“Peter said, ‘Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.’ And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength” (Acts 3:6,7).

This notable miracle caused a wonderful excitement among the people. Now make the application:

The man was “lame from his mother’s womb,” unable to help himself. He would gladly have walked but he could not. We likewise can say with David, ”I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me” (Ps. 51:5). Each year of the man’s life increased his inability to walk by increasing the weight of the body, while his limbs grew no stronger. So the repeated practice of sin as we grow older strengthens its power over us.

Yet the Name of Christ, through faith in it, gave him perfect freedom from his infirmity. So we, through faith, may be made whole and enabled to do what hitherto has been impossible. One of the wonders of faith, as shown in the ancient worthies, is that “out of weakness [they] were made strong” (Heb. 11:34).

The very act of loosing us from the power of sin proves God’s acceptance of us as His servants. And now comes the conflict again. Satan comes, armed with the lash of fierce temptation. We know by sad experience that he is more powerful than we are, and that unaided we cannot resist him. But we cry for help. Then we call to mind that we not Satan’s subjects any longer. We have submitted ourselves to God, and therefore He has accepted us as His servants. This is evidence that God will protect us, for He cares for His own. We have the assurance that He who has begun a good work in us, “will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6).

In this confidence we are strong to resist.

Waggoner, Christ and His Righteousness, pp. 90-92