Sep 26

"He who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit" (1 Cor. 6:17).

My union with Christ on the cross goes beyond the cross. After the crucifixion came the resurrection. My union with Christ in his death is not an end in itself. It is a preparation for his new life to come into my being, so that I can then go out into a dead world and have it be in amazement at the new life that is plainly visible to it in me. I will be a person who once was dead as they are, and now walks around alive and well.

But for this to happen, I need the Spirit of the living God. I cannot resurrect myself. I was united with Christ on the cross so that I could be raised up with him into new life, and now I still need the same Spirit of God that raised him up from the dead. That is why 1 Cor. 6:17 mentions that my union with Christ involves being one with him in spirit.

The passage from Galatians mentioned previously (2:20), that also spoke of my union with Christ, then goes on, as well, to speak of the necessity of having the Spirit of God in me in order to live this new, resurrected life in Christ.

Galatians 3 emphasizes the absolute necessity of having the Holy Spirit and his power to enable me to live the new life of Christ. To try to do this without the Spirit is to rely upon the law -- and to rely upon the law, as the Pharisees did,brings death, not life.

Scripture for today: Galatians 3
Thought for today: I need the Holy Spirit to live the life of Christ.
Prayer for today: Come, Holy Spirit, live the life of Christ through me. I seek you and your power to enable me to glorify Jesus by how I live.

SEP 26