In the age of mobile devices, downloads have become part of our everyday lives. I download television shows to my iPad before a trip out of town. I download music to my phone that I enjoy hearing over and over. I download family photos from our son-in-law photographer. I download articles about quantum physics for later reading.
But here is a “download” that you may not have thought about. It is the greatest download in the history of the world.
When you believed the gospel message of Jesus Christ … whoosh … the greatest download possible landed directly in your inbox. The life of Jesus Christ, complete with the character of Christ and the love of Christ, was deposited right inside you. Jesus promised it and God did it, just as He promised. Christ came to live in you by His Spirit.
We have developed so many techniques to address sin in our lives through various disciplines and accountability groups and so on. And these can be helpful. But the power to continue in righteous living will never come from self-discipline and will power. It will never come from trying to set up controls, either internal or external. The power will only come through a supernatural infusion of the life of Christ in us.
The download of the life of Christ in you is the lasting power to live the Christian life with victory and peace. Victory because grace gives us power over sin (Romans 6:14), teaching us to turn away from sin (Titus 2:11-12). And peace because your striving to manage your sin is over. We have peace because Christ removed the guilt, shame, and condemnation of our sin. We are free to walk in the new self, created in righteousness (Ephesians 4:24).
Does that mean we never sin? No, not at all. And I have written many times about our growing up in Christ and how we learn to walk according to our new identity. But that topic is for other posts.
For today, just ask yourself what this would look like in your present situation. “What if the download of the life of Christ in you is the only reason you behave?”
