20I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"Last week we discussed what it is to walk “in line” with the gospel of grace, hope and justification. We discovered that even the most esteemed in God’s kingdom can fail to live up to this message and fall off to one side or other. While this is as true for Peter as it is for us, Tim Keller reminds us that “[c]hristian living is…a continual realignment process of bringing everything in line with the truth of the gospel.”
Our motivation for bringing our lives in line with the gospel is not one driven from a dire need to keep the law perfectly. Our motivation stems from the cleansing we have received by putting our faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ. He has justified us or declared our sins forgiven before a righteous and holy God. Since we have been made clean and our hearts have been transformed we have died to our former selves, we have died to the law and our lives have been replaced with God’s.
John Calvin echoes Paul’s words when he says “we are to live the life of God”. It is this gift of grace and this high calling to live the life of God that motivates us to keep His word on our hearts and through Christ’s life, keep the law that we were never able to do on our own. Are you walking by faith? Are you living the life of God? How can you bring your life “in line” with the gospel?
Next week (July 11th) we will be discussing The Gospel and Faith at The Seda's - 4607 Embassy Circle #104, Owings Mills, MD 21117. Please remember to bring a copy of the participants guide with you on Wednesday.
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