Daily Devotional

I have been working with a man who had taken a disastrous way in his life. It ruined his marriage, ruined his health and alienated his family. A common story. But then he came to Christ.

Because he has done so, the word of God declares him a new creature in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). It says that he is dead to sin and alive to God (Rom. 6:11). He is declared to no longer be a slave, but rather a son (of God) and an heir (Rom. 8:15).

It is time for this man to quit dragging around his past sins and sin life, and stop defining himself by who he used to be. Paul says “Such were some of you,” referring to the old life (1 Cor. 6:11). It is high time we quit telling people we are just sinners! It seems well-meaning, so we don’t come across as “holier than thou,” and more or less unapproachable.

But the word of God says all that is only the past for the believer in Christ. Paul declares that we are “Saints by calling.”

To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. 1 Corinthians 1:2, NASB.

People don’t want to see the old you. The have had enough of that, and so have you. We are going to be what we define ourselves to be. For all of us in Christ, it now must be who the word of God declares us to be.

If this man I am working with cannot forgive himself in Christ and accept His forgiveness, he will never be free. He will remain a slave to sin and the world, and will be useless for any good deed. He must allow himself to be redefined by God, the One who has transformed him. We are transformed in Christ, and are being transformed (Rom. 1:27, 2 Cor. 2:18).

Sometimes we use Romans 7 to tell us that we are still just weak and incapable sinners (Rom. 7:14-24). But Paul who wrote that declares elsewhere that he is aware of no sin in his life! (1 Cor. 4:4). His old man was a slave. His new man is free, and holy before God. So is yours. So is the man I am working with!

We are called as saints. There is a powerful and wonderful work for us to do during our remaining time on earth. Peter tells us that the time already past is enough for us to have lived a sinful life. We are now to live for the will of God (1 Peter 4:1-3).

So let’s all get with it! Throw off the old “sinner clothes,” and let’s get to work as holy saints, to accomplish the kingdom. Put on the new man (Col. 3:1-17). God dwells with the contrite and lowly in spirit, but not to leave them there! He is there to revive the spirit of the lowly, and revive the heart of the contrite! (Is. 57:15). He heals. He leads. He restores comfort, creating praise and giving peace (Is. 57:1819).

One of the greatest remedies in life in the Spirit is to sing. Consider these verses of A Child of the King as the declaration of your heart and your mouth. Do it over and over, until it is who you are. Sing it 20,000 times!

I once was an outcast, a stranger on earth,
A sinner by choice, and an alien by birth.
But I’ve been adopted, my name’s written down,
An heir to a mansion, a robe, and a crown.

A tent or a cottage, why should I care?
They’re building a palace for me over there.
Though exiled from home, yet still I may sing,
All glory to God, I’m a child of the King.

Refrain: I’m a child of the King, A child of the king. With Jesus my Savior, I’m a child of the King.


Read: Colossians 3:1-17 (memorize this passage); Look up all the references in this devotional.
Sing: A Child of the King, by Harriet E. Buell (John B. Sumner)

New American Standard Bible (NASB)
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