Saved by His Life

Today has been a pretty run-of-the-mill day. Thom left on another 2 week trip yesterday. This time he's off to Germany, then China. The kids and I stayed home doing school work and trying to recover from a nasty cold.
Meanwhile, I've been pondering a thought that Dallas Willard brought out in his book, The Spirit of the Disciplines. It is rather appropriately timed, as tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, marking the beginning of Lent. When I think of what Jesus has done for me I picture the crowning moment of his life as his sacrifice on the cross. It was that act of suffering and death that gave us our salvation. But is that all he did for me? Romans 5:9-10 says, "Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life." Did you catch that? By his Death, Christ took the consequences of our guilt upon himself, so that we could be reconciled to God, but by his Life we are saved. His Life! The Bible places considerable emphasis on Life (John 10:10, I John 5:12, Eph 2:5). I think I will be spending a good bit more time studying and meditating on how Jesus used his life.