Just as our acceptance with God must come through the righteousness with Christ, so our power to live the Christian life must come from Christ as well. Too often we try to grow by our own willpower & self-discipline. We assume that if we read the Bible enough & pray enough, we will grow. We approach the Christian life much like a student approaches a difficult course in college – just buckle down & try harder. That attitude assumes that we have the ability within ourselves to grow into maturity as believers. But as Jesus indicated in John 15:5, we have no ability within ourselves to grow. All the ability must come from Him.
Think of an electronic appliance that you use either for personal care or in the kitchen. I think of my electric shaver. That shaver has within its case a small motor that causes the shaver to do its job. But that motor has no power of its own. It is completely dependent on an external source of electric current. Without the supply of that power, it is useless.
You & I have been given a new heart at the time of our conversion. A fundamental change has indeed taken place in our inner being. We really are new creations in Christ. To stay with the shaver analogy, we now have a new motor designed to receive the electric current. But the power is still outside of us. It resides in Jesus Christ & is applied to our hearts by the Holy Spirit as we depend on Him.
That is why Paul makes such statements as “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength,” (Phil 4:13) & “To this end (that is, pursuing his ministry) I labor, struggling with all His energy which so powerfully works in me,” (Col 1:29).
Paul expected to grow in his spiritual life, & he expected to be fruitful in his ministry. His confidence, however, was not based on his own ability or determination but in the fact that he could rely on the power of Christ working in him to enable him.
Excerpted from: Growing Your Faith, by Jerry Bridges, NavPress Ministries, 2004, p 22.
Think of an electronic appliance that you use either for personal care or in the kitchen. I think of my electric shaver. That shaver has within its case a small motor that causes the shaver to do its job. But that motor has no power of its own. It is completely dependent on an external source of electric current. Without the supply of that power, it is useless.
You & I have been given a new heart at the time of our conversion. A fundamental change has indeed taken place in our inner being. We really are new creations in Christ. To stay with the shaver analogy, we now have a new motor designed to receive the electric current. But the power is still outside of us. It resides in Jesus Christ & is applied to our hearts by the Holy Spirit as we depend on Him.
That is why Paul makes such statements as “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength,” (Phil 4:13) & “To this end (that is, pursuing his ministry) I labor, struggling with all His energy which so powerfully works in me,” (Col 1:29).
Paul expected to grow in his spiritual life, & he expected to be fruitful in his ministry. His confidence, however, was not based on his own ability or determination but in the fact that he could rely on the power of Christ working in him to enable him.
Excerpted from: Growing Your Faith, by Jerry Bridges, NavPress Ministries, 2004, p 22.
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