It’s later than it’s ever been. —Flip Wilson
In the 70s, a popular comedian, Flip Wilson, came up with a great tagline. He would do something wrong, get caught, and emphatically use this excuse: “The devil made me do it!” Before we knew about our identity in Christ, it would have been easy to use the same excuse. When we mess up, just blame Satan, the world, and that old sinful nature in us! Right? Nope!
This old way of thinking is obsolete and irrelevant. Being “in Christ” opens the door to a whole different mode of existence. Living a life of obedience to Him is just being true to who you are in Him. Your identity was settled at the cross. Your life now is not your own; it belongs to Christ. You are His child, and you have become His righteousness! You still can sin, but the power of sin to control you is now gone. The battle between good and evil has already been won—that was done on the cross.
Hey, Satan is still alive and well on planet earth; I don’t doubt that for a moment. He has an IQ of about a billion and an army of fallen angels carrying out his schemes. Before we were in Christ—and before we understood who we are in Christ—Satan kept our heads spinning with his lies. No more.
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)
Now that we have been set free with Truth, he can’t make us do anything. On the other hand, when we rest in Christ and trust in His presence in us, the righteousness of God becomes our experience.
I can do all this through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:13)
Now, when you walk in righteousness, you can rightfully proclaim, “Christ made me do it!”
Jesus, I praise You that You are in me and that You are greater than Satan, who is in this world. I rest in that truth. I lay all of the choices I will make today at Your feet. As I make them one by one, I trust that You will move through me to make my actions and my words a reflection of the righteousness of God that is in me because You are in me. Amen.