SALVATION IN CHRIST REQUIRES A COMPLETE TRANSFORMATION IN YOUR MIND, HEART, AND LIFE

SALVATION. To Be Saved. Deliverance From Sin And It’s Consequences. Freedom. Preservation and Deliverance From Harm And Ruin. SO MANY WAYS TO DEFINE IT…but isn’t the Bigger Questions we ponder more important than mere Definitions ? What does Salvation mean for us Individually, and does it simply “Exist”, or do WE play an important role in it’s Power in our lives ? Why do so many Christians claim to be “Saved” because they believe in Jesus ? More pointedly, “Believe What ?” It is at this point that I believe we must realize that while Salvation is an amazing Gift Of Grace, it is Not Without Responsibility. SALVATION IF REAL REQUIRES A TRANSFORMATION IN WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO ! I’m not talking about following rules, or buying our way to Heaven by being a “Good Person” and doing nice things. Salvation for a True Follower of Jesus comes at a Great Price. Jesus died on a Cross in Our Place because WE, each of us, were DEAD IN OUR SIN ! Jesus died so that WE might have Life. In taking on our Sin, He set us FREE from the penalty of sin, which is Death. YOU LOSE YOUR SELF RULE, giving your Life To Him. YOU GAIN A NEW IDENTITY AND A NEW PATH AND PURPOSE. A TOTAL TRANSFORMATION OF YOUR HEART ! What springs forth from that Transformation is a New Way To Look At Things; A New Way To Behave and Think. YOU CHANGE ! It is like a wave in the sea, that once it starts to build, there is No Way to stop its’ journey toward Completion. Momentum crashes into everything and a whole new picture is painted on the sand and rocks that it touches. Powerful. New. Edifying. God in all His Love and Desire For Relationship has made it so.

THEREFORE, IF ANYONE IS IN CHRIST, HE IS A NEW CREATION. THE OLD HAS PASSED AWAY; BEHOLD, THE NEW HAS COME. 2 Corinthians 5:17

AND WE ALL, WITH UNVEILED FACE, BEHOLDING THE GLORY OF THE LORD, ARE BEING TRANSFORMED INTO THE SAME IMAGE FROM ONE DEGREE OF GLORY TO ANOTHER. FOR THIS COMES FROM THE LORD WHO IS SPIRIT. 2 Corinthians 3:18

AND HAVE PUT ON THE NEW SELF, WHICH IS BEING RENEWED IN KNOWLEDGE AFTER THE IMAGE OF IT’S CREATOR. Colossians 3:10

CREATE IN ME A CLEAN HEART, O GOD,, AND RENEW A RIGHT SPIRIT WITHIN ME. CAST ME NOT AWAY FROM YOUR PRESENCE, AND TAKE NOT YOUR HOLY SPIRIT FROM ME. RESTORE TO ME THE JOY OF YOUR SALVATION, AND UPHOLD ME WITH A WILLING SPIRIT. Psalm 51: 10-12

Why is it that SO MANY CHRISTIANS seem uncomfortable as they ponder Salvation. It is like a feeling of creeping ‘Doubt”. “Am I Really Saved ?” My take is that inside each of us there is a struggle that we must work our way through to truly embrace the absolute Conviction that We Abide In Christ, and He Abides In Us ! It seems to be a topic that the “Church” has not done a very good job defining, and so it leads many Christians to struggle with “Faith”, and deal with the constant battle of Flesh vs. Spirit. At the center of the struggle is a Simple Truth. Salvation in Christ will Absolutely, and MUST BRING TRANSFORMATION ! I think we are truly remiss if we think we can continue in our Old Selves and Old Sinful Habits and truly Abide In Christ. Our Faith and Actions require “real change”, not just Words. Jesus spent an abundance of time with broken and lost people. His message was one of Hope and Newness by Seeing and Hearing about God’s Kingdom, and putting it into Action by SEEKING GOD AND WALKING IN HIS WAYS ! Many people gathered to hear Him, just like today’s churches can be filled, but many walked away because “Change and Transformation” was Just Too Hard. Jesus Is My Savior…but that isn’t all He Is. He Is My Lord. He Is My King. My lip service to others doesn’t move Him. HE SEES MY HEART. HE WATCHES MY SIN; MY CONFESSION OF FAILURE: AND MOST OF ALL MY REPENTANCE. He wants us ALL IN. COMMITTED. A NEW CREATION. Anything less will just not do, and can ultimately leave your Faith and Belief on unproven ground.

COMMIT YOUR WAY TO THE LORD; TRUST IN HIM AND HE WILL ACT. Psalm 37:5

THE PLANS OF THE HEART BELONG TO MAN, BUT THE ANSWER OF THE TONGUE IS FROM THE LORD. ALL THE WAYS OF A MAN ARE PURE IN HIS OWN EYES, BUT THE LORD WEIGHS THE SPIRIT. COMMIT YOUR WORK TO THE LORD, AND YOUR PLANS WILL BE ESTABLISHED. Proverbs 16: 1-3

“I KNOW YOUR WORKS: YOU ARE NEITHER COLD NOR HOT. WOULD THAT YOU WERE EITHER COLD OR HOT ! SO, BECAUSE YOU ARE LUKEWARM, AND NEITHER HOT OR COLD, I WILL SPIT YOU OUT OF MY MOUTH. Revelation 3:15-16

NOT EVERYONE WHO SAYS TO ME, ‘LORD,LORD,’ WILL ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, BUT ONE WHO DOES THE WILL OF MY FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN. ON THAT DAY MANY WILL SAY TO ME, ‘LORD,LORD’ DID WE NOT PROPHESY IN YOUR NAME, AND CAST OUT DEMONS IN YOUR NAME, AND DO MIGHTY WORKS IN YOUR NAME ? AND THEN I WILL DECLARE TO THEM, ‘I NEVER KNEW YOU; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WORKERS OF LAWLESSNESS.’ Matthew 7:21-23

There may not be a worse predicament for a Christian to be in than wondering about their Salvation Status with God. All of us are sinners and even when we have wrestled in our human weaknesses and sinful natures and have found a firm belief….we still have those moments it seems, when temptation and sin pull us backwards. The Apostle Paul made it so clear in Romans, “why do I do what I want not to do ?” Truth be told, everyone has those moments, so how do we “define” where we are ? The answer comes from our Heart, and GOD SEES OUR HEART. “You are not perfect, but if you feel a sadness upon failure and you are Willing To Fight your way toward Repentance and Turn Away from Sin and Seek Me,….then You Are surely Saved. Continually striving for a contrite mind, heat, and spirit. Forging ahead in seeking God and trusting in HIS POWER TO FORGIVE AND TRANSFORM US IN LOVE. Admonishing, teaching, guiding, and moving us to an Intimacy in Relationship while prompting us to just and righteous ACTION. It is the real Intimacy of our connection to God that truly tells us where we are in our Walk Of Faith. In this place, you are as naked as you ever could be….perhaps more naked even than at your birth into the world. GOD SEES OUR HEARTS. MAKE SURE YOURS IS WHERE IT SHOULD BE…FOCUSED ON CHRIST IN EVERYTHING ! If you are, then there Is No Worry. GOD HAS YOU IN HIS HANDS. FEAR NOT?JAA

BUT YOU, O LORD, ARE A GOD MERCIFUL AND GRACIOUS, SLOW TO ANGER AND ABOUNDING IN STEADFAST LOVE AND FAITHFULNESS. Psalm 86:15