Most of us started our Christian lives with the belief that God was all we needed. Period. Certainly we knew we had no part in gaining acceptance with God. His salvation was a free gift — all we had done was to believe and receive. But then following Christ got a little more complicated. Aware of our failings, we turned not to him but to ourselves! And that’s why Paul summarized his teaching to the Galatians in these words: “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25, emphasis added).
We are born again through the Holy Spirit in us, and we live by the Spirit. Having begun that way, should we now revert back to self-effort in our pathetic attempts to live good lives? Paul’s directive is to keep in step with the Spirit — the living presence of God dwelling in our hearts. As we submit to the Spirit of God, he peels off layer after layer of stuff displeasing to him.
In our own strength, we can never act like Jesus Christ. That is why he sent us a Helper. The Spirit of Jesus within us wants to tenderly and lovingly manage our days. This isn’t a bad thing. He wasn’t sent to rain on our parade and hinder us from enjoying the best of life. Just the opposite! He is ready and able to lead us out into the clean, fresh air of Christlike words, thoughts, and actions.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1).
“Lord, we want to be holy like you.”
Jim Cymbala began the Brooklyn Tabernacle with less than twenty members in a small, rundown building in a difficult part of the city. A native of Brooklyn, he is a longtime friend of both David and Gary Wilkerson.