Step by Step

2 Peter 3:18 NIV: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”

If we are going to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we must first of all know Christ intimately and be in relationship with him via God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in the Lord Jesus. And God, in his grace to us, persuades us as to his holiness and righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to die with him to sin and to be raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness.

He, in his love and grace to us, persuades us to leave our lives of sin behind us and to now to walk with him in obedience to his commands in holy living, free from slavery to sin. He persuades us to honor and revere him as the holy God that he is. And he convinces us to walk with him and to follow him in all that he has planned for our lives. And that is what faith is, the faith that comes from God, and is persuaded of God, and is gifted to us by God, and which is not of our own doing – not of the will nor of the flesh of man.

So, the ability to live the Christian life also comes from and is empowered by God, in his righteousness and holiness. Not one of us can live the Christian life – that God had planned for us to walk in before he laid the foundation of the earth – in our own flesh, apart from God. We can only be pleasing to God via his power and strength at work within us, by his Spirit living within us. And we can only do this in his power and strength as we cooperate fully with his work of grace in our lives via obedience to his commands.

And Jesus did not die on that cross merely to forgive us of our sins so that when we die we get to go to heaven and not to hell. He died that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, by his grace. He died to make us new creatures in Christ Jesus, not to leave us still floundering in our sins. But we have to be willing recipients of his grace who follow him in wherever he leads us. For God’s grace to us is not free license to continue living in sin without feelings of guilt or fear of punishment.

Rather, God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce (say ‘No!’ to) ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we await our Lord’s return. For Jesus Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

[Titus 2:11-14; Ephesians 2:8-10; Romans 3:23-25; Romans 5:1-2; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 2 Corinthians 6:1-2; 2 Corinthians 9:8; Ephesians 6:24; Hebrews 10:26-31; Hebrews 12:12-17; 1 Peter 2:24]  

Day by day and step by step we follow the Lord Jesus in walks of obedience to his commands. For he said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience, then we have the hope of salvation from sin and eternal life with God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

Video Talk

Step by Step

November 19, 2021

https://vimeo.com/647778158