When a person accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as his or her Savior, that person becomes a “new creation.” The Bible states, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). A new creation means a new lifestyle that involves changes in our thought processes, speech, actions, behavior, and conduct. We are actually saying ‘good bye’ to the old lifestyle or the “old self.” As the Bible puts it, “seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Colossians 3:9,10).
When Jesus saves us, He does not immediately take us to heaven. Rather, we continue to live in the “here and now” because christians play a very vital and essential role in the world. In His high priestly intercessory prayer to God, Jesus prayed, “I do not ask that you take them [Christians] out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:15-17). Christians are witnesses and ambassadors forJesus Christ. The apostle Paul writes to believers, “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20).
Paul identifies changes that result from the new lifestyle and writes: “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” (Colossians 3:12-14).
Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Truly truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). This means a change from the old lifestyle (how we were born) is necessary in order to be right with God. Jesus also stated, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh [how we came into this world] and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, You must be born again” (John 3:6-7). (Italics mine).
God makes it abundantly clear that without exception, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). And also, “as it is written: None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one ” (Romans 3:10-12). Salvation or “being saved” was therefore necessary for “deliverance from sin and its consequences” and results in having faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of past, present, and future sins. Sin brings about death and separation from God, but salvation restores us to God. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
The “gift of God” is Jesus Christ. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). God in His wisdom, love, and mercy has provided the only remedy for man’s sinful condition in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ who, as the Scripture states, “For our sake he [God] made him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). In context, all this is from God, who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself. For man to be at peace with God, he must first be reconciled to God.
Jesus bore them on the Tree.
God who knew them
Laid them on Him,
And believing we are free.
Christians fully realize that as human beings, we are unable live and please God as the way we were born, which is an inescapable situation. David said. “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5). This means from the very point of conception in our mother’s womb you and I are sinners. Some may take offense at this statement. But it is absolutely true. How is it then no one has to teach an infant to do wrong?
By trusting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of your life, you have absolutely everything to gain spiritually and nothing to lose except your sins and guilt as a sinner. However, this does not mean that you will not sin. God declares, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Also note, ”God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9).
Salvation is both for the present and the future, because our faith does not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God Almighty. Spiritual principles are not of human wisdom but are revealed by God Himself. “But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God” (1 Corinthians 2:9,10). Why not repent of your sins, trust Jesus Christ as your Savior today and enjoy a change of life for the better. May God help you to do so. Amen.