GOD’S DESIRE FOR US
LIBERTY AND LOVE #39
Believers have to uphold a certain standard of godliness and purity in this world. God’s word is filled with warnings against rejecting the way of holiness and righteousness in this life. We should remember the desire of God always has to do with our being conformed to the image of his son. To meet God’s desire for our lives, several important considerations must be kept in mind.
First, we must trust in the name of Christ. The law of God has been kept to perfection by only one man—Jesus Christ. On your best day of law-keeping, you have not kept a fraction of God’s righteous requirements. Being saved on the basis of law means that we must be absolutely perfect all the time. “Wherefore he is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him, since he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” (Heb. 7:25). Notice that the apostle says that Jesus is able to save. This is what he is capable of doing. The angel said to Joseph, “Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). Inherent in his very name is the fact that he is able to save. “Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is no other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12). It is through the name of Jesus, and only through his name, that salvation is found.
We should learn to say the name of Jesus in our hearts and mean it. When his name is close to our hearts, when we realize that salvation is based on the power of his name and our faith in all that his name represents, then we understand why the “gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23).
He saves to the uttermost “those who come to God by him.” He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one “comes to the Father” except through him (John 14:6). It is Jesus “by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Rom. 5:2)
Learn to internalize the name of Jesus and rest your faith in the power of that name. All who are in Christ have the privilege of walking with God intimately, for we have been “baptized, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). Now we must continue to call on his name for every spiritual need, for everything in our lives. Everything you need to stand in a perfect relationship with God is found in the name of Jesus (Col. 1:28).
Second, there is no way we can earn salvation. Salvation is a free gift of God. You can only accept it. We do not keep the New Testament law as best we can in efforts to earn anything from God. The service he will accept from sinners is that which comes from a heart of thankfulness for the salvation he accomplished in his Son. His desire for us is that we trust entirely upon Christ’s work, not ours. Unless our works emanate from a heart of total reliance upon what Christ has done, they profit us nothing.
Third, God’s desire for our lives as his children can be summed up in one word: Christ. Jesus reveals God’s goal for our lives. It is a very ordered direction that God is taking us, and he has not withheld any information regarding his intention. Here it is: “For whom he did foreknow, he predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” (Rom. 8:29). If we are saved, there is a purpose for it. That purpose is to conform us to Christ. The image of Christ is the object and the destination for our lives.
