"I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain." Galations 2:21. Paul refused to overlook or ignore all that God had done or him in the cross. He knew that REAL life meant Christ living out His life within him. Paul would never try to love on his own,, in his own strength, or by his own legalistic righteousness, because that would mean Christ died in vain.
That last phrase in this verse is a crucial one for all of us. If you don't want the cross to be emptied of its meaning and power in your life, if you want everything God intends you to be because of the cross, then let all that God accomplished in the cross have full effect in your life. Don't set aside what God has done and try to live apart from full dependence on the living Christ.
When Paul stated in 2 Corinthians that anyone in Christ is a "new creation", with all things becoming new in their lives, the newness he referred to was the living presence of Christ Himself. That's what's new (and stays new) in our lives when we live by the cross.
You now have Christ living out the newness of His life in you. He's not only cleansing you from sin, guarding you from sin, and giving you victory over sin, but He's also filling you with LIFE. Don't let anybody tell you that the life of holiness if drab, boring, and lifeless. It is not. How could it be? It's full of the complete, abundant, overflowing life of God. It is full of joy. It is full of victory. It is full of promise and hope. As you follow the way of the cross, you'll see things you've never seen and hear things you've never heard."
Taken from "Experiencing the Cross' by Henry T. Blackaby
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