Stop Trying, Start Trusting
Have you ever felt like it’s hard to live the Christian life or have you heard someone say that being a Christian is hard? It’s hard not to live the Christian life. Proverbs 13:15 says that the way of the transgressor is hard. Often when someone speaks about the Christian life being hard, they’re not thinking of the spiritual battles we face in a fallen world. Rather, they see the Christian life as a set of rules that feel restrictive to them. This is a distorted view of Christianity and it’s evidence that you may possess a deficient faith. When you know the love of Christ, you will not view God’s will as a restriction for your life, but as an expression of His best for your life.
Moreover, the reason you may feel like it’s hard to live the Christian life is because you’ve been trying to live it in your own strength. But the truth is that no matter how hard we try, it’s impossible to live the Christian life. Only one person has ever lived the Christian life and His name is Jesus. This life is not about us trying harder, but about learning to trust Jesus so that He lives His life through us.
Christ’s death sets us free from the legal penalty of our sin. The apostle Paul testified: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
Regarding his identification with Christ that came by faith, he said, “I have been crucified with Christ…” Jesus was crucified on a cross to pay our sin debt so that we could be free from the legal penalty of violating God’s law (Galatians 2:16). The law declares us legally guilty before God and deserving of God’s justifiable punishment. But God, in His grace and mercy, made a way for guilty sinners to be forgiven of their sin. Christ died as our substitute.
The Apostle Peter put it this way: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit” (1 Peter 3:18). In this verse, he points to Christ as the One who took our place of judgment on the cross. And He did so to bring us to God. Peter speaks of both redemption from sin and reconciliation to God.
As Leon Morris explained, “Redemption is substitutionary, for it means that Christ paid that price that we could not pay, paid it in our place and we go free. Christ took our legal liability, took it in our stead. Reconciliation means the making of people to be one by the taking away of the cause of hostility. In this case, the cause is sin, and Christ removed that cause for us.”
So when we recognize that we our guilty sinners before a Holy God and place our faith in Jesus, who paid our sin debt, He saves us. To be saved from our sin means more than escaping the penalty of sin. It means that we who were dead in sin and separated from God, are made alive unto God, are brought near to God, and are reconciled to God the Father so that we could enjoy a relationship with Him. When we place our faith in Christ as Savior and Lord, we are joined to Christ through the Spirit and appropriate the spiritual benefits of both the death of Christ and His resurrection.
Christ’s resurrection sets us free to live in the power of the Spirit. After explaining that believers are crucified with Christ, which means that we died with Christ who absorbed our sin debt, Paul continues: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” If you’re a believer, Christ, in the person of the Holy Spirit, has taken up residence in your body (Romans 8:9-10). Paul declared in verse 20, "Christ…lives in me." And if you’re saved, the same is true of you, Christ lives in you. You have been regenerated—made alive by the Holy Spirit. Through the Spirit, Christ lives in us and we live in Him (1 Corinthians 12:13; Romans 6:3-4).
All who have received Jesus by faith as Savior and Lord are identified with Christ in all that He has accomplished. We are joined to Christ in His death and resurrection. This vital spiritual union with Him is not only the basis of our salvation, but also the basis of our sanctification. That is to say, our union with Christ-crucified not only saves us from our sin; our union with the risen Christ is the means whereby we walk in the newness of life.
It seems that many professing Christians today understand that salvation comes by faith alone in Christ alone. But when it comes to their sanctification, which is the ongoing process of becoming more like Christ, they live as if it all depends on them. Remember, salvation is more than a ticket to heaven. Salvation is to know, as Paul knew, Christ lives in me. Paul, through the Spirit, was made new on the inside and thus was being changed day by day to live in conformity to the will and ways of Christ. Therefore, when it came to living for God, he declared, “It is no longer I who live…”
As Will Pound also explains: “This new life brought about a change in Paul’s regard for himself. He can say, ‘I no longer live.’ The self-righteous, self-centered legalistic Paul died. His death with Christ ended Paul’s enthronement of self, and he surrendered the throne of his life to Jesus Christ. Paul stresses again and again throughout his writings that he does not live the Christian life in his own strength. The risen Christ Himself took up His residence in Paul’s heart. The apostle proclaimed "not I but Christ lives in me." This became the source, the motivation and goal of his life. "Not I, but Christ!"
