pharaoh. He spent another 40 years in the wilderness discovering what he was not. Finally, he was prepared to lead, having realized that he was a “not”. God told him what to go do, and Moses accurately responded, “I am not able.” God’s response was, “What is that to Me? I am!”
God is to me all that I am not. First I must acknowledge that I am not. Next He tells me what He is. He is everything to me of which I might have need that I am not.
I am not a good father, a good husband, a good Christian, or a good witness! This is my point of need! Grace comes and meets me at my point of need! I didn’t think He could be those things to me. However, as I recognize abiding, He is to me all that I thought that He was not. There is a life in me that is a good father, a good husband, and a good witness. It is HIS life and He is everything to me that I am not.
Look at what you are not. Don’t determine to work harder. Call on the grace of God. At your point of need, He is everything to you that you thought He was not…That’s grace.
So, PUT NO CONFIDENCE IN THE FLESH…IT’S JESUS CHRIST PLUS NOTHING.
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