I need to let everyone know that don\u2019t live for Jesus anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Don\u2019t worry \u2013 I\u2019m still a Christian and follower of Jesus! However, I have a real problem with the phrase \u201cliving for Jesus.\u201d I\u2019ve heard it everywhere in Christendom \u2013 songs, sermons, testimonies. I\u2019ve been in services where the altar call invited people to come down front and declare that they will do a better job of “living for Jesus.” I understand the idea of living for Jesus meaning that He\u2019s the reason you live \u2013 He\u2019s the purpose and motivation behind your life. But most of the time I hear this phrase, its not in that context. While it may seem very admirable and even a desirable goal as a Christian to live for Him, I believe its NOT what Christians are called to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So whats the problem with living for Jesus?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1) Its unbiblical. <\/em>Go ahead and look for the phrases \u201clive for Jesus,\u201d \u201d live for Him,\u201d and \u201clive for God\u201d in scripture. I\u2019ve searched multiple translations of the Bible and I can\u2019t find it consistently anywhere. In Galatians 2:19<\/strong><\/a> the NIV and NLT versions says \u201clive for God\u201d but the same verse is translated \u201clive to<\/em> God\u201d in almost every other translation. \u201cLive to God\u201d seems to denote living our lives with God as our purpose \u2013 and makes much more sense than \u201clive for God.\u201d Basically, the idea of living for Jesus is not found in the bible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2) Its\u00a0impersonal<\/em>. Think about it \u2013 when you do something\u00a0for<\/em> someone, they aren\u2019t there, right? If someone asks you to run an errand for them, it because they aren\u2019t around to do it.\u00a0 So if we\u2019re living for God, where is He?\u00a0John 3:16<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0says that God so\u00a0loved\u00a0us that sent Jesus. Why? So we could have the restored relationship that Adam enjoyed with God. He wants to be with us!<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3) Its impossible<\/em>. Galatians 2:21<\/strong><\/a> says that righteousness cannot come from our own efforts. You, by your own works, can\u2019t do anything to put yourself in right-standing with God. No matter how hard you try to live for Him, you\u2019ll fail. This doesn’t mean we don’t attempt live holy lives unto God, but you can\u2019t \u201cdo\u201d Christianity without Christ!<\/p>\n\n\n\n So if we don\u2019t live for Jesus, how do we live?<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1)\u00a0\u00a0 Live\u00a0in<\/em>\u00a0Jesus \u2013\u00a02 Cor 5:17<\/strong><\/a> says we become new creatures if we are IN Christ \u2013 not living for him. If you look up with word \u201cin\u201d in Greek, it means \u201chidden in, tucked away, in the interior,\u201d and the AMP version says \u201cingrafted.\u201d Its the same word used of Jesus being \u201cin\u201d his mother Mary before He was born.\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t that sound good \u2013 to be completely hidden in, provided for, protected and shielded by Jesus? In addition, living in Him is even the way you deal with sin \u2013\u00a0 Romans 8:1<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u2013 \u201cThere<\/em>\u00a0is<\/em> therefore now no condemnation to those who are IN Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.\u201d There is no sin in Jesus, so as we hide ourselves in Him and learn to walk in the spirit, sin becomes a non-issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2)\u00a0\u00a0 Live\u00a0through<\/em>\u00a0Jesus \u2013\u00a0Philippians 4:13<\/strong>.<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 \u201cI can do all things THROUGH Christ.\u201d\u00a0\u00a01 John 4:9<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 \u201cGod has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live THROUGH Him.\u201d When you do something through another, you\u2019re using that thing\u2019s power and ability, not your own.\u00a0 What great news! See, we don\u2019t have to live for Jesus, we live through Him and use His strength and wisdom.\u00a0 We are acceptable to God when we live THROUGH him \u2013 1 Peter 2:5<\/a><\/strong>. Whats more, you don\u2019t work for Him, He works THROUGH you as you submit to Him \u2013 Hebrews 13:20,21<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n 3) Live with<\/em> Jesus \u2013 Colossians 2:13<\/strong><\/a> says that we are alive WITH Him \u2013 the word \u201cwith\u201d being \u201ca preposition denoting union\u201d (Strongs). Union \u2013 isn\u2019t that why God sent Jesus \u2013 to restore our union with Him? Again, when you do something for someone, they aren\u2019t there. However, when you live WITH Jesus, He is everywhere you go. You take Him to work with you, He goes grocery shopping with you and watches TV with you. 2 Cor 13:4<\/a> <\/strong>explains that if you want to have the power of God active in your life, its not earned \u2013 it comes by Him being WITH you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I encourage you to stop living for Jesus. Just quit \u2013 its not what you were made to do. Instead live in Him, live through Him, and live with Him. You\u2019ll find your relationship with Him will run much deeper than it ever has before. Once we stop trying to do<\/em> Christianity in our power, we can learn to simply be<\/em> Christians in, through and with His power.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I need to let everyone know that don\u2019t live for Jesus anymore. Don\u2019t worry \u2013 I\u2019m still a Christian and follower of Jesus! However, I have a real problem with the phrase \u201cliving for Jesus.\u201d I\u2019ve heard it everywhere in Christendom \u2013 songs, sermons, testimonies. I\u2019ve been in services where the altar call invited people to come down front and declare that they will do a better job of “living for Jesus.” I understand the idea of living for Jesus meaning that He\u2019s the reason you live \u2013 He\u2019s the purpose and motivation behind your life. But most of the time I hear this phrase, its not in that context. While it may seem very admirable and even a desirable goal as a Christian to live for Him, I believe its NOT what Christians are called to do. So whats the problem with living for Jesus? 1) Its unbiblical. Go ahead and look for the phrases \u201clive for Jesus,\u201d \u201d live for Him,\u201d and \u201clive for God\u201d in scripture. I\u2019ve searched multiple translations of the Bible and I can\u2019t find it consistently anywhere. In Galatians 2:19 the NIV and NLT versions says \u201clive for God\u201d but the same verse is translated \u201clive to God\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jamienunnally.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/73821.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamienunnally.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamienunnally.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamienunnally.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamienunnally.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamienunnally.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/jamienunnally.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":140,"href":"https:\/\/jamienunnally.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135\/revisions\/140"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamienunnally.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamienunnally.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamienunnally.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamienunnally.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}