We did not fight for Christ and win him;neither did we study the truth and discover him,but it says "as ye have received him".This hinders us from any boasting of what we have done,for all we did is receive Him.But having received the gift of God and having become partakers of his converting grace, then we have the devine obligation to live a life worthy of the gift we claim to have accepted.
Remember when you first accepted Christ and the obstacles that stood in the way of your believing. First there was your vileness and guilt;making it impossible to believe that the promise of pardon and love could come to such a sinner as you were.Then there was the sense of weakness and death:feeling you didn't have the power to be able to surrender your will and to trust God's will for your life. And then there was the future;the fear you felt becoming a disiciple of Jesus,feeling unable to maintain a faithfulness to this new life,expecting to be unfaithful and fall .These were mountains in your way,but with the faith the size of a mustard seed they were removed.Simply by believing the word of God,the word which compelled you to believe as faith comes by hearing.You believed in the mist of the guilt from your past;the weakness of the present, and the unfaithfulness in the future,you believe the promise that Jesus would accept and save you,on that word you continue to hold on, even when the journey gets rough.
Apply this, your experience in coming to Jesus,to the abiding in him.By faith you became a partaker of the intial grace;by that same faith you can enjoy the continuous grace of abiding in Him.Let that fire and determination which drove you to Christ ,keep you in your journey with Him."as ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him".You received him by faith,so walk with him by faith.
We come to Jesus in faith ,and by faith we must walk with him.
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