Living in Jesus’ name is all about icing a life of faith and godliness. This daily devotional looks at how life in Him sets us free.
Nuggets
- When we live in Jesus’ name, we are set free.
- Having a godly life comes through knowledge of Jesus’ name.
- Having a godly life comes through living our lives in Jesus’ name.
Devotions in the In Jesus’ Name series
When we live a life in Jesus’ name, we are living in faith. He rewards us with a supply of all things for life and godliness.
We are looking at Wilkinson’s sermon entitled Doing All in the Name of Christ. Let’s see what he has for us in this devotion.
Resource
Glossary
Let's Put It into Context
Here is a running list of nuggets for the series.
Free to Live a Godly Life
“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness …” (II Pet. 1: 3 ESV)
When we live in Jesus’ name, we are set free to live a godly life.
Jesus said belief in Him would set us free. “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (Jn, 8: 36 ESV).
From what is Jesus setting us free? He is freeing us from the consequences of sin. The consequences of sin are spiritual death and separation from God.
- Spiritual death is the separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin.
- The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God.
Glossary
That gives us hope and comfort.
Freedom comes to us through grace. Grace is a free and unmerited gift of love from the Heavenly Father, given through His Son, Jesus Christ, that enables salvation and spiritual healing to believers by the work of the Holy Spirit.
Glossary
The Freeman wrote that grace comes from God’s omnipotence. Omnipotent means God is all-powerful.
Resource
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Notice what the verse says. “… has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness …” (II Pet. 1: 3 ESV).
All things. Not just some, but all.
God gives us the state of life. It is through Him we are formed in the womb. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations” (Jer. 1: 5 ESV).
It is easy to forget that we are nothing without God. We think we can rely on our own wisdom and strength.
We can’t.
We don’t deserve the things God gives us. Mankind disobeyed Him, yet He designed a way in which our relationships with Him can be restored.
Particularly, we were given all things that pertain to a spiritual life. The desire to seek God is instilled in all of us.
Some just have buried that desire. But it is there.
God is more concerned about our spiritual life than our physical life. This earthly existence is temporary. Spiritual life will be eternal.
We gain spiritual, eternal life by believing in Jesus and changing to live a godly life. Godliness is the activity through which we live life.
Godliness, equated with the Old Testament term fear of the Lord, is reverence in thought, feeling, and conduct that is promoted by walking in His Spirit and obeying God’s laws and commandments that produces a moral likeness of God.
We can also look at it another way. Salvation gives us life. Godliness only comes through faith. Faith grows as we walk with God.
Godly Life through Jesus’ Name
“… through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises …” (II Pet. 1: 3-4 ESV)
Having a godly life only comes through knowledge of Jesus’ name.
We come to Jesus only through our knowledge of Him. Until we know He is our Savior and Redeemer, we don’t know we need one. Until He shows us the sin in our lives, we don’t know it is there.
We gain that knowledge by searching for God.
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11).
Meyer explained it this way. He wrote,
“All things that pertain to godliness are in Christ — in other words, Christ is the complement of our nature. When I use that word complement — a mathematical term — I infer that just as a segment of a circle may be a very small thing, and may need the rest of the circumference to be its complement, so, whatever be the segment of your life, Jesus Christ is the complement of all the rest. He just fills out your deficiency and makes you a complete thing.”
Resource
Because Jesus completes us, we no longer can say we are deficient in patience, strength, or courage. We have what we need to do what He calls us to do.
God promises to bless His faithful children. Peter described these as “… precious and very great promises …” (II Pet. 1: 4 ESV).
Glossary
Of course, God has great promises. He is a beautiful, loving, and merciful Sovereign God. He can do no less.
Having God’s Nature
“… so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (II Pet. 1: 4 ESV)
Having a godly life only comes through living our lives in Jesus’ name.
Having these promises, we can navigate the Sanctification Road. “Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God” (II Cor. 7: 1 ESV).
Sanctification is the transformation of mind, body, and soul, which begins with regeneration; gradually changes our nature and morals through the promptings of the Holy Spirit; and ends with perfected state of spiritual wholeness or completeness.
- Regeneration is being changed from spiritually dead to spiritually alive and the internal new birth and requickening that God brings about through the work of the Holy Spirit to give us new character.
- Perfection means we reach a state of maturity because the combination of the spiritual graces form, when all are present, spiritual wholeness or completeness — holy, sanctified, and righteous.
- Spiritual graces are worldly morals that have been submitted to God to further His kingdom instead of enhancing this world.
- Sanctified means to be set free from sin.
- Righteous means we are free from sin because we are following God’s moral laws.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Glossary
Back in verse 3 Peter said we are called to glory and excellence. No, this doesn’t mean we are called to just be a good person.
We are called to have God’s character and spiritual graces. He wants us to have His nature — His moral character.
Making the Connections
This is what Christianity is all about.
- A relationship with God
- Changing to have His character.
Being a good person isn’t going to cut it. That isn’t enough.
We have to be like Him.
How Do We Apply This?
- Use knowledge of Christ to not compromise with the worldview.
- Study Scriptures for its instruction.
- Believe God’s promises and respect them.
- Increase in holiness.
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Father God. We want to be like You. We want to have Your character. We get that by admitting we are sinners, believing Jesus’ death was God’s gift to make salvation available to us, and confessing that God is now our Sovereign Lord. We choose to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit as He convicts us and shows us of our need for change in our lives. Amen.
What do you think?
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