Does walking with Christ benefit us? Or is it all about him?
Walking with Christ is a marriage. In a good marriage, both people benefit.
We’ve seen the comical pictures of couples who have been married so long they begin to look like one another. In a recent magazine article, a couple married over 50 years told of how their clothing ensembles always include one item made of the same fabric. If her skirt is flowered, his tie is of the same material.
We should be like that with God. If the Word tells us something about him, the world should see it reflected in us.
That reflection of him in us is what he wants us to show to the world.
In this final article in our series on Salvation by Degree, we will look at our renewal in Christ. What does he want us to become?
Stage Five – Renewal:
Turn first to Matthew 16:26. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?”
God wants our thinking to be renewed. If we continue to see the world’s values instead of God’s values, how will we ever become a reflection of him?
He gives us the way to make this change. Romans 6:4 tells us that we were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
When we have become new in him, the old man is washed away. We lose the desire to gain the world, and we see God’s kingdom as our aspiration.
We no longer have to worry about going astray, because the Word gives us a benchmark to live by. Look in 1 John 2:3. He tells us that by this we can be confident that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
When we walk with God, his Word will be our yardstick. We will want to give 100% of ourselves to him, because we will have the confidence that he is giving 100% of himself to us.
Walking with God in a new relationship is a marriage in the spirit. Just like any marriage, if we want it to be successful, we have to follow the words we read in 2 Timothy 2:15. “Do your best to do all God asks of you, so that you do not have to be ashamed; teach others the same truth you have been shown.”
If we follow God’s plan, we will become like him, and the world will see that in us. Then they will have the opportunity to know the fullness of life in Jesus.
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