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Verse:Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. —Philippians 2:5
The plan of salvation offers hope to all of humanity.
At least, it should. Sadly, even many Christians are uncertain as to whether or not they actually have the gift of salvation.
A powerful passage from the book The Desire of Ages helps us understand how to view this correctly. And everything hinges on just four words.
All true obedience comes from the heart.
It was heart work with Christ. And if we consent, He will so identify Himself with our thoughts and aims, so blend our hearts and minds into conformity to His will, that when obeying Him we shall be but carrying out our own impulses.
The will, refined and sanctified, will find its highest delight in doing His service. When we know God as it is our privilege to know Him, our life will be a life of continual obedience. Through an appreciation of the character of Christ, through communion with God, sin will become hateful to us.* We notice several things.
God calls for “true obedience.” But how to render that “true obedience” is where many believers come unglued. Four key words reveal how “true obedience” can be experienced in a Christian’s life. The author writes, “And if we consent.” Consent means “to allow” or “to give permission.” If we give God permission, the following happens. He will “identify Himself with our thoughts and aims.” He will “blend our hearts and minds into conformity to His will.” And He will do that to such an extent that obedience will simply be the result of “carrying out our own impulses.” We will find our “highest delight in doing His service,” and “our life will be a life of continual obedience.” Further, “sin will become hateful to us.” What incredible promises! And how does this come about? “If we consent.” When we allow God to do so, He does all that we just read.
If we give God permission, He will continue to change us so that we grow more and more into the image of Christ. God does the work.
We grant the permission. As we surrender to Jesus, our lives become what they could never be without Him living His life in us.