When I was new as a believer, I started going to church and I heard this one guy’s testimony that shocked me. This guy started by saying, “You know, I've always been a good, moral person. Never really done anything wrong. The biggest thing I could think of was I would sometimes steal grapes at the grocery store.” All I could think, listening to this, was “Man, I was born into the wrong family.”
Looking back, I can say that testimony was a load of hooey. Frankly, after six months as a new believer, I was saying to myself, “There’s some mean people in church. There were nicer people in bars than I’ve met in church.” Now you can huff at that and get all holy, but somebody’s got to shout amen, right? I don’t think any of us are exempt from looking back at our lives and seeing that moment of transformation in Christ. If we’re a true believer, we know deep down exactly what it means to come from the ‘old man’ to the ‘new man.’
Paul in the Bible had every earthly right to say he’d lived one of the most upstanding lives a human could achieve according to the law. Yet he wrote, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life” (1 Timothy 1:15-16, ESV).
Our only hope is in Christ. One of the most difficult things is living as a believer. Actually, the Christian life is not just hard; it's impossible. To anyone who argues against that, how about this? Love your enemies and pray for those who despitefully use you. Who can do that without the power of the Spirit?
I’ll tell you this: In and of myself, without Jesus and his work of redemption in my spirit, I cannot pray for people who maliciously work against me. Thank God that he gives us the Holy Spirit to walk out his commands through Christ! Like Paul wrote, “The grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 1:14).
John Bailey is the COO of World Challenge Inc. and the Founding Pastor of The Springs Church in Jacksonville, Florida. John has been serving the Lord in pastoral ministry for 35 years, ministering the gospel in over 50 nations, particularly as a pastor and evangelist in Cork, Ireland.