Salvation, Sanctification, and Struggle

10/26/22 – 11/03/22

A More Excellent Way

By Michael Youssef, Ph D.  11/02/22

Read Romans 7:1-6.

Many Christians today are confused about the balance of grace and obedience. One extreme would have us use grace as a license to sin, and the other is legalism—relying on our good works for our ultimate salvation.

You know you’re under the influence of legalism when you get up in the morning and say, “I’ve got to obey today—or else.” When you find mild success, you pat yourself on the back with pride. But when you miss the mark, you become overwhelmed with guilt and shame.

Praise be to God—Romans 7 gives us a more excellent way. True freedom is no longer found in our performance—that was the old way of the law—but by trusting Christ’s powerful work in us through His Spirit.

Only by looking to Jesus for help in our daily struggles can we find joy, freedom, and victory. So today, accept the fact that you’re capable of any and every sin. Acknowledge your vulnerability and admit your need for God’s help, and you’ll be in a better position to guard yourself against pride. The moment you say, “I’ve got this”—that’s when you’re in trouble. We all desperately need the help that only our Savior Jesus Christ can give. And praise the Lord, for He gives it freely!

Prayer: Father, I know my performance cannot save me. But Your Holy Spirit can and will help me follow You with all my heart today. I rejoice in Your amazing grace that transforms my heart of stone to a heart of flesh! I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

“But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code” (Romans 7:6).