One might think that living by grace allows people to do "whatever they want" but if you know WHO you are at salvation it lines up: You CAN do whatever you want because as a new creation, it's your nature, your identity, to WANT to please Christ! You want to do these things. That's why Paul talks in Romans 7 about the things he "wants to do." Well why do we still sin? We sin because there is still a pull, a power of sin in us called flesh that tells us otherwise. The good news is you're free to serve God. You don't HAVE to to earn His acceptance but His love motivates you. "Christ's love compels us!" Look at 2 Cor 5:

13If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if
we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14For Christ's love compels us, because
we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15And he died
for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him
who died for them and was raised again.
16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18All this is from God, who
reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of
reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not
counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of
reconciliation. 20We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were
making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled
to God. 21God made him who had no sin to be sin[a] for us, so that in him we might
become the righteousness of God.

"The basic sense of synecho (to compel) is to hold something together so that it does not fall apart. From this we get the meanings to "hold fast" (that is, to not allow to slip through one's fingers) and to "surround" or "hem in" (that is, to not let escape; Köster 1971:883). The idea is that Christ's love completely controls and dominates Paul so that he has no option but to preach. " -IVP New Testament commentary

OK, HIS love holds us together. He IS love so He holds us together- He makes sense of life, HE loves in a way that holds us fast, surrounds us, and hems us in. It's UNSHAKEABLE. The world will try to tell you that this type of love does not exist. Your flesh will tell you that you are unlovable and you can't receive this type of love but guess what you can, and you already have if you accept Christ. It's just a matter of you receiving this for yourself. It's available to us in abundance!

In Him we live and move and have our being and when we recognize that we are less likely to sin because our focus is Him, who dwells IN us. The last verse tells about our identity: we ARE the righteousness of God. Let THAT sink in. Let THAT change how you live!

I know I talked about the law in the last entry and to keep it from being to long i wanted to include some awesome truth about how Jesus brought it all around: In order to make it clear to those who were under the old covenant Jesus gave a command to encapsulate it all:

1 John 3:23: And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.

Galatians 5:6: For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision (good works of the flesh) nor uncircumcision (rebellious works of flesh) means anything, but faith working (by the Spirit) through love. 14: For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."

Look how central love is! He doesn't ask that we obey to fulfill the law but it's automatically fulfilled when we believe in Jesus and love people! Think about His life on earth: He loved people! He criticized the Pharisees who lived unto the law and their filthy righteousness. Jesus calls us to a much higher standard since the law was only a shadow of what is to come (a shadow of Jesus himself) And I dont worship a shadow I worship the person of Jesus Christ!!!! The question is not always "is this right" but "Jesus, how can you love through me today!?"

And you can be free to love people if you know that the Saviour of the universe loves you madly. When you catch wind of that you wont care how "crazy in love" you look or how "out of our mind," as paul says you look because it's for the sake of God.

When it clicked in my head about being united with Christ in marriage it was like nothing could touch me. You can see in my face, when i am resting in this truth, that I know i am loved! We need that! He made us to need that! You have seen the girl who has a new grace-filled boyfriend who loves her for who she is. She can't hide her glee- she can't stop talking about him, and that is JEsus to me.

What does this have to do with identity? EVERYTHING! I can receive all these things in Christ because of what he's done on my behalf. I am free to be blessed by him regardless of my performance because i am totally righteous not by my own works but by the finished work of Christ. That's why I dont sin as often because my focus is on what I CAN do: love people, love myself as Christ has loved me. forgive people, forgive myself as Christ has forgiven me. I AM one who loves/a lover, I AM a forgiver! It's out of character for me to not do these things. I am still definitely chewing and processing how this works but I have experienced the freedom of knowing I am the bride, the beloved of Christ who is cherished beyond belief. Why would I even need to look to another?! He is sufficient!

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