The reigning life is made possible through the person of Christ. Did you know that it is possible to re ceive the gift of righteousness and still not rely on the abundance of grace? This is because we have not recognized the Lordship of Christ. Only as we gladly appropriate the life of Jesus Christ can we even re motely talk about living victoriously. He is our all-sufficiency in every ex perience with which we are confront ed. Have you received the gift of righteousness? Do you know what it means to be relying upon the abun dance of grace, recognizing the Lordship of Christ? If you are doing all three, you can go out into the ac tivities of today with your head held high, your heart on fire, rejoicing in the fact that Jesus Christ is your grace, your life, and your Lord. There is no reason why life should reign over you, but there is good reason why you should reign over life. RECKONING LIFE PART I H ave you been confronted with what the Bible teaches about God’s kind of Christianity and, thinking of your existence, have be come depressed and disillusioned? There are things which hinder us in our purposeful victorious life. Let us consider the subject of sin in the be liever. The gospel is not just to tell sinners how they can have their trespasses forgiven, but also to show how Christians can live above their sins. We commit transgression be cause sin reigns within us. We can be forgiven for the consequences of our sins as well as delivered from the dynamic of sin within us. We can know the mighty power of the Lord Jesus overcoming the power of sin within us. Paul asks the ques tion, “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” There is an un fortunate group of Christians today
who have adopted the attitude that it doesn’t really matter how they live because their sins are going to be forgiven. They are always ready to excuse or ignore their sins. Too often today do we have a tendency to condone sin. We don’t worry that people are backbiters, unloving, gos- sipers and all the rest. Sin has been allowed to run riot in our lives. This is why we cannot live the reigning life. It is absolutely imperative that we recognize something has to be done about the power of indwelling sin within us. The good news is that God has done something. In Romans 6:1-2, Paul asks, “How shall we that died to sin live any longer therein?” Did you know that the moment you became a Christian you were not to live in sin? To be defeated continu ally by sin is not normal, but rather pathetically subnormal. The sooner
Attending Biola this year are two freshmen who were both presidents of their high school student bodies and whose fathers are both on thestaf of Biola. In the center-is Tod Lewis, whose father, Mr. Vernon Lewis, teaches Psy chology at Biola and who was president of the Neff High School in La Mirada. On the right is Mr. Allen Carden,whose father, Mr. William L. Carden,is director of Admissions for Biola Colege. Allen was president of the La Mirada High School. Chaffing with the young men on the left is Mr. Ken Harrower a member of the speech staff and also a student at Talbot Theological Seminary. His home is in San Leandro, Calif.
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