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"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." '"As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in his name.' John 1:12. This power is not in the human agent. It is the power of God. When a soul receives Christ, he receives power to live the life of Christ. "  "When the sinner accepts Christ and lives in Him, Jesus takes his sins and weaknesses and then grafts the repentant soul into Himself, so that he sustains the relation to Christ that the branch does to the vine. We have nothing, we are nothing, unless we receive virtue from Jesus Christ." "I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. " I had not understood the importance of the vine and the branches parable, yet it is essential to understand the lesson it has for us. "There is no other way for man's salvation. 'Without me,' says Christ, 'ye can do nothing.' Through Christ, and Christ alone, the springs of life can vitalize man's nature, transform his tastes, and set his affections flowing toward heaven." "His divine power hath given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness." "The inexhaustible supplies of heaven are at their command. Christ gives them the breath of His own spirit, the life of His own life. The Holy Spirit puts forth its highest energies to work in heart and mind." "That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, . . . might be filled with all the fulness of God." "And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace." "As the life of the vine circulates through stem and cluster, descends into the lower fibres, and reaches the topmost leaf, so will the grace and love of Christ burn and abound in the soul, sending its virtues to every part of the being, pervading every exercise of body and mind." "Gospel religion is Christ in the life - a living, active principle. It is the grace of Christ revealed in character and wrought out in good works." "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." "True obedience is the outworking of a principle within. " "When his words of instruction have been received, and have taken possession of us, Jesus is to us an abiding presence, controlling our thoughts and ideas and actions. . . . It is no more we that live, but Christ that lives in us, and He is the hope of glory. Self is dead, but Christ is a living Saviour." "Now the God of peace . . . make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ." "All must obtain a living experience for themselves; they must have Christ enshrined in the heart, His Spirit controlling the affections, or their profession of faith is of no value, and their condition will be even worse than if they had never heard the truth." "May the Lord help us to die to self and be born again, that Christ may live in us, a living, active principle, a power that will keep us holy." "The life of God in the soul is man's only hope. " "To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." Jesus wants us to allow Him to live in us daily so that we will be able to have the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives and represent His character to others. |