1st Daily devotion on the Authority and Sufficiency of Scripture.

Good afternoon to all of our Readers.

I came across some older devotions of mine that touch on the authority and sufficiency of scripture and I thought they might be helpful for us to think about in light of our present study. 

THE SUFFICIENCY OF SCRIPTURE: WHAT WE BELIEVE IMPACTS OUR BEHAVIOR

WALKING IN NEWNESS OF LIFE

Christ and His disciples always point us to the authority and sufficiency of scripture to govern our belief and behavior. A youth Pastor once remarked that “Your walk talks and your talk talks, but your walk talks louder than your talk talks.”

Romans 6:1-4 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 

Paul likes to use the term “walk” in regard to how each believer lives out his or her Christian faith. Walk is a word that refers to walking in the physical sense but also is used figuratively referring to the moral choices we make in this life. 

The word “walk” is connected to words like behavior, conduct or actions that we take.  The word “walk” is always connected to the circumstances of how our life should look. Our lives should mirror what God says in His word.  God graciously tells us in detail what our walk should look like.

Newness of life means living a life that is qualitatively different than the life we lived before. Why is this so and how is it possible? Walking in "newness of life" is a life of a new quality because each believer is a new creation and is expected to behave himself consistently with new life of obedience to God in contrast to his former manner of life.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

New Creation living means we have been given a new life through the new birth from God. It is a brand new life that was Divinely created, fresh, unused and unworn. Compared to our old life walking in newness of life is living in a way that is a new kind of way to live, unprecedented, novel, uncommon, unheard of. 

It is a spiritual life focused upon the eternal things of God rather than being obsessed with the things of the world. God's truth that tells us we should not continue living the same old way that we did before Christ saved us. 

In fact, if we continue to gravitate toward the same old pattern of life instead of walking in newness of life, then that is a good indicator that we are not really born again. If God made all things new and tells me that He caused the old sinful lifestyle to pass away from me when I was born again, then how I live snow should be very different that how I lived before being born again.

Are you walking in newness of life today? Bob