The Simple Gospel
When I was seven years old, I heard the gospel clearly presented to me at a Vacation Bible School. The teacher explained that I was a sinner, and my sin separated me from our holy God. God, in His kindness, sent His Son to die on the cross for my sins and pay the price I couldn’t pay on my own. To have a relationship with God, I needed to believe in Jesus and accept Him into my heart. Hearing the truth of the simple gospel was all I needed to decide to follow Jesus that day.
At the very moment I confessed my sins and believed in Jesus (Romans 10:9-10), the Holy Spirit entered my heart. God is a triune God, meaning He consists of three persons who are unified, distinct, and equal. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all play different roles but act as one God. At seven years old, my life was forever changed. My sin was buried with Christ that Day. Because He rose from the grave conquering sin and death, I also was raised to new life in Christ for the rest of eternity. My life is hidden with Christ in God, meaning my relationship with God is eternally secure (Colossians 3:3-4).
Life with the Spirit
Since I have this new life in Christ, how should I live? Accepting Jesus into my heart at just seven years old means I struggle with a lot of sin post salvation. We live in a fallen, broken world where sin is still present all around us. I learned to seek the approval of man at a young age, and it is still something I wrestle with today. But the Holy Spirit has convicted me, guided me, and sanctified me.
As believers, the Holy Spirit lives in our hearts. How crazy is that truth? God loves us so much that He wants to dwell within us forever. Our bodies are called temples because they are the holy dwelling places of God (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). We are called to honor God with our bodies because He lives within us. Imagine taking God along with you to do something sinful. Friends, that is our reality if we have a relationship with God. He goes everywhere with us. He is inside of us, and we are inside of Him.
Choosing to Walk with the Spirit
Romans 8 is a beautiful depiction of what life in the Spirit looks like. Verses 15-17 encourage us to not fall back into the slavery of sin, but rather to live in light of our new citizenship as daughters of God. Of course, we will never be fully free from sin on this side of eternity, but we can choose to repent from sin and turn toward God. We can trust the Holy Spirit to reveal the sin in us, give us the resurrection power to turn from that sin, and transform us to look more like Jesus.
When I am tempted to fear man rather than God, I have a choice to make. Today, I am choosing to acknowledge that temptation, thank God for the Spirit’s conviction, and ask God for His help to turn from that sin completely. What’s true is that seeking approval from man will never satisfy me. Christ died for that sin on the cross and has set me free to live for Him instead. True satisfaction can only be found in Jesus, and we have access to Him today! So, let’s live as the children of God that we are, abiding with Christ, and walking according to the Spirit.
