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  THE CHRISTIAN LIFE: A SHEER IMPOSSIB ILITY!
  by Major W. Ian Thomas
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Summary: The Christian life is a sheer impossibility without Christ, but
with Him, it is possible, and it can be explained only in terms of His
life and power.

Topics: "Christian Living", "Dependence On God"
Scripture References: John 15:5, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 2:20, Philippians 1:21, Colossians 3:3

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DESCRIPTION
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Major W. Ian Thomas emphasizes that living the Christian life is not
about our own abilities or efforts but about fully relying on Jesus
Christ. He highlights that if our Christian life can still be explained
by our own attributes, then we are not truly living as Christians. The
key is to let Jesus Christ be the essence of our lives, so much so that
our neighbors are baffled by the quality of life we lead, recognizing it
as beyond human explanation and only possible through God's work in us.

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CONTENT
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"It is not difficult for man to live the Christian life," somebody once
said, it is a sheer impossibility!"

A sheer impossibility, that is, without CHRIST ­ but for all that He
says, you have all that He is, and that is all that it takes!

The Christian life can only be explained in terms of Jesus Christ, and
if your life as a Christian can still be explained in terms of you ­
your personality, your willpower, your gift, your talent, your money,
your courage, your scholarship, your dedication, your sacrifice, or your
anything ­ then although you may have the Christian life, you are not
yet living it!

If the way you live your life as a Christian can be explained in terms
of you, what have you to offer to the man who lives next door? The way
he lives his life can be explained in terms of him, and so far as he is
concerned, you happen to be "religious" ­ but he is not! "Christianity"
may be your hobby, but it is not his, and there is nothing about the way
you practice it which strikes him as at all remarkable! There is nothing
about you which leaves him guessing, and nothing commendable of which he
docs not feel himself equally capable without the inconvenience of
becoming a Christian!

It is only when your quality of life baffles the neighbors that you are
likely to impress them! It has got to become patently obvious to others
that the kind of life you are living is not only commendable, but that
it is beyond all human explanation! That it is beyond the consequences
of man's capacity to imitate, and however little they may understand
this, clearly the consequence only of God's capacity to reproduce
Himself in you!

In a nutshell, this means that your fellow-men must become convinced
that the Lord Jesus Christ of whom you speak, is essentially Himself the
ingredient of the Life you live!

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Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/major-w-ian-thomas/the-christian-life-a-sheer-impossib-ility/
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