Man-made Christianity and Spirit-made Christianity can look a lot alike on the surface. Both point toward Jesus, both promise righteousness and peace, and both lead you to the cross where the old self dies. But only one actually follows through on its promises. The religious life—the man-made variety—takes you to the cross and leaves you there. It focuses on what not to do without much emphasis on who you can become.
There’s another kind of faith that won’t quench the life out of you. It will give you life instead. Yes, it takes you to the end of your old self, but then it leaves the old self behind. It won’t lead you into enormous efforts to discipline, reform, and clean up the old nature. It lays the old nature aside and then gives you a new one. You have a new life.
Pick up your new identity and refuse to live from your old one. Ignore all the advice that addresses your old self. Our goal is not self-improvement; it's a new state of being. There’s a new nature within you, and it’s far more capable of living the life God has given you. Cultivate the faith that offers this life, embrace your new freedom, and become who you were designed to be.
