The Gospel of God’s grace is designed to completely redefine our lives. The limits we have lived with all our lives can be changed, and everything can be turned into a testimony of God’s goodness and of His power to reshape our lives.
Whether we realize it or not, every one of us are in the process of being redefined by God’s grace. We are no longer destined to be defined by our past, problems, failures, or weaknesses. We have received Christ, and our destiny has now changed. We are in Him and have been made into newly defined people.
But why do some people see very dramatic changes in their lives, while others struggle with the same problems they’ve always faced year after year? Quite often it’s a matter of what a person has come to believe. If there are truths about who he is now in the light of God’s grace and power that he doesn’t seek to grasp by faith, that person may continue to struggle the rest of his life.
Lasting and redefining change first begins deep within our hearts at the core of our belief system. Our new birth in Christ changes everything between us and God. From that point on, it’s our individual grasp of His finished work that makes available to us every other kind of change that leads to more freedom.
For many years, Dennis and I have seen God’s grace empower people to experience victory over the limitations they have lived with in the past. However, we have also seen many others who, after gaining spiritual ground, fail to keep themselves in the new life of freedom they have discovered.
The Apostle Paul points to the power of God’s grace to redefine our lives many times in his letters. For example, He said of himself, “But by the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Corinthians 15:10 NKJV).
In another epistle, Paul said of us all: “Now we have not received the spirit [that belongs to] the world, but the [Holy] Spirit Who is from God, [given to us] that we might realize and comprehend and appreciate the gifts [of divine favor and blessing so freely and lavishly] bestowed on us by God” (1 Corinthians 2:12 AMP).
In yet another reference, Paul said, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV).
These statements underscore the truth that our faith in Jesus as Lord of our lives gives us a new identity. We are not who we once were. But we are dealing with Satan, the ultimate identity thief who continually seeks to steal from us our identity in Christ.
Every one of us can experience freedom from the negative things that have defined us in our past — problems, failures, or weaknesses, but only as we discover the power of our new identity in Christ. The New Testament reveals who we are. God’s Word defines us in Christ outside the limits that once contained us.
Each one of us is destined to step into greater blessing, increase, and freedom. The only limits that remain are those we continue to allow.