When you know Christ as your Savior, you know that the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus is more than a past event or a future hope; it is a present reality. Because Christ lives in you, you no longer need to depend on self to accomplish God’s will and purpose for your life. You can depend on Christ to work in you to give you both the passion and the power to live the life you were meant to have.
Christ’s life sets us free from the languishing prison of self. Paul continues: “And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). When Paul said in the previous sentence that “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me,” he’s not saying that we have no role to play in living the Christian life. As Will Pound also explained, “Paul would not give us the idea that Christ operates automatically in a believer’s life. He is not a robot. The Christian life is a matter of living the new life "by faith in the Son of God." It is then faith and not works or legal compliance that releases God’s [resurrection] power to live a Christian life.”
What is genuine faith and how do you obtain it? Years ago I memorized the following helpful outline on faith from Adrian Rogers that has helped me tremendously.
Do you feel it’s hard to live the Christian life? The reason you may find it hard could be that you’ve not come to saving faith in Jesus. You’re trying to earn salvation by works, instead of receiving the salvation that Christ provided on the cross by grace through faith. Or perhaps you have placed your faith in Christ as Lord and Savior, but when it comes to living the Christian life you’ve been leaning on self instead of on Jesus. You’ve been trying hard instead of trusting Him.
Stop trying and start trusting. Seek daily to grow your faith in the love of Jesus through the word, through prayer, and in community with other believers so that you die to self-reliance and experience Christ’s resurrection power. Trust His loving will for your life and pray persistently to fulfill it to the glory of His name.
In your service,
Pastor Marco
Moreover, the reason you may feel like it’s hard to live the Christian life is because you’ve been trying to live it in your own strength. But the truth is that no matter how hard we try, it’s impossible to live the Christian life. Only one person has ever lived the Christian life and His name is Jesus. This life is not about us trying harder, but about learning to trust Jesus so that He lives His life through us.
Christ’s death sets us free from the legal penalty of our sin. The apostle Paul testified: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
Regarding his identification with Christ that came by faith, he said, “I have been crucified with Christ…” Jesus was crucified on a cross to pay our sin debt so that we could be free from the legal penalty of violating God’s law (Galatians 2:16). The law declares us legally guilty before God and deserving of God’s justifiable punishment. But God, in His grace and mercy, made a way for guilty sinners to be forgiven of their sin. Christ died as our substitute.
The Apostle Peter put it this way: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit” (1 Peter 3:18). In this verse, he points to Christ as the One who took our place of judgment on the cross. And He did so to bring us to God. Peter speaks of both redemption from sin and reconciliation to God.
As Leon Morris explained, “Redemption is substitutionary, for it means that Christ paid that price that we could not pay, paid it in our place and we go free. Christ took our legal liability, took it in our stead. Reconciliation means the making of people to be one by the taking away of the cause of hostility. In this case, the cause is sin, and Christ removed that cause for us.”
So when we recognize that we our guilty sinners before a Holy God and place our faith in Jesus, who paid our sin debt, He saves us. To be saved from our sin means more than escaping the penalty of sin. It means that we who were dead in sin and separated from God, are made alive unto God, are brought near to God, and are reconciled to God the Father so that we could enjoy a relationship with Him. When we place our faith in Christ as Savior and Lord, we are joined to Christ through the Spirit and appropriate the spiritual benefits of both the death of Christ and His resurrection.
Christ’s resurrection sets us free to live in the power of the Spirit. After explaining that believers are crucified with Christ, which means that we died with Christ who absorbed our sin debt, Paul continues: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” If you’re a believer, Christ, in the person of the Holy Spirit, has taken up residence in your body (Romans 8:9-10). Paul declared in verse 20, "Christ…lives in me." And if you’re saved, the same is true of you, Christ lives in you. You have been regenerated—made alive by the Holy Spirit. Through the Spirit, Christ lives in us and we live in Him (1 Corinthians 12:13; Romans 6:3-4).
