Mere Christianity Quotes (p. 93)

Here is another excerpt from Mere Christianity, in which C. S. Lewis speaks of morality and our understanding of good and bad:

When a man is getting better he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him. When a man is getting worse he understands his own badness less and less. A moderately bad man knows he is not very good: a thoroughly bad man thinks he is all right. This is common sense, really. You understand sleep when you are awake, not while you are sleeping. You can see mistakes in arithmetic when your mind is working properly: while you are making them you cannot see them. You can understand the nature of drunkenness when you are sober, not when you are drunk. Good people know about both good and evil: bad people do not know about either.

Christ in You

To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)

What assurance does the believer have that his salvation will not be lost? that he will reach the ultimate goal of heaven?

On the night before He was crucified our Lord made the remarkable statement of John 14:20, "At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me and I in you." Of the twenty words in our English translation nineteen words are of one syllable, and the twentieth is a two-syllable word that is usually one of the first words learned by any child. Our Lord wanted everyone to understand clearly. Three reasons are given for the security of the believer: the fact that Christ is in the Father, that the believer is in Christ, and that Christ is in the believer. Any one reason would be sufficient. The last, however, was the Lord's assurance to the disciples that His indwelling presence would be with them after His death and resurrection. Jesus Christ would not only be for them and with them, but He would also spiritually indwell them.

"Ours is not a dead Savior. He is a living Savior. He arose from the grave, and ascended to the Father's right hand. There He is our Intercessor and Advocate. But He also dwells within the believer--He lives in our hearts by His Holy Spirit, whose temples we are (1 Cor. 6:19). This is the Christian life--the life of Christ Himself in the heart. The great revelation of which Paul was minister to make known to all who believe, is this: 'Christianity is Christ--Christ in you, the hope of glory' " 
(E. Schuyler English).

This is not only doctrine to be known but also a life to be lived. He not only wants to indwell us but also to be Lord of our lives, to be enthroned in our hearts.

(this devotional by Dr. Elliot R. Cole)

The Lord Fills Us With Awe

In fact, except for the grace of God--the God of my grandfather Abraham, the awe-inspiring God of my father, Isaac--you would have sent me off without a penny to my name. But God has seen your cruelty and my hard work. That is why he appeared to you last night and vindicated me. (Genesis 31:42)(NLT)

Jacob learned that God's power far exceeded his own ability to manipulate or control his circumstances. If the Lord, "the awe-inspiring God" of his father, Isaac, had not intervened for Jacob, he would surely have been overwhelmed by his enemies. Jacob had recognized this as he denounced Laban's unjust practices against him. Jacob knew that the Lord had protected him. This "awe-inspiring God" of Isaac protects us as well. We can call upon him to right the injustices we see around us, and we can trust in his ability to overcome them.

O GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB, the one who inspires awe in all who witness your majesty and power, cultivate in us a profound reverence and love for you. Forgive our prideful self-sufficiency and our reluctance to call upon your name. Teach us to appeal to you when others treat us unjustly. Release us from our desire to vindicate ourselves. We praise you, Father. Amen.

(from the Praise and Worship Study Bible--Tyndale House Publishers)

Mere Christianity Quotes (p. 92)

Here is another excerpt from Mere Christianity in which C. S. Lewis speaks of Christian morality.

People often think of Christian morality as a kind of bargain in which God says, "If you keep a lot of rules I'll reward you, and if you don't I'll do the other thing." I do not think that is the best way of looking at it. I would much rather say that every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature: either into a creature that is in harmony with God, and with its fellow creatures, and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God, and with its fellow creatures, and with itself. To be the one kind of creature is heaven: that is, it is joy and peace and knowledge and power. To be the other means madness, horror, idiocy, rage, impotence, and eternal loneliness. Each of us at each moment is progressing to the one state or the other.