Daily EncouragementSample

All the elements of genuine Christianity are present in these words. It is no accident that they are expressed in personal terms. For true Christianity is a personal matter.

There is the death I die - “I have been crucified with Christ.” Death is the end of one form of life, the beginning of another. I die to self - “Jesus is Lord.” I am no longer in control. I die to sin - “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature” (Gal. 5:24). I die to the world - “it no longer holds me in its grip (Gal. 6:14).

There is the life I receive - “Christ lives in me.” It is a new life, received from God (2 Cor. 5:17). It is the resurrection life of Christ living in me by his Spirit (Rom. 8:9) It is “the life that is truly life” (1 Tim. 6:19).

There is the faith I exercise - “I live by faith in the Son of God.” From the human side, faith is the key to the Christian life. It is above everything else trust in Christ, personal reliance upon him. The old acrostic rings true: “Forsaking All I Take Him.”

There is the grace I experience - “the Son of God . . . loved me and gave himself for me.” Real Christianity is all by grace. We are what we are by the grace of God.