"Mighty In God"
I can remember a time in my life when I struggled greatly with thoughts about whether or not I was saved. I can still recall the confusion and feelings of anguish of simply not knowing and believing my forgiveness hinged on every detail of my life - there was such condemnation and guilt.
Do you struggle from time to time with feelings of unworthiness? Do you ever doubt whether your life is really pleasing to God and feel that it's not? For example, what about your prayer life - do you ever feel guilty or condemned about not praying enough? The truth is, if you're like me, you too struggle from time to time in some area of your life with feelings of unworthiness or doubt in relation to God and His acceptance of you.
Gods Word has a lot to say about this subject. As a matter of fact, other than the message of salvation itself, this particular topic is the subject of conversation as much or more than any other. Paul and other writers call it "the Law". Paul says that living under the Law is when we try to measure our acceptance with God by what we do or don't do. It's me doing certain things and enough of them which draws me closer to God and then measuring myself by how well and how much I did or did not do those things.
In fact, the whole letter to the church at Galatia is centered around this theme and it is heavily sprinkled in all the other letters as well. In summarizing Paul's words to the Galatian church, he is teaching them that when you live your life that it will cause you to live under the dominion of sin but when you live under grace you will experience the power and freedom of the Holy Spirit.
Recognize a couple of things...
1. The Law is when you think and live like what you do and how much good you do determines whether or not God accepts you and blesses you.
2. The Word of God teaches that "the Law" is the strength of sin. In other words, as long as you live your life that way, you will consistently experience the defeat of sin dominating you.
3. Grace is Gods answer to the power of sin in our lives. Paul writes in Romans 6, "Sin shall not have power over you, for you are not under the law but under grace."
We will pick up here next time. You are probably wondering how you begin to live under grace and not under the law so you can experience the freedom and power of the Holy Spirit in your life. We will get there soon.
