Life for Life

During my youth and teenage years I must have heard these words several hundred times: The blood of Jesus Christ can wash away all your sins, and: Would you be free from your passion and pride? There is power in the blood...and many other phrases like it. At a very young age I understood that I deserved to die for my sins, but that Jesus Christ died as a substitute for me and for all those who would believe in Him.

By the time I was a teenager, I had responded to the sermons about these things. One night, hearing the preacher and being affected, I went forward and prayed, asking Jesus Christ to forgive me and come into my heart. I was so relieved. I had thought about doing it so many times. I truly wanted to be forgiven. I had feelings of happiness and joy that night.

Time went on for me and the weeks became months and years; several times I went back up to the front of the assembly to rededicate my life. I was always realizing my dullness and failure to be, in front of my school friends, what I felt I should be. Most of my friends were in the same struggle. By the time we were juniors and seniors, many of us were experimenting with alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, and immorality. Most of our parents were totally unaware of this. My conscience became worse and worse, and eventually I dropped out of church, bewildered and confused, not understanding how I lost “the power of an indestructible life.” The people I had been joined to were splitting up and some had formed another church by this time. At this point, I began to realize that I had no power in my life, and I didn’t see any one around me who did.

Since then, I’ve received a gospel that is different from the one I was taught in my youth. The basic message of Christ dying for my sins, being buried, and raised from the dead is the same. But how this is applied and what it means is crystal clear to me now, and is vastly different than my experience in the past. I have come to see that hearing and obeying the gospel gets to the very roots of your life and brings you into the reality of a totally new life in Christ.

The roots of your life are the very things that keep you immersed in a self-centered, self-seeking existence. These are the very things the Master commands us to give up if we truly want to repent. Luke 14:26-33 is one place where He spelled out what these roots are most vividly. He put his finger on the things that constitute self-life — the essence of sin. Actually obeying  His words is what gave me hope. It was Good News to me to know that I could get rid of my old life.

What I was taught in my youth convinced me that I had given up my old life because I believed the doctrine that Jesus died for my sins and that He took my old life  upon Himself and gave me His life in return. But I still asked the questions, “How can I die to my sin? Can someone please show me how to die, how to enter into His death? How can I take identity with Him in His death?”

Getting Rid of My Old Life

I found out that the Son of God died for my sins so that I didn’t have to die and that He rose from the dead so that by that same power I too could walk in newness of life. But knowing that never helped me until I found out how to get rid of my old life. I discovered that the Master told us how to do it. He spelled it out for us very vividly.

Some people who possess the life I longed for showed me that baptism is where we can die with Him. I always thought baptism was just a ritual, something you did outwardly after you were saved as a mere symbol of your belief. But finally I realized that baptism is where you can reach His blood. That was always the problem. I wanted to be forgiven but never really reached His blood because I never knew how. I wanted the reality of Christ’s atoning sacrifice for my sins to be applied to my experience and not just agree in my mind with the rightness of the doctrine.

But I needed authority in my life, the Master’s authority. I needed someone to show me how to take my old miserable, sin-ridden life to death so it could be washed away, cleansed by the blood.

I always knew that salvation was a free gift. I knew I couldn’t do anything to save myself. But what I didn’t know was how I could place my hands on the sacrifice of Yahshua, the spotless Lamb of God, the way our ancestors laid their hands on a sacrificial lamb before it was slain to atone for their sins.

I found out that to repent meant to give up my life and all that possessed me.[1] I found out that obedience to these specific words of the Son of God is what would bring me into death with Him.[2] This is how I could place my hands upon Him as the atoning sacrifice for my sins. This is how I could reach His blood so that I could be truly washed clean of my sin and find true forgiveness. And this is how I could receive the wonderful life of the Holy Spirit, who would enable me to continue to obey all that the Master commanded us[3] for the rest of my life.

It’s life for life. He, out of compassionate love, willingly laid down His life for me. I, out of grateful response, willingly lay down my life for Him. Now I no longer live for myself  but for Him who died and rose again on my behalf.[4]

It’s life for life. Without this, there is no marriage, no New Covenant, no reconciliation between man and God. If a person’s heart is not this way, then his belief is a mere ritual, only a doctrine with no true substance. This doctrinal salvation is what I received in my youth. When I was baptized I merely got wet. I did not become a new creation. I did not reach His blood. God knew my heart. He had mercy on me. He showed me the way. He led me to the truth that saved me.

In marriage, the husband and the wife belong to each other. They become one flesh, inseparable. They are faithful to each other, devoted and caring. They no longer live for themselves but instead look out for one another’s needs. This is how it is between Christ and His church — they are united, faithful, loyal and inseparable. It is in this relationship that we must walk as a people with Him, down a narrow road contracted by pressure. This road leads to His kingdom, an age to come where Christ will rule the whole earth. And ruling with Him will be His faithful and loyal bride, those who obeyed Him and stayed on this narrow path with Him in this present evil age.

A Heart to be Obedient

I know there are thousands of people like I was, people who love God but aren’t satisfied. Their heart is to be obedient. There are sheep and shepherds alike who are sincere and would be obedient if they knew how or had someone to lead them and help them.

Today there is a new sprout, a tender new shoot, springing forth from a holy root. It is the life of Christ expressed in a people who share a common life. There  you can truly die with Christ, reach His blood, and be cleansed. You can find the hope that will not disappoint you.[5] You will no longer have to wander like I did, wondering what God’s will is for your life. You can come home to peace and rest.