My Entire Christian Life

The entire Christian life I will ever live is Jesus in me. The new essential fact about me is I am crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me.

Each day and moment by moment I must consider myself dead to sin which once inspired and governed my life and alive to God who now inspires and governs me through my eternal union to the Spirit of Christ.

Any attempt on my part to blend what was my old life inspired by sin with what now is my new life inspired by the life of God in Christ will only destroy my peace, stop my love and cause my soul to fall from the grace of Christ within.

I must identify continuously  and put off immediately the old things of my old life which no longer match my new life in Christ. Having begun once and forever my new life in Christ by the Spirit I must live once and forever by the Spirit which is my new inspiration and freedom to love.

The only attention my old life deserves is the time it takes me to say to it when I hear it call from its grave is "I am dead to you and alive to God in Christ!"  The time my new life in Christ needs my attention is 24/7 and moment by moment. As I give Jesus in me by the Spirit my undivided attention He will reveal more and more of my entire Christian He is to me and through me.

"For to me to live is Christ" is not a fancy Christian motto I enjoy. It is the entire normal Christian life I live. It is same truth Jesus taught me when he called me to abide in Him as the true Vine who is my entire Christian life.

My entire Christian life already lives in me!  It is Jesus!
Your entire Christian life already lives in you!  It is Jesus!

Bud McCord

Abide International

Not Biblical Enough

The people who most resisted Jesus during his ministry were the Pharisees.  The Pharisees of Jesus’ day considered themselves to be the final word on all Biblical interpretation and practice.  Tragically, they were so fixated on teaching others the Scriptures they failed to be Biblical enough.

In a moment of confrontation Jesus clearly tells the Pharisees their Biblical search had not yielded the true Biblical goal.

And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form.  But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.  But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. 

 John 5:37-40

The Pharisees could not see that the Scriptures are all about Jesus.  The mark of all Bible teaching that is not Biblical enough is Jesus is missed  even though He is clearly revealed through the Scriptures.

To all who teach the Scriptures these words of Jesus in John 5 should give reason to be very careful. If our search of the Scriptures does not make us clearly see, hear, love and live Jesus then we are not Biblical enough.

No matter how passionate and authoritative a Bible teacher seems to be, listen carefully to see if the beginning and end of the teaching is Jesus.  Anything less than seeing, hearing, loving and living Jesus is just not Biblical enough.

 

Bud McCord

Abide International