We are called to move from the dark to the light. This daily devotional looks at how we submit our character to be like Jesus’.
Nuggets
- We need to choose God’s light over the darkness of sin.
- We need to put on the character of Jesus.
To read devotions in the Redo for Godliness series, click the appropriate button below.
Devotions in the Transformed to Perfection series
Devotions in the Submitting to Transformation series
In the last devotion, we started talking about the dark as we discussed waking up. We must be actively pursuing our relationships with God.
In this devotion, we wake up to the light. The Light is Jesus.
We are transforming to be like Jesus.
Let's Put It into Context
Here is a running list of what we’ve discussed previously.
Moving from Dark to Light
“The night is nearly over, and the day is near; so let us discard the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Rom. 13: 12 CSB)
We need to choose God’s light over the darkness of sin.
Darkness can be misleading. It may distort our vision. Dreams which occur in the night may be fantasy.
We have to move from the darkness to the light. We have to give up sins we have committed and live as God calls us to live.
God causes us to mourn because of our sins. We realize we are separated from Him because of Adam and Eve’s sin and our own. We realize that we need a change.
That change brings forgiveness, reconciliation, righteousness, and adoption — and a whole lot more.
- Forgiveness is, when we ask, God pardons us because we have shown repentance for breaking His laws and commandments.
- Righteousness is the result of a solid relationship with God built by a sincere life of conscientious obedience to God’s laws and commandments.
- Adoption is the gift of acceptance into God’s family when Jesus redeems us and changed to be spiritually alive like God.
Parsons contended that our whole goal on the Sanctification Road is to achieve holiness. This shows our faith is sincere. It changes us so that we will have the nature needed to become citizens of Heaven.
But it isn’t salvation singular. “… because now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed” (Rom. 13: 13 CSB). We have to be concerned about the salvation of others.
Faith brings repentance. Repentance is acknowledging our separation from God and expressing sorrow for breaking God’s laws and commandments by making the commitment to changing ourselves through obedience so that we no longer do the wrong things.
We are called to cast out the darkness and enter the light. We are called to repent of our sins and turn to God.
It is appropriate that the illustration be that of light and dark. We sleep in the dark. Followers of Satan are in the dark.
When we repent, we become children of light. Heaven will be light. The Essex Congregational Remembracer noted that all of the doctrines in Scriptures lead to Heaven.
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To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Paul implied that, since the wake-up time is near, we have to be active in transforming ourselves into God’s character. Belfrage explained that as “the distance between faith and complete salvation has been in some instances short. Quickly has the perfection of glory followed the formation of grace, but in other cases there are many years betwixt them. It belongs to Him to regulate this who is the Author and the Finisher of faith.”
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Elaine-speak. We don’t know how long our lives will be. We can die after a long illness, or we can be killed instantly in an accident. God gets to choose how long it will be.
We have to be ready to meet God. We have to be the best us that He has made and transformed.
Parsons believed that we do this by evaluating our existence. He contended that we have the moral responsibility to examine the past, present, and the future. In fact, he said that this shows we are made in God’s image.
Glossary
We start by examining our faith. Faith is the conviction that the doctrines revealed in God’s Word are true, even if we do not understand all aspects of them, a belief which impacts our lives.
Parsons had a great description of faith. He wrote, “Faith did not arise from the spontaneous influence of your own mind, or from the influence of others. It was the work of God wrought upon you by the ministry of His gospel, the private admonition of a friend, the perusal of His Word, or by affliction. But, whatever the instrumentality, faith is the gift of God.”
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Faith doesn’t just pop up one day. It is nothing we do or what anyone else around us does for us. It is all God, calling us to salvation.
In Romans, the armor is described as armor of light. In Ephesians, it was just described as armor. I think it is the same.
To read devotions in the Armor of God series, click the appropriate button below.
Trench said something that got me thinking. He called this time – between Jesus’ coming and His second coming – as the dawn.
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I can see that. Dawn is when it is still dark, but the dark is being eliminated by the light. It isn’t daybreak – yet – but the light and dark are coexisting for the moment.
