◄ What Does 1 John 2:3 Mean? ►

Sinners are saved from the penalty of sin by God's grace, once and for all, through trusting in the death, burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ for salvation, but believers must mature in the faith and continue the process of ongoing salvation. This ongoing salvation process, or sanctification, happens moment by moment, as the life on Christ within, saves us from the power of sin in our lives. And this is a lifelong process.

Since we have been justified by Christ's blood, accepted in the Beloved, and been made children of God, how much more shall we be saved from the power of sin by means of Christ's own resurrected life within? How important it is that believers continue to be sanctified by the resurrected life of Christ Jesus our Lord?

And we mature in the faith, grow in grace, and learn of Christ, by depending upon the light of His life within, obeying His commands to love as He loved us, and by keeping His Word so that His love might be perfected in us. And as we continue to walk through life in the way that Christ walked, we will be growing in spirit, in truth, and in willing submission to His Father in heaven.

To keep Christ's commands is to obediently submit our new-life-in-Him to the leading and guidance of God's indwelling Holy Spirit. And we can model our lives on the life of Christ Himself, as He obediently submitted His earthly life into the safekeeping of His Father in heaven, for He only said and did those things that He heard from above.

As maturing believers, we can only go through God's training programme of ongoing sanctification successfully, as we learn obedience by the things that we suffer and as we willingly submit to the deep work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And only then, in His power and strength, we may learn to walk in the light, to grow in grace, to mature in the faith, to love as Christ loved, and to enjoy unbroken fellowship with our Father in heaven.

Heavenly Father, thank You that in Christ, both the penalty for my sin has been paid and the power of sin in my life has been broken, enabling me to live my life as Christ lived His, in spirit and truth. May I submit to Your Holy Spirit’s working within. May I live my life as Christ lived His life, in willing submission and total dependence upon You. May all I say and all I do be to Your praise and glory. In Jesus' name, AMEN.