"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." -2 Corinthians 3:17As this man was helping me the other day, he said that he did not think he could work in the church. He had learned that I was going to seminary. He explained that he was not consistently a good person - that, at heart, he was a sinner. I tried to explain that I am, wihtout a doubt, a sinner as well. I just have to keep on coming back to Christ and asking for repentance.
It is true that we are all sinners, and that we cannot live a good life following Christ on our own. In Ephesians, Paul reveals how he feels about himself as he says, "I am less than the least of all God's people" (Ephesians 3:8a). However, he presents to us something to celebrate, noting in Ephesians 3:12, "In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence." By having faith in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit within ourselves, God can use us, no matter how sinful we may feel.
Lord, please help me to remember how mysterious yet unconditional your love is. Please help us to be able to explain to others how faith in you alone can bring us to a better life with you.
One of my favorite songs is, "Free," by Ginny Owens, and the passage below reminds me of it. If you want to read the lyrics, they can be found at http://www.christianlyricsonline.com/artists/ginny-owens/free.html.
"And we have such trust through Christ toward God, not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." -2 Corinthians 3:4-6
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