Today’s Scripture: Psalm 119:139

“My zeal consumes me.”

If God’s favor comes to us only on the basis of Christ’s merits, is there any place in the Christian life for the spiritual disciplines, obedience to God, and sacrificial service to him?

Absolutely! There’s no doubt Paul was just as diligent and zealous, probably more so, after he trusted Christ as he was before. We have only to read his own words: “one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).

Note the intense expressions Paul used: “straining forward” and “press on.” The first is a graphic picture of a runner straining nerve and muscle to cross the finish line. The phrase “press on” has the idea of vigorous pursuit.

There’s a direct correlation between faith in the righteousness of Christ and zeal in the cause of Christ. The more a person counts as loss his own righteousness and lays hold by faith of the righteousness of Christ, the more he’ll be motivated to live and work for Christ.

Let me ask you two questions: are you trusting in the righteousness of Christ alone as the basis of your right standing with God, or are you still depending on your religious performance, even to a small degree? And if you’ve clearly trusted in Christ alone for your salvation, are you still clinging to the idea that you must now earn God’s favor in this life by your own performance?

May we clearly see that in the unsearchable riches of Christ and in right standing with God that comes from those riches, we have both the assurance of eternal life and God’s favor in this life.

https://www.navigators.org/Home