Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
We know that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16). But do you really believe that Good News? Or deep in your heart do you actually resist the goodness of that News and tend to believe the Bad News of a distorted "works gospel"? Do you unconsciously miss the joy of salvation "in Christ"?
Well, here's a test you can take. In Paul's Letter to the Galatians, chapter 5, verses 16 and 17, he says: "Walk in the [Holy] Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the [Holy] Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish."
Here's the question: What are those "things that you do not do"? Good things? Or bad things?
The usual answer is, "Good things." People think of Romans 7:15: "What I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do." But they forget: in Galatians Paul is saying, Go for a walk with the Holy Spirit and let Him hold you by the hand (cf. Isa. 41:10-13; yes, He has promised to hold your hand!), and this is the reason why you "do not do the [evil] things that you wish." Therefore, those "things that you do not do" are not the good things! They are the bad things that your sinful nature is always trying to prompt you to do.
This "test" reveals that the true Gospel is great Good News. "The love [agape] of Christ constrains us" (2 Cor. 5:14). The Lord does not force you, but His agape love motivates you. You discover that now your heart is changed so that what you once loved (that leads to death) you now hate, and what you once couldn't stand, you now love! If you believe John 3:16!
Again, we pray what the distraught father did when he cried out, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief" (Mark 9:24). We can never perish while we pray that prayer.
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 18, 2007.
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