"If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed" (John 8:36, KJV).
A dedicated, but defeated, young missionary returned from the field devastated because of his failure; first, to live the Christian life; and second, to introduce others to the Savior. He came to my office for counsel.
I explained to him that the Christian life is simply a matter of surrendering our lives to the risen Christ and appropriating the fullness of God's Holy Spirit by faith. "Relax," I said. "Let the Lord Jesus Christ live and love through you. Let Him seek and save the lost through your life."
He became very impatient with me. "You dilute and distort the gospel," he insisted. "It really costs to serve Jesus. I have made great sacrifices on the mission field. I have worked day and night. I struggled. It has cost me my health - though I am prepared to die for Christ - but you make it too easy, and I cannot accept what your are saying." He left my office in anger.
Later he called for another appointment, saying, "I don't agree with you, but there's a quality in your life that I want for myself, and I'd like to talk further."
Again I explained, "The just shall live by faith. All the supernatural resources of God are available to us by faith, not by our sacrifice and good works - though good works must follow faith, for faith without works is dead."
As we talked, his attitude began to change. Then some days later I received a letter filled with praise, worship and adoration to God as he described the miracle that had taken place in his life. He had discovered the liberating truth of the principle that God's grace is available to us by faith. The Christian life is supernatural. No individual is capable of living it apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus explains it in John 15:4,5: "As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in Me. I am the vine, ye are the branches...without Me ye can do nothing."
It is His supernatural life, in all of its resurrection power, released through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, that enables us to live supernatural lives for the glory of God. Only then can we be free, for the Son alone can liberate us.
Today's Action Point
By faith, I shall act upon my rights as a child of God and claim the supernatural power of the Son of God. Knowing that He has already set me free, through His death and resurrection, I am confident that He will enable me to experience that freedom, moment by moment, so that I may live the supernatural life to which I have been called.
