Verse of the Day 9/22

Through the Bible - Isaiah 2-4, Galations 3          Good  morning, In yesterday's devotional we saw Paul's concern for the churches in Galatia, that they had turned from the true gospel to a different gospel.  We also recalled some of the words from his letter  to the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 15:3,4 " that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures," A gospel that tells us that Jesus died for our sins is not a complete gospel and not a gospel at all without the resurrection.  Without the resurrection  there is no "eternal life".   Tony Evan's  in his book "The King of Glory" writes, "eternal life refers to more than length of life.  It has to do with the quality of our existence here on earth.  Eternal life begins the moment we receive Christ as our Saviour, and He intends that we experience a quality of life now whereby we grow in Him,  find His purpose, and produce a full harvest of spiritual fruit." Today's verse builds upon that thought.  Producing that spiritual fruit involves dying in to ourselves. Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.   NKJV In receiving Christ and dying to ourselves, the Holy Spirit can live the life of Christ through us.  But to do so we must "die to self:   What does it mean to "die to self"?   Evan's continues, "Paul died to his own identity, - his rights, plans, goals, desires and dreams.  They were subjected to Christ so completely it was as if Paul were dead.  His life was so immersed in sacrificial  service to the Lord that he could say "Christ lives in me".   There is a popular book out now with a title something like 'Your Best Life Now".  While it is true that our best life may start now, but our best life will be beyond life in this world.  It will be a life where the accumulated things in a" name it and claim it" culture will mean nothing.   The best picture is that of abiding, the picture of the vine in John 15: John 15:4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. 5 "Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.  NLT The word "remain" is also translated as "abide and carries these additional traits - "NT:3306  KJV - abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry (for), The Old Testament reading outlined above is moving into Isaiah.  If you have some time, follow along and see if you notice some of the paralells between Isaiah's time, Paul's time, and ours In Christ, Mike   Gal 2:14-3:1   14 When I saw that they were not following the truth of the gospel message, I said to Peter in front of all the others, "Since you, a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are you now trying to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish traditions?   15 "You and I are Jews by birth, not 'sinners' like the Gentiles. 16 Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law."   17 But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not! 18 Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down. 19 For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. 20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.  NLT