June 7 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

Salvation is a very personal matter. Yet you cannot possess it privately, outside the church of the redeemed.

When it comes to salvation, it is not always easy to find the right balance between the personal and the communal. But it is certainly true that nobody is saved by a general knowledge of sin and grace. We must know sin and salvation personally. If we don't, we know neither one.

Usually Paul talks about we and us and ours when he speaks of salvation. But here he becomes personal. He talks about I and me and mine.

"I no longer live," he says. Do notice, however, that when he tells how he was saved, he speaks of the cross that stood on Golgotha. "I have been crucified with Christ." There the old power was broken, and he became free to serve God.

The new life is described in this way: "Christ lives in me." That's the redeemed state. Anyone who was included in Christ's death and resurrection can say something about this new impulse: Christ is in us. That does not mean that the "I" disappears. You keep your personality. Paul still talks about "the life I now live in the body." But this life is lived unto God. Paul lives it "by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

Everyone who knows the self-giving love of the Savior knows this new kind of life. "He loves me!" Yes, he loves you too. But now allow me to say: "He loves me!" He gave himself for sinners, yes, thousands of them, but now allow me to confess: "He gave himself for mel"

Christ dominates my life. He rules my inner being. A friendly guide may help you out of the maze of the city to the expressway and then say: "From here on you're on your own." But that's not the way Christ saves. He saves to renew. He stays in us to reach for others. Grace flows through us because Christ lives in us.

REFLECTIONS

Reflect on how Christ loves you, died for you, and lives in you. Then give thanks.

Andrew Kuyvenhoven's Daylight, a modern devotional classic, was originally published by Paideia Press in 1977. This updated edition is copyright 2009 by Faith Alive Christian Resources. You can order a copy of this revised version of the book directly from the publisher.

A man of many accomplishments, Andrew Kuyvenhoven is probably best known for his contributions to Today (formerly The Family Altar), a widely-used monthly devotional booklet associated with the Back to God Hour. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations for this updated edition of Daylight are from the Holy Bible: Today's New International Version copyright 2001, 2005 by the International Bible Society.