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How
should we live? Well, the first thing to realize is that Christians are still sinners. Though we’ve been forgiven all our sins because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, yet we still struggle greatly against sin. The Apostle Paul spoke of that struggle like this: “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-- this I keep on doing.”1 So we have an inner battle going on against temptation, and, sadly, it’s a battle we often lose. The key idea here is “struggle.” Christians hate sin, fight against it and try to live in a way that pleases the Lord. The so-called ‘Sunday-Christian’ who shows little morality during the week, who is not wrestling against sin, is no Christian at all. Being saved from sin brings with it a desire to stay away from sin, and so we battle on. That means that Christians are not sinless saints either. Instead, we are battling servants. And yet there is great hope too. For though we may lose battles along the way, Christ has won the war already! He defeated Satan and sin by dying on the cross. He sacrificed His life to pay for the very sin we struggle against! Now we’re waiting for Judgment Day when He will remove sin and Satan and all enemies permanently. And while we wait in hope, Christ has given us His Holy Spirit to live with us and help us in our struggle. And so it’s in His strength that we battle against sin and even see some progress. As we struggle against sin, the Spirit begins to shape our lives in a new way – the way of obedience. The Spirit moulds us according to God’s holy law. God gave the Ten Commandments long ago as a summary of the way He wants us to live and now the Holy Spirit is enabling us to obey it more and more – isn’t that exciting? As we fight against temptations to sin we strive to make right decisions and do godly things as God commands in His law. Think of it this way. The Lord Jesus has saved us from our sin. Sin is, by definition, to break the law of God, to disobey His will. Thus, would a Christian want to continue to live in sin from which we’ve been rescued? Would a Christian be careless with God’s law? As John says, “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.”2 The law of God sets the moral standard for Christians. Jesus Himself promoted this law as He said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”3 How should we live? According to God’s law! That’s the practical, daily outworking of believing the gospel of Jesus Christ. But what is this law and how do we apply it today? Over the coming weeks we hope to explore and explain how we can and should obey God’s law. Biblical quotations
on this page are from: 1.) Romans 7:18,19; 2.) 1 John 3:4; 3.) Matthew
5:17,18 Looking for more? Has God planted a hunger in your heart to seek Him?
We invite you to come and join us on Sunday for worship and instruction in what God has to say to us. Come and join a community of believers as we respond to the Spirit's call to worship our Creator and King. For worship times and information, please visit our Worship Services Page. Ladies, if you are looking for information
about the faith, encouragement and support then please consider joining
us for our weekly Coffee
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