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Steps to Jesus
More than this, Christ changes our hearts. He lives in our hearts
by faith. We are to keep Him in our hearts by faith and let Him guide
all our choices. As long as we do this, He will work in us and we
will do what pleases Him. We may then say, “This life that I live
now, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave his
life for me.”
Galatians 2:20
.
Jesus said to His disciples, “The words you will speak will not
be yours; they will come from the Spirit of your Father speaking
through you.”
Matthew 10:20
. Then, with Christ working in us, we
will act as He would act and do His good works. Our lives will show
obedience, the works of righteousness.
So you see, we have nothing to be proud of and no reason to
praise ourselves. Our only hope is in the righteousness of Christ,
which God counts as ours, and in that righteousness His Spirit works
out in us and through us.
We should understand the true meaning of faith. When we
believe what we already know is true, we are not showing faith. We
know God lives. We believe in His power. We know His Word is
true. Even Satan and his angels know and believe these things. The
Bible says that “the devils also believe, and tremble.”
James 2:19
,
[62]
KJV. But this is not faith.
We have faith when we not only believe God’s Word but ask
Him to guide all our choices. We show our faith when we give our
hearts to Him and love Him. This kind of faith works by love and
makes us pure. It changes us until we become like Him.
If our hearts have not been made new by God, we fight against
God’s law and do not obey it. But our new hearts delight in the holy
law. We can say with David, “How I love your law! I think about
it all day long.”
Psalm 119:97
. And the righteousness of the law
is worked into the lives of people who “live in union with Christ.”
Romans 8:1
.
Some people know that God has pardoned their sins, and they
really want to be His children. But they know that their characters
are not perfect and their lives have many faults. Because of this they
doubt that the Holy Spirit has made their hearts new.
To such people I would say, “Do not be discouraged and lose
hope. We shall often have to bow down and weep at the feet of Jesus
because we make mistakes and are not perfect. Yet we are not to