Jesus not only died, He rose again. Today He is a living Savior. He has all power in Heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18). He has power to keep the weakest sinner from falling (Jude 24). He is able to save not only from the uttermost but “to the uttermost” all that come unto the Father through Him. “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:25). “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).
To receive Jesus is to believe what God tells us in His Word about Him: to believe that He did rise from the dead, to believe that He does now live, to believe that He has power to keep us from falling, to believe that He has power to keep us from the power of sin day by day, and just trust Him to do it.
This is the secret of daily victory over sin. If we try to fight sin in our own strength, we are bound to fail. If we just look up to the risen Christ to keep us every day and every hour, He will keep us.
Through the crucified Christ we get deliverance from the guilt of sin, our sins are all blotted out, we are free from all condemnation; but it is through the risen Christ that we get daily victory over the power of sin.
Some receive Christ as a sin-bearer and thus find pardon, but do not get beyond that; and so their life is one of daily failure. Others receive Him as their risen Saviour also, and thus enter into an experience of victory over sin.
To begin right, we must take Him not only as our sin-bearer and thus find pardon; but we must also take Him as our risen Saviour, our Deliverer from the power of sin, our Keeper, and this find daily victory over sin.