Yielding all of life to Christ’s Lordship

In Ephesians, Paul has a different way of talking about the new life. In Ephesians 4:1–32, he talks about the new lifestyle in terms of spiritual renewal. You have been called, he said, to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Well, that gives me a few things to work on, doesn’t it? A whole lifetime of growth in grace. A new lifestyle, progressively working out in my experience. Andrew Young says this: As God’s children, then, believers are to live so as to please their Father. As those in union with Jesus Christ, they are to live in the power of his Spirit, not in the strength of the sinful nature. The new life we have through the gospel demands a new way of living. We are to walk worthy of our calling.

Well, let me ask you then: Are you doing that? I know you are not there completely. Paul says of himself that he has not yet arrived—he is far from perfect. He is working on a lot of things. But are you working on it? Are you pursuing a new walk? Are you pursuing a new lifestyle because of your calling? Or are you living in half-hearted obedience to God’s Word? Do you sincerely believe and trust in Jesus, and yet—are there portions of your life that are governed by the world’s rules and not by the Word of God? See, according to Paul, that is simply no way for a Christian to live. And to the extent that it is true—and it is true of all of us to some extent—we need to be applying ourselves, but coming before the Lord in prayer and saying, Lord, show me areas of my life that I’m to yield to you, because that yielding will be—it has always been—good. The best things that happened in my personal life have involved me repenting: to stop doing it my way, and start doing it God’s way. And it may hurt at first, but it leads to blessing. And we realize that. We say, Lord, let me yield myself—not with a lukewarm devotion, but wholeheartedly. Let me walk worthy of the high calling I have in Christ.

That is why the doctrines of grace—God’s sovereign grace—are so encouraging. When we think, How could I do it? we are reminded that it is his work in us. He has the power. He has ordained it. He has chosen us in Christ to be holy. And we are going to be holy in the end. We are going to shine like the brightness above. I can have the courage to start trying. But if I am not trying, it is a warning—because God has willed that we would have this lifestyle: He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it. It may involve chastisement. God will not settle for a lukewarm life. He will motivate us to embrace the walk of the high calling we have received.¹

Richard D. Phillips