Transforming Power
"Let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarrelling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to His cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives." (Galatians 5:16-25)
As disciples of Jesus, we can try to live holy lives relying on our own strength, or we can allow the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us to change and transform us.
Holiness is not a standard too difficult for us to achieve if we follow the Holy Spirit's leading in every part of our lives.
Do not rely on your own strength, allow the Holy Spirit to work in you and through you, and let the power of the Holy Spirit change and transform you.
"My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)
"Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God." (Colossians 3:2-3)
Because of our union with Jesus, our lives have been transformed by God. If we have come by faith to Jesus, Jesus lives in us, He dwells in us, and we dwell in Him.
The way we live our lives needs to reflect the fact that in Christ, God's holiness is our holiness; and our lives need to demonstrate the fact that in Christ, we have already been made holy.
