Easier Said Than Done

I think the writer of Ephesians got this part of the letter wrong. Don’t get me wrong, there’s some good advice here. I do think that we should live in a way that reflects what we have learned from Christ. I do believe that we should aim for righteous and holy lives. In living that way, we imagine ourselves closer to God and are better able to hear God’s voice in our lives.

But what the writer of Ephesians is saying is that we should just choose not to sin. And we can’t do that any more than we can choose to fly ourselves to the moon.

We can rely only on Christ who calls us each day to a renewed life through faith. We depend on Christ to forgive our sin when we can’t live up to that expectation. And we need to look past ourselves to see that it is only Christ who reconciles us to God, making us into the likeness of God in which we have all been made.

Do that on our own? Not a chance. We need Jesus for that.

Loving God, we ask for your forgiveness again. Through your Son, forgive us, renew us in faith, and remake us in your image. Amen. — JZ