(Galatians 2:20) "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."
(II Corinthians 3:6) "For the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life."
Years ago Captain Reginald Wallis made the statement "The greatest thing I learned after becomig a Christian was I could not live the Christian life. One of the objections many Christians hear from sinners that they're trying to win to the Lord is, "There's no way I could ever live the Christian life. It's impossible. I'm not good enough to live the Christian life." That's the typical statement a sinner will make when a Christian tries to encourage him/her to give his/her heart to the Lord to become saved. The truth of the matter is that no person has the capacity in himself or herself to live the Christian life. The statement that Captain Wallis made was right on target. Nobody--lost or saved, has the capacity to live the Christian life--that is through the flesh. Nobody could ever live the Christian life through their own physical strength. Anybody that tries to live the Christian life on their own will fail miserably. I'm going to make a bold, dogmatic statement. No child of God has ever lived the Christian life. The Apostle Paul, King David, Samuel, Elijah, Noah, the Apostle Peter, and the list continues have never been able to live the Christian life. The only person that's ever been able to live the "Christian" life or the perfect life without transgressing the law is Jesus. He lived a sinless, spotless life. He fulfilled the law. Nobody outside of Christ has ever been able to live a perfect life. Why? Jesus was born without sin. He was born through a virgin by the aid of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, he wasn't tainted with sin. Mankind since the fall of Adam was born in sin. Therefore, no man can please God in the flesh because he possesses a sin nature. Even the best of men can't please God. Isaiah 64:6 confirms that all our righteousness is as filthy rags. Even when you think you are at your best, your goodness is filthy before God. We can't please God in the flesh.
I have another dogmatic statement to make. If man could live the Christian life then there would've been no need for a Saviour to come to this world to die for the sins of mankind. The very fact that Jesus came to this world to die for the sins of mankind illustrates the fact that man can't obtain his own righteousness. Man can't live the Christian life. If man could live the Christian life through his own merits, then what would've been the need for God to send his Son into this world? Jesus' death would've been in vain. The Apostle Paul in Galatians 2:20 says that we are crucified in Christ. The life that we live is through Christ. It's Christ living in me. It's not I trying to please God in the flesh. In I Corinthians 15:10 Paul says that "I am what I am by the grace of God." All the heroes of faith we read about that stood for the faith did so through Christ. They had the Spirit of God dwelling in their hearts. God knows our frame. He knows our limitations. He knows we can't conform to His image by ourselves. God's given us the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us into all truth. It's the Spirit of God that enables us to conform to Christ's image. The Christian life can't be lived without the Spirit of God dwelling in us and enabling us to live for Him.
What a miserable life it would be if we had to live for God in the flesh. We would miserably fail. II Corinthians 3:6 says the letter killeth but the Spirit giveth life. Does that mean the law is bad? No. The law is holy and righteous. The problem is the law condemns us. But the good thing about that is the law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ so we can be justified by faith. How can we come to God if we don't know we've sinned and fallen short of the glory of God? A sinner must become aware that he's transgressed the laws of God before he can get saved. The law is good and wonderful. However, we can't live the law through our flesh. We will fall short if we rely on the flesh. That's why Romans 3:23 says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There's not one person that's good. There's not one person that can ever life a life pleasing to God through the flesh. It takes the Spirit of God to enable us to live for Him. It takes the Spirit to conform us to the image of Christ. The Christian life can't be lived apart from the Holy Ghost.
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