Read Ephesians 1:1-23. Ephesians 1:1 To the saints… faithful in Christ Jesus.
The moment you commit yourself to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, God looks upon you as a saint. Unfortunately, not all of us act like saints! Obviously there is a good deal of refining to be done in each of us, and the Spirit of God addresses Himself to this need on a continual basis.
I have a new relationship. What results will follow? When I am In Christ, the Holy Spirit positions me where He can use me in a special way. He may take my casual words, or my unplanned attitude, or just the illusive value of my personality and use them for God’s glory—all because of this dynamic relationship with Christ that is brought about through the Holy Spirit’s dwelling within. I have a new incentive. What does God want us, His children, to be?
• Holy. In His essential character God is holy. He wants us to partake of His nature, to be like Him—to the extent that humankind can share that likeness. • Without blame. God foresaw the fall and ruination of the human race and He made righteous provision for our redemption and freedom from the blame we justly earned. • In love. God envisioned us not as robots, mechanically wound up to do this and that, but as members of a close-knit family, a body bound together by love.
I am going to accomplish this, He must have said, through My dear Son Jesus Christ. And He did! It is by this work of God on our behalf—totally apart from any worthiness in us—that we believers in His Son are constituted the body of Christ and are welcomed into that blessed fellowship.
This devotional was written by Dr. Robert A. Cook. You can subscribe to his free email articles and listen to his Spirit-filled 15-minute messages at www.walkwiththeking.org. Used with written permission.
