“For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it; and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions. But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus…
“I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ; but only, they kept hearing, ‘He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.’ And they were glorifying God because of me.” (Galatians 1:13-17,22-24 NASB1995)
We all have a past, don’t we? For all of us were born into sin, with sin natures, in the image of Adam, the first man God created, and the first man to sin against God. All of us have sinned and have fallen short of the glory (favor and approval) of God. So, in our flesh, not one of us is approved by God, for not one of us can do anything in ourselves to earn or to deserve our own salvation. In fact, even the faith to believe in Jesus is gifted to us by God, and it is persuaded of God, and it is empowered by God’s Spirit.
So Jesus Christ didn’t give his life up for us on that cross because of our greatness, or because we were so deserving of his love and grace, for we were not, not any of us! Even while we were yet sinners Christ died for the ungodly. But… when he died, he put our sins to death with him so that, by God-ordained faith in him, we will now die to sin and live for God in walks of obedience to his commands in holy living, guided by the Holy Spirit now living within us, and in surrender to God’s perfect will he has for our lives.
And this is not optional. It is not a mere suggestion. We cannot just profess faith in Jesus Christ with our lips and then continue to chart our own course, and to go our own way without regard for God’s will and purpose for our lives in sending Jesus Christ to that cross to die for the sins of the world. And this doesn’t mean that if we believe in Jesus that we will be perfect from then on. For we are still clay in the hands of the Potter (God), hopefully being made by God to be like Jesus, as we cooperate with God’s grace.
However, if our faith in Jesus Christ is from God, and not from human flesh, and so we have been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, we should no longer be living as slaves to sin, but as servants of righteousness. And this is not to say that we might not ever backslide (see Galatians 6:1; James 5:19-20; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22). But if we have wandered from the faith, we must repent of (turn from) our sin and follow our Lord in obedience from then on.
For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).
And God, who is rich in mercy, might take some of us who had failed him miserably, and he might turn us around, and he might point us in a new direction like he did with Paul (then Saul). For, God had planned for us, from even before we were born, that we would serve him with our lives in obedience to his commands and in taking the message of the gospel to the people of the world, and in ministering to the body of Christ the love of God, the grace of God, and God’s plan and purpose for all of our lives.
And even though we had a period of time in our lives where we failed God miserably, and we went the opposite direction of what he has planned for our lives, still he loved us enough, not only to restore us to a right relationship with him, but to use us to preach (to spread) the truth of the gospel to the people of the world so that many people will follow Jesus with their lives from this moment forward and never look back. And we do none of this for self-glory, but all for the glory and praise of God who rescued us.
[Matthew 5:13-16; Matthew 28:18-20; John 4:31-38; John 13:13-17; John 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18,42-47; Acts 26:18; Romans 10:14-15; Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 14:1-5; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:11-21; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:12-16; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20; 1 Peter 2:9,21; 1 John 2:6]
Jesus, Rescue Me
Based off of Romans 7:7-25 thru Romans 8:1-39
An Original Work / September 18, 2011
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Jesus, rescue me today.
Listen while I bow and pray.
I need Your help to obey You;
Live for You always.
Meet me in my hour of need, Lord,
As I pray to You.
Help me walk in fellowship, Lord,
Living in Your truth.
Jesus, how I long for You to
Change my heart anew.
Father, God, my heart’s desire
Is to live for You this hour
In Your Holy Spirit’s power
Living in me now.
Teach me to walk in Your love, Lord,
Guiding me each day.
Help me to show love and kindness
To the lost, I pray.
Father, teach me to love others
As You love always.
Holy Spirit come in pow’r.
Revive our hearts in this hour.
Change our hearts to be like You, Lord;
Live for You each day.
Help us to forsake our sins, Lord,
As we humbly pray.
Teach us how to live for You, Lord,
Obey You always.
Holy Spirit come in power,
Revive us today.
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All Because of God’s Amazing Grace
An Original Work / December 15, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
