When a person first comes to Jesus, it is impossible to know everything that following Jesus means. No one, should be fearful of making a total commitment because of some imagined problem that may never happen. There should be a willingness to forsake everything to follow Jesus. Once we make that decision, then Christ begins to live through us and we find a strength that is not our own, equal to whatever test we may encounter (Galatians 2:20).
It is Christ living through us that is the secret of victoriously living. It is not us living for Jesus, but Jesus living through us. Failure to understand this simple truth is at the root of all legalism and the performance mentality. The law focuses on the outer man and tells it what it must do. Grace focuses on the inner man and tells it what is already done through Christ. Those who are focused on what they must do are under law. Those who are focused on what Christ has done for them are walking under grace.
Just as the life of a root is found in the soil, or a branch in the vine, or a fish in the sea, the believer's true life is found to be in union with Christ. The Christian life is not just hard to live, it's impossible in our human strength. The only way to walk in victory is to let Christ live through us.
