"Proceed"

     Whatever happened in the first blessed moment of our salvation must continue to happen as we journey upon the path of righteousness that proceeds from our new birth in the Lord Jesus Christ.

     "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him" (Colossians 2:6).

    Salvation involves the realization that Christ is the Son of God who can be and do for us that which we cannot be and do for ourselves.  The light of God shines by His Spirit, His Word, and His church, revealing both the glory of the Lord Jesus and our sinfulness.  He is and He can.  We are not and we cannot.  Upon this basis, we trust that the Savior will be and do for us that which we cannot be and do for ourselves.  We bow upon the knees of our heart to humbly acknowledge the Truth and to receive the grace that alone can save us, the grace of the crucified, risen, and ascended Lord Jesus.  

   "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit, which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior; that being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (Titus 3:5-7).

    This same freely given bestowal of Divine goodness provides the power for living the Christian life in this day.  Again, "as ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him".  The perfection of Christ's character, nature, and way must be revealed in us as we acknowledge that despite our initial reception of grace, we remain "weak in Him" (II Corinthians 13:4).  We are forever the dependent party in the relationship, deferring to Christ as the power, the enabler, and the Life of our lives.  He is and He can.  We are not and we cannot.  But we are and we can in Him, and through Him.  "Without Me, ye can do nothing… I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (John 15:5).  Thus, we proceed as we began, "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2). 

    The Apostle Paul concentrated the essence of such grace in his joyous Galatians 2:20 acclamation:

     "I am crucified with Christ" - Paul is dead and gone.  

     "Nevertheless, I live" - somehow Paul returns, alive!  

     "Yet not I" - the Apostle departs again.

     "But Christ liveth in me" - As we might expect, the Lord Jesus supplies His saving grace of life, being and doing for Paul that which Paul cannot be and do for himself.  

     "And the life I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" - Paul returns!  He lives, but as a "new man, created in righteousness and true holiness" who walks in faithfulness by the presence and power of his Savior - "By the grace of God I am what I am" (Ephesians 4:24; I Corinthians 15:10).

    We continue as we began, or we founder on the rocks of futility in seeking to faithfully walk with God.  Christ serves as the Savior unto godliness just as He served as our Savior from sin-dominated lostness.  Yet again, "as ye have therefore received Christ Jesus, so walk ye in Him"…

"Rooted and built up in Him, stablished in the faith as ye have been taught, abounding with thanksgiving."

(Colossians 2:7)

Weekly Memory Verse

    In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.

(Psalm 94:19)