Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13
Jesus said, “If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” Matthew 17:20
“Those who consecrate body, soul, and spirit to God, will constantly receive a new endowment of physical, mental, and spiritual power. The inexhaustible supplies of heaven are at their command. Christ gives them the breath of His own Spirit, the life of His own life. The Holy Spirit puts forth His highest energies to work in heart and mind. The grace of God enlarges and multiplies their faculties, and every perfection of the divine nature comes to their assistance in the work of saving souls. Through co-operation with Christ, they are made complete in Him, and in their human weakness they are enabled to do the deeds of Omnipotence.” –Gospel Workers, p. 112–113
The difficult part of our lifework is overcoming sin. And humanity alone it cannot achieve this. We need the power of God to unite with our human efforts, and then the miracle will happen.
“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18
Wonderful are the promises that God has given us. Not only will our human nature change slowly, but we will be given a new heart and we will be born again of the Spirit of God. Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3
When we are born again, we receive the power of a God to live a life without sin. “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” 1 John 3:9
People complain because they are lacking things that they want, but if The Lord is our shepherd, then we will not lack anything; all what we need will be provided. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. . . . Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.” Psalm 23: 1, 5. This means that we received more than what we expected.
With all the promises that God has given us, why are there still weak Christians? “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” John 1:12
This power that He has given us is greater than human power, even greater than the power of Satan. Paul writes, “For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.” 1 Corinthians 4:20
“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18
This power of God will change us into different people. “And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.” 1 Samuel 10:6. This is what it means to be born again.
When Joseph went out to see his brothers, they planned to kill him. “And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.” Genesis 37:18. But later their attitude changed completely. Now Judah offered himself to remain in prison instead of his youngest brother. He said, “Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren.” Genesis 44:33
Paul was persecuting Christians. He went from house to house to seek believers in Christ to bring them to prison and to death. But he changed completely into another person. Now he became the most ardent advocate of the new Christian faith. Peter denied the Lord three times, because he was afraid of suffering, but later he rejoiced that he could suffer for Jesus; he was ready to even die for Him.
Zacchaeus was a publican and he had gathered much riches to himself. But when he met Jesus, then he was not interested in earthly riches anymore, he quickly made a promise to give half of his goods to the poor.
These examples do not show the normal behaviour of people. They are the result of being born again. We change into a different person, and that person has Christlikeness. Paul writes, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20
This change in these men’s lives was the result of the power of God that came upon them. God will not give His divine power to a person who would use it selfishly, to gather riches to himself.
We have two examples in the Bible of completely different characters, and we must decide which one appeals more to us. The first one is Lamech, “And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.” Genesis 4:23–24
The second character is of Christ. “I gave my back to the smiters, and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not My face from shame and spitting.” Isaiah 50:6. This second character appeals to very few people; even professed Christians turn away from it.
Jesus spoke of another example of a rich man whose ground brought forth a great harvest. “And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:19–21
Only very few people can say, “I can do all things.” And the reason for it is sin. Sin separates us from God. “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.” Luke 16:10
The smallest sin we can think of takes the power of God away from us, if we do it knowingly. And without the power of God we are not able to resist the greater temptations.
“The moment the eye is turned from Jesus, darkness is seen, darkness is felt, for Jesus only is light and life and peace and assurance forever.” –That I May Know Him, p. 190
If we turn our eyes from Jesus to look at vanity, our light turns to darkness. If we neglect to pray for one hour we can fall into sin. “No man is safe for a day or an hour without prayer.” –The Great Controversy, p. 530
The freedom from sin is Christ’s righteousness and with this nothing is impossible to us; we can do all things. We have become different people, and the work of God becomes most important in our lives, and our own welfare becomes secondary. May the Lord help us all to be conquerors in His power is my prayer for all of us.
Timo Martin