Ephesians 5:8
You were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light
Ephesians 2:1-3 describes our nature before we came to Christ: "You were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air . . . and were by nature children of wrath." Before we became Christians our very nature was sin, and the result of our sin was death (separation from God). As such we served ourselves and Satan as a matter of course.But at salvation God changed our very essence; we became ". . . partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust" (2 Peter 1:4). You are no longer in the flesh; you are in Christ. You had a sinful nature before your conversion, but now you are a partaker of Christ's divine nature. You are neither eternal nor divine, but you are eternally united with Christ's divinity. Paul said it this way: "You were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light" (Ephesians 5:8); "Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature" (2 Corinthians 5:17). In the face of Satan's accusations that we are no different, we must believe and live in harmony with the fact that we are eternally different in Christ.The New Testament refers to the person you were before you received Christ as your old self ( old man in the King James Version ). At salvation your old self, which was motivated to live independently of God and was therefore characterized by sin, died (Romans 6:6), and your new self, motivated by your new identity in Christ and characterized by dependence on God, came to life (Galatians 2:20).Your old self had to die in order to sever your relationship with sin which dominated it. Being a new person doesn't mean that you are sinless (1 John 1:8). But since your old self has been crucified and buried with Christ, you no longer need to sin (1 John 2:1). You sin when you choose to act independently of God.Prayer:Lord, thank You for the hope that comes from knowing that my old self is dead and that I am now a new creature in Christ.
,BR
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Jesus began his ministry here on earth by choosing twelve disciples.Jesus is still calling disciples. He wants you to know the story of his life so you will believe it, and put your trust in him as savior.It is not by chance that you have read his story.It is not an accident that you may at this very moment be considering the claims he made to be the Son of God.Can you see yourself as one of the characters in the story of Jesus?Jesus wants you to realize that just as Lazarus was physically dead, so you also are spiritually dead in your sins.He wants you to know that he stands ready to call you out of that place of death and give you real life.Jesus wants you to see yourself as the man born blind. He stands ready to give you true sight.Jesus wants you to see the deeper meaning of why he miraculously fed the five thousand people - that is, that he is the true bread of life.He wants you to believe in him so that you will never be hungry or thirsty again.Jesus wants you to look at the cross on which he was crucified and ask the question. "Was it for me, Jesus, that you hung there and died? Was it my sins that caused you all that pain?"Jesus wants you to consider the empty tomb and ask yourself another simple question: "Who but God has the power to rise from the dead?"The same God who came to earth and lived the sinless life that you could never live, and die the death that you deserved to die, wants more from you than just to consider his story. He has arranged this encounter so that you might believe in him and have eternal life.