All who have received Jesus by faith as Savior and Lord are identified with Christ in all that He has accomplished. We are joined to Christ in His death and resurrection. This vital spiritual union with Him is not only the basis of our salvation, but also the basis of our sanctification. That is to say, our union with Christ-crucified not only saves us from our sin; our union with the risen Christ is the means whereby we walk in the newness of life.
It seems that many professing Christians today understand that salvation comes by faith alone in Christ alone. But when it comes to their sanctification, which is the ongoing process of becoming more like Christ, they live as if it all depends on them. Remember, salvation is more than a ticket to heaven. Salvation is to know, as Paul knew, Christ lives in me. Paul, through the Spirit, was made new on the inside and thus was being changed day by day to live in conformity to the will and ways of Christ. Therefore, when it came to living for God, he declared, “It is no longer I who live…”
As Will Pound also explains: “This new life brought about a change in Paul’s regard for himself. He can say, ‘I no longer live.’ The self-righteous, self-centered legalistic Paul died. His death with Christ ended Paul’s enthronement of self, and he surrendered the throne of his life to Jesus Christ. Paul stresses again and again throughout his writings that he does not live the Christian life in his own strength. The risen Christ Himself took up His residence in Paul’s heart. The apostle proclaimed "not I but Christ lives in me." This became the source, the motivation and goal of his life. "Not I, but Christ!"
When you know Christ as your Savior, you know that the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus is more than a past event or a future hope; it is a present reality. Because Christ lives in you, you no longer need to depend on self to accomplish God’s will and purpose for your life. You can depend on Christ to work in you to give you both the passion and the power to live the life you were meant to have.
Christ’s life sets us free from the languishing prison of self. Paul continues: “And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). When Paul said in the previous sentence that “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me,” he’s not saying that we have no role to play in living the Christian life. As Will Pound also explained, “Paul would not give us the idea that Christ operates automatically in a believer’s life. He is not a robot. The Christian life is a matter of living the new life "by faith in the Son of God." It is then faith and not works or legal compliance that releases God’s [resurrection] power to live a Christian life.”
What is genuine faith and how do you obtain it? Years ago I memorized the following helpful outline on faith from Adrian Rogers that has helped me tremendously.
- First of all, the origin of faith is the word of God; therefore we must make time to hear God’s word, read God’s word and get it in our hearts.
- Secondly, the object of faith is God. Therefore, know Him. Faith is as good as its object. Don’t just read the bible to gain head knowledge, read it and pray it to encounter the living Christ.
- Thirdly, the objective of faith is the will of God. Therefore, obey Him. Christ’s resurrection power and presence will be manifested in you to fulfill His will for your life for your good and His glory. When we have a strong faith in God we not only trust His will for our lives but we will pray persistently for the strength to fulfill it.
- Lastly, the operation of faith is the work of God. Therefore, yield to the Spirit at work in you. Where God guides, He will provide. God is calling you. Step out in faith and obedience for God to use you to serve the cause of Christ. He promised that when you do, He will be with you and work in you with resurrection power to bless others through you.
Do you feel it’s hard to live the Christian life? The reason you may find it hard could be that you’ve not come to saving faith in Jesus. You’re trying to earn salvation by works, instead of receiving the salvation that Christ provided on the cross by grace through faith. Or perhaps you have placed your faith in Christ as Lord and Savior, but when it comes to living the Christian life you’ve been leaning on self instead of on Jesus. You’ve been trying hard instead of trusting Him.
Stop trying and start trusting. Seek daily to grow your faith in the love of Jesus through the word, through prayer, and in community with other believers so that you die to self-reliance and experience Christ’s resurrection power. Trust His loving will for your life and pray persistently to fulfill it to the glory of His name.
In your service,
Pastor Marco