The key to living a victorious life is to know who you are in the Lord Jesus Christ. The behaviour passages are the Bible verses that are most thumbed in a Bible. God does not work from the outside in, he works from the inside out. You are not going to purify the water by painting the pump.

The Elephant is trained to believe that the stake that ties him to the ground will prevent him from going where he wants. This is because he was trained when young with an unmoveable chain that he could not move. Now the trainer can use a much smaller stake and chain because the elephant believes there is nothing it can do. The perception is not true, but they believe it to be true. Many Christians are like this today. If God says something is true than it must be so if you believe it to not be true.

1. You need to recognise your righteousness (vs. 1)

If you are in Christ Jesus you are a saint. There are either saints or aints! Nobody is half-saved. Real humility is accepting what God says about you. Some Christians resist the idea that they are saints. What right do you have to say you are no good? If you are not what you ought to be then why do you not get right? We are saints of God. You may not believe Romans 4:4-8. God puts righteousness on your account. We are saved by grace through faith and not of ourselves. Is there anyone who has not sinned before they became a Christian or will not sin after becoming a Christian? Until you see who you are; you will not begin to behave as you ought to. Have you confessed your sins? Have you confessed your righteousness? To have a well balanced relationship then you need to recognise the imputed righteousness that you have received.

2. You need to rely on your resources (vs. 3)

God has given you everything to live the Christian life. According to this verse you have all the faith, wisdom, love that you need. The problem is that you do not see yourself as God sees you. God does not ask anything of you that he has not already given you. See 2 Peter 1:3. The second blessing is understanding what you received in the first blessing! You received everything you needed when you got saved. God does not give in half measures.

3. You need to rest in your relationship (vs. 6)

You need to accept that God sees you in the Lord Jesus. We have this feeling of rejection. Why do we have it? It is part of the human nature since the Garden of Eden. We spend most of our time looking for acceptance. Many Christians are working hard to make God love them. He has already accepted you so stop working at it! God does not change you in order that he may love you. He loves you in order that he may change you. God already loves me, even though I am imperfect. I need to recognise my righteousness, my resources and relationship. Christ is the way to holiness – there is no way of me working myself to holiness.

Categories: Ephesians