Ep 111 – Romans 15:14-22

Sometimes it can feel as if living the Christian life is impossible. The standards feel too lofty, the expectations, too great. Many of us feel pressure to meet the expectations of those around us – well-meaning fellow believers, who give us a list of rules to keep or criteria to meet. We feel the need to compare, using everything from the length of our quiet times and the number of verses we have memorized, to the depth of our Bible knowledge and the regularity of our church attendance. But Paul would have us understand that our faith is not to be measured by our accomplishments as much as by our dependence upon the Holy Spirit. It is He who produces righteousness within us. It is He who gives us the capacity to live holy lives. Our growth in Christ-likeness is not to be accomplished in our own strength, any more than our salvation was accomplished by our own merit. We have what it takes to live holy lives, and He's called the Holy Spirit.