Except What Christ Has Accomplished

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are all called of God, not only to obedience to him and to his commands in holy living, and in the forsaking of our sins, but to follow him in obedience wherever he leads us in doing whatever it is he has for us to do. For, as followers of Christ, we are all part of his body, but we all have different parts (roles, assignments, ministries) and different giftings of the Spirit, which may be expressed in ways uniquely different from one another, but always in agreement with God’s word and his will.

And so our faith in Jesus Christ is never to be limited only to the salvation of sin, by his grace, and the promise of eternal life with God. But it extends to us being crucified with Christ in death to sin and us walking in obedience to his New Covenant commands, by the Spirit, and us becoming the people of God he has designed and purposed for us to be collectively, as well as individually. For he has a plan and a purpose for why he made us and what he has for us to do as his followers, and as his servants and messengers.

But we are all called of God to be those who are sharing the truth of the gospel with the ungodly and with the adulterous and worldly church, too. For we are a chosen race, a people for God’s own possession, that we may proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. And we are the salt of the earth, and the light of the world, and we are to make disciples of Christ of people in teaching them to observe all that God/Christ has commanded us (in the New Testament writings).

[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Lu 6:27-28; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Ac 1:8; Ac 2:14-18; Ac 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Gal 6:1; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:11-27; Eph 6:10-20; Php 2:1-8; Col 1:9; Col 3:12-16; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; Jas 5:19-20; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6; Jude 1:22-23]

And did you pick up on those two main components in the last paragraph related to the gospel, and to the sharing of the gospel message? The first had to do with us being called out of darkness (sin) into his marvelous light (truth, righteousness, holiness, the gospel, Jesus Christ). And the second had to do with teaching the disciples of Christ to obey all that God/Christ has commanded that we should obey. And this is faith, that we should die to sin and now walk in obedience to our Lord in his righteousness, by the Spirit.

So, in order to do this, as led by the Spirit, and as directed by God, we need to be those who are getting our truth from the Scriptures, taught in the correct context, and not out of context. And we should not be relying on other humans to tell us the truth that we need to hear and to share with others. For so many people today are teaching a false half-truth diluted gospel message intended to appease human flesh and to not offend the ungodly who they want to attract to their weekly “church” gatherings.

And as the Lord’s servants and messengers, God should be getting all the glory and praise for what he has and is accomplishing through us whose lives are surrendered to him to doing his will and to speaking forth his truths. For if truly what we are doing in ministry is of God, and is being led by the Spirit, and not by human flesh, then all the praise and glory belong to God, and not to us. For we can only do what we are called to do because God is in this and he is the one directing our steps, empowering us to obey.

So, is it okay for us to share our testimonies of what God is doing in and through our lives for his glory and praise, and for the encouragement of the people? We can, indeed, if it is shared in the right context, giving God all the glory and credit for what he is accomplishing in and through us in our own lives, and in the lives of the people to whom we are ministering. Paul did this regularly for the encouragement of the body of Christ as a whole and so that they would pray for him, as he faced many persecutions along the way, too.

And that is why I love Paul’s words here when he said, “For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me…” Paul was not a braggart who was egotistical and who loved the applause of human beings. He was a humble man of God, a servant of the Lord, who was willing to lay down his own life and reputation in order to follow the Lord in obedience in ministering to both Jew and Gentile for their salvation from sin and for their obedience to our Lord’s commands.

And he suffered much persecution and rejection and hard times and beatings and imprisonments and false accusations because he dared to tell the people the truth of the gospel in opposition to those who refused to accept Jesus as the Christ (the Messiah), who the Jews had long been awaiting. And if we are teaching the truth of the gospel, and we are refuting Satan’s lies, in American “Christian” culture today, we should expect to be treated badly by others who claim to be Christians but who are still living worldly lives.

So, what is the truth that Paul taught? The same as Jesus taught:

For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

And Paul taught that..

By God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

As the Deer

By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You


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Except What Christ Has Accomplished
An Original Work / May 23, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love