Chapter One
A Troubling
Question
"Is your kind of Christianity worth sending to the non-Christian
world?"
That was the rather uncomfortable question which one
speaker after another confronted his listeners with at a student
missionary convention I was attending.
There's no question that Christianity is worth sending;
but what about the kind shown by your life or my life this
morning, yesterday, last week, last year? Is that what the
non-Christian world waits for? Would it revolutionize their
lives?
Just as the only kind of salvation worth having is what
Jesus offers, so the only kind of Christianity worth living
and sharing is the kind Jesus Himself lives, moment by
moment-the kind He has always lived through the lives of
those who allow Him to.
Paralysis or Power?
In John's Gospel we learn about a certain man who had
been an invalid for thirty-eight years when Jesus asked if he
wanted to be made whole. The man heard Jesus say, "Rise
and walk," and at once he was healed and could step forward
in wholeness.
This passage means a great deal to me, particularly
because of a coincidence of detail with my own experience.
It took me thirty-eight years to understand the kind of
power Christ offers us for victory over sin. I was a boy of
thirteen when I first made public confession of Jesus Christ
as my Savior, but I continued as a spiritual invalid for
another twenty-five years, longing to be made whole, until
at age thirty-eight I heard the Lord telling me to "rise and
walk."
I'm convinced that many sincere, born-again believers
in the Lord Jesus Christ are in similar bondage. Their spiritual
life is an up-and-down experience-winning one day,
failing the next, confessing sins, then trying again. They
linger in miserable discouragement and defeat instead of
striding forward in newness of life.
The reason? They mistakenly think, as I did, that we
are to do what only God can do. They haven't become fully
aware of our Lord's wonderful offer.
What Jesus Offers
Jesus offers to set us free not only from the penalty of our
sin, but also from its power. Each of these two gifts is just as
great a miracle as the other; each is just as exclusively the
Lord's work; and each is offered on the same terms: We
accept only by letting Him do it all, as an outright gift.
Every Christian has accepted the first offer. But many
have failed to accept the second. Why?
Because they assume, as I did, that they themselves
must overcome sin's power. They believe their own effort
and will and determination-with Christ's help, of
course-is the way to victory. As long
as they mistakenly believe this, they're
as doomed to defeat as they would be
to eternal death if their salvation
depended on their own efforts.
Christ's offer to us here and now
is immediate and complete freedom
from the power of known sin. That's
what Paul meant when he said (in
Romans 8:2), "For the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law
of sin and death."
As we put ourselves unreservedly and completely under
Christ's mastery, keeping us from sin's power becomes fullyHis responsibility, even His duty (I say it reverently). He
pledges Himself to do this: "For sin shall not have dominion
over you, for you are not under law but under grace"
(Romans 6:14).
Don't misunderstand me; I'm not speaking of any mistaken
idea of sinless perfection. It isn't possible for anyone
to have a transaction with Christ that enables him to say
either "I'm without sin" or "I can never sin again." Rather,
the miracle of our victory over sin's power is made possible
by our Lord's continual supply of grace. Jesus says, "My
grace is sufficient for you" (2 Corinthians 12:9)-we don't
have to ask Him to make it sufficient; He simply assures us
that it's already so.
In this miraculous way, as you depend on the Holy
Spirit's work, victory is yours in Christ-and you can
rejoice in it.
No Thought About Door-Slamming
A friend of mine, a veteran missionary, once told me how
he and some fellow missionaries in a foreign field were discussing
how their daily lives were missing the characteristic
vitality of the early Christians described in the New
Testament. They didn't know why this was so; they only
knew they longed for something they didn't have.
They agreed to go away and meet together for
prayer-for days, if necessary-and lay the whole matter
before God and ask Him to supply their lack. As they did
this, God took them at their word. My friend came back a
new man, claiming Christ in His fullness as his victory.
Later he explained this experience to another missionary,
a high-spirited, high-tempered young woman. God
enabled her as well to see and claim the truth by faith.
A few months later she wrote my
veteran missionary friend a letter
about the continuing result. "I was
afraid it would not last," she wrote.
"But it has lasted, and oh, it is so
wonderful!" To illustrate, she mentioned
the native helpers who "used
to get on my nerves so," and she
reported, "Do you know that not
only for three months have I not
once slammed the door in the face of one of these . but I
haven't even wanted to!"
Now, to keep from slamming doors in people's faces is
no miracle. Any ordinary, unsaved person who's halfway
decent can do it by setting his teeth, using his will, and
keeping his hands behind his back. But to go for three
months without once wanting to-without once feeling
the angry surge of irritation or temper that makes you want
to release it in some outward, uncontrolled way-doesn't
your heart tell you that this indeed would be a miracle?
Surrender and Faith
What are the conditions for this victorious life?
Only two, and they are very simple: surrender and
faith. Or, as many like to express it, "Let go, and let God."
Some Christians haven't surrendered unconditionally
to the mastery of Jesus Christ. They have, as James
McConkey puts it, surrendered their sins to Christ, but not
their wills. Every habit of your life, every ambition, every
hope, every loved one, every possession, and yourself-He
must have all these if He's to make Himself not only your
Savior but your life.
Perhaps you made this surrender long ago, and have
been wondering why you didn't have the victory you
longed for. The reason is that while there's no victory without
surrender, there may be surrender without victory. If
we've "let go" but haven't yet "let God," we're sure to be
defeated . until by faith we depend on the fact that the
work of victory is wholly and exclusively God's.
The miracle of victory over sin's power is sustained and
continued in our lives only through moment-by-moment
faith in our Savior for His moment-by-moment provision.
And He Himself will give us that faith, and continue it
within us moment by moment.
Take Him at His Word
Our Lord has been waiting for you not to pray for victory,
but to praise Him for it-to simply take Him at His word
and say, "I thank You, Lord." Will you not accept His offer
of immediate and complete freedom from the power of
your known sins, on the same terms, and do it now? Then
you can be assured that Christ's kind of Christianity is yours
as well.
If there's anything in your life this moment that you
know you've been withholding from the Lord, won't you
surrender it to Him now? Tell Him you now turn over to
Him, for time and eternity, all that you have and all that
you are, for His complete mastery and use and disposal.
Then exercise your faith. Claim the whole blessed
miracle of the victorious life now, by speaking the following
sentence prayerfully and thoughtfully, realizing the tremendous
meaning of the words, and in your heart praising God
that they're true: "I know Jesus is meeting all my needs now,
because His grace is sufficient for me."
(Continues.)