Really, that is what is happening now. Sin is still in this world, but the light arrived when Jesus came. Disciples are becoming stronger as they navigate the Sanctification Road.
Putting on Jesus
“Let us walk with decency, as in the daytime: not in carousing and drunkenness; not in sexual impurity and promiscuity; not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires” (Rom. 13: 13-14 CSB)
We need to put on the character of Jesus.
Paul used the concept of putting on Jesus several times. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!” (II Cor. 5: 17 CSB). We’ve talked before that we are to become new creations.
Glossary
We are to put off our old selves and put on the new. That includes character, habits, thoughts, and opinions.
Spurgeon talked that this was a covering for nakedness. That nakedness is our sin. Benson came the other way to say we lacked righteousness and salvation.
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I’m reading this, and I am thinking of the robe of righteousness. “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels” (Isa. 61: 10 ESV emphasis added).
To me, that fulfills Spurgeon’s clothing for dignity, defensive armor, and all-around clothing.
Binney thought that I was wrong. He argued that being clothed by righteousness means that our sins are just hidden from God. He posits that this is talking sanctification.
We are to walk consistently as Jesus would. Walking is the term used to describe how we live our lives. Beveridge wrote that we are to walk soberly, righteously, and godly.
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Glossary
What Paul is saying is that we have to participate in working out our salvation. We can’t go on autopilot on the Sanctification Road.
Hall reminded us that “it is not enough to believe.” Head knowledge isn’t enough. Lip service isn’t enough.
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We have to confess with our mouths that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer and God is Sovereign God. We have to live like we believe that.
That means we have to study the Scriptures so that we know the doctrines. Hall wrote, “All the doctrines of Christianity are intended to expel our native corruption, and raise us nearer to the character and will of God.”
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By imitating Christ, we glorify Him. If He has said something is a sin, we agree that it a sin.
Farrar said that putting on Christ – imitating Him and having Him cleanse us from our sins – is the only way we can stand before God clean.
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Yes, there are times that we don’t feel we are worthy. But we are when we put the robe of righteousness on.
Benson said that we not only put on righteousness, but we also put on wisdom.
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Binney made an interesting comment. He said that “… to have Him on is to succeed in the attempt.”
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Attempting isn’t good enough. We have to succeed. If we don’t have Jesus on, we haven’t succeeded.
I know what you are thinking. That is a very obvious statement.
But think of it this way. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven” (Mt. 7: 21 CSB).
We think we have succeeded when we ask Jesus to be our Lord and Savior. But it is more than that. To succeed, we have to put Him on — imitate Him — change our character to be like Him.
Binney described it this way. He wrote that we have to get down to “… the culture of a deep internal sympathy with His Spirit which manifested itself in words and deeds.”
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If we don’t have Jesus on, we haven’t succeeded. It would force Him to say we don’t get to enter Heaven.
My take of how Thomas summed it up is this. Jesus’ character is the garment for our souls.
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Sometimes, we have to personate it, as Bartol said. We may not feel like that is totally us at first because we are looking at the difficulties.
But as we play the part again and again, it becomes us as we put on the meaning and feeling of the character.
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Making the Connections
We can’t think that we will get Christ to come down to our level. Binney wrote, “Christ is not to be put on over the natural man, but the natural man becoming spiritual, a visible Christ comes out as an emanation from within …”
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Jesus pulls us up to His level. His level is different than ours.
Well, Jesus is God — we aren’t. That means there are going to be some things that we can’t imitate. Binney reminded us that we can’t perform miracles.
How Do We Apply This?
- Imitate Jesus. There is no way that we can be too much like Him.
- Sincerely want to be like Jesus.
- Conduct a study of Jesus — His character, what He taught, what is required, etc.
- Study God’s Word period.
- Prepare in private for a public performance.
- Be committed to succeed.
- Listen to the Holy Spirit.
- Don’t give up if you don’t succeed. Ask for forgiveness and take another run at it.
- Live Jesus’ example, not our interpretation of it.
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Submitting to Christ is an important component of our sanctification. We will be blessed when we reach perfection. It brings peace and comfort.
Father God. We choose to put on the character of Jesus. Help us to be more like Him. Amen.
What do you think?
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