The call to good works is first of all determined not by what we can do, but rather by what God has already done. Easter is the perfect time to reexamine this truth and unite our efforts in service to God with the completed work of Jesus.
- What God has done TO us
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
- What God has done THROUGH Jesus
2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
- What God has done FOR us
3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh,
- What God does IN us
4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Conclusion:
- What Jesus has done has given you hope and motivation
- What the Holy Spirit has done has freed you from sin
- What God has done has enabled you to do good
Application:
- Be honest about the problem
- Make sure you are in Christ
- Walk in the Spirit by trusting in God and follow a risen Savior
Romans 6:23
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 6:6-10
“For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.”
Galatians 2:20-21
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
Ephesians 2:6-10
“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”