Philippians 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Philippians 3:3 For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—
Ephesians 2:18-19 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
Failure to live the Christian life is due to one’s utter inability, but it is all governed by the Father. He teaches us to become proficient in failure, in order to bring us to total reliance upon His Son, who is our Christian life. “For to me to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21).
“It is a wonderful moment for the believer when we by faith occupy our standing in the favor of the Father – when we know that we are received by Him in all the acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ.
“We do not then think of ourselves, of our worthiness or unworthiness, at all. We think of the Lord Jesus – His perfections, His suitability to divine favor, His infinite acceptance with the Father – and by faith, we have access into the favor of which He is so worthy.” -C.A.C.
“To find that we are objects of consideration to the Lord Jesus is an infinite solace, and it brings Him before our hearts in such a way that we are sustained above the consideration of ourselves.”
“There is an infinite difference between self-improvement and growing in the Lord Jesus, nourished and cherished by Him. Instead of being elated by our own improvement, or depressed because we cannot effect it, we are to be occupied with the grace and beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ, in which we are thus made to share.”
“We cannot be in the presence of the Father in innocence, for we are guilty; so that we must be there in His righteousness, and that place which used to repel us, now forms me into a likeness of itself. I am not tolerated there, I am at home; and where the distance was, there is now nearness and attraction.” (Stanford)
