For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith." Romans 1:17 

When we become born again Christians, God's expectations for us are very high. He doesn't just want us to become good, He wants us to become perfect - just like Jesus. It is God's will that we become "conformed to the image of his Son."

However, we will never succeed in accomplishing this as long as we think it is all up to us. It is crucial that we understand this is a life-long process that is accomplished not by our power, but by His power at work within us.

We live the Christian life the same way that we enter the Christian life. How did we enter the Christian life? We surrendered our life to Christ, opened our heart to Him, and trusted Him to do for us what we could not do for ourselves.

We continue to live our Christian life in the same way - day by day we surrender to Christ, open our heart to Him, and trust Him to do for you what you cannot do for yourself. We are saved by faith, and we live by faith.

The key to the Christian life is faith - faith in the Lord and not faith in our own selves or even in our church. The same Lord, who saves us from sin by faith, is also able to keep us from sin by faith. He saves and preserves.

The same Lord, who begins with us by faith, is also able to carry us through by faith and give us the grace to finish what He began in us by faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please God.

Prayer: Help me Lord, to live by faith and not by my own strength.

Scriptural Reading: Romans 1:8-17