First Step with God Course, lesson 2
First step with God course 2, Lesson 2
Lecture 1.2. Change
Starting Your New Life
A. Changed People
Last time I talked about the fact that after conversion, things are going to change. I also talked about the fact that in conversion, we are born again into a new life–into a new kind of life. My emphasis this morning is on the fact that this new life of the new believer is different; it is, and must be, different from the life lived before conversion. I want to emphasize that we have been changed, and changed people behave in a changed way.
1. Separation from God
What I’m going to say should not come as a shock to anyone. Think back for a moment to our conversion, and remember what happened in our conversion. We certainly understood that we had been separated from God. We had come to an understanding that we were sinful. We came to an understanding that Jesus’ death on the cross paid the penalty for sin so that we could be forgiven. We certainly understood that while formerly we did not live in a relationship with God, but after our conversion we did live in a relationship with God, and now He is our Father and we are His children. Even if we just reflect upon these facts, we would say, “Well of course my new life as a believer is going to be different; it has to be different because I am different.”
2. Repentance
We certainly understood that in conversion we were called to repent–one of the many ways that Scripture describes conversion. In Acts Chapter 3:19-20, Peter is talking to the people and he says, “Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sin may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord…”
If we mull over what it means to repent, we will understand that on one hand, it means to change our thinking about who Jesus is and what He has done. In conversion, we changed our thinking from Jesus’ being just some historical figure to believing that He is God; that is repentance. Repentance, on the other hand, is not only changing our minds, but it is also the commitment to change our lives and our actions. Repentance is the commitment to turn our backs on sin and turn towards God and live new kind of lives.
I think one of the clearest descriptions of repentance is in the book of 1 Thessalonians. Paul had evangelized in Thessalonica probably just four to five months earlier; it was a brand new church, and he had to leave quickly. He wrote back to the Thessalonian church these words, so listen to his description to them in 1 Thessalonians 1:9, “You turned to God from idols to serve the living and the true God.” This is what repentance is all about: Changing our minds and then making a commitment to change our actions. As we understand the concept of repentance, we’re going to say, “Well of course my life as a new believer has to be different because I am different.”
3. Dead in Sin, Alive in Christ
Perhaps in our conversion, we even understood, as in the words of Paul to the church at Ephesus, that prior to our conversion we were dead; we were dead in our sin. However, when we became children of God, He made us alive; marvelous imagery, isn’t it? The fundamental core, the very essence of who we are has been radically and fundamentally changed. We were dead but now we’re alive! Certainly, the life of a living person is going to be radically different than the “life” of a dead person. Right? People who are alive tend to have a different set of experiences than people who are dead. Perhaps we understood this concept when we became Christians and now we say, “Well, of course my new life as a believer is going to be changed, because I was changed; I can’t be the same any longer.” So even as we reflect over what we understood as we became Christians, we’re not surprised at all to hear the Bible say that life is going to change for us. Things aren’t going to be the same anymore .
Perhaps we understood this concept when we became Christians and now we say, “Well, of course my new life as a believer is going to be changed, because I was changed; I can’t be the same any longer.” So even as we reflect over what we understood as we became Christians, we’re not surprised at all to hear the Bible say that life is going to change for us. Things aren’t going to be the same anymore.
B. What Happened?
As I reflected upon this topic, I started thinking about all the things that happened when I became a disciple of Jesus Christ. In fact, there were many more things that happened to me when I became a Christian at seven years old than a seven-year-old could possibly have understood.
I want to help all of our understanding–our picture of conversion–and for some of us, this will be review. Perhaps for some of us, who are new in our faith, our response is going to be, “That happened?” “God did that for me?” “I didn’t know that!” “That’s amazing!” I want all of you to realize, the more we see and understand the change that God worked in us–whether we fully understood it or not at the time of our conversion–the more we’re going to naturally understand that our new lives must be different from our old lives. Our new lives as believers are going to be different because we are different.
1. Before Conversion
Allow me start with what happened before conversion: Did you know that it was God who drew us to Himself? Do you understand that when we started, maybe for the first time, to feel guilty or think, “Oh, that wasn’t right,” then all of the sudden, we started to perceive the need for forgiveness? Yet just the week earlier, we did the same thing and we didn’t feel any guilt. Do you know that that was God working in us? we were spiritually dead at the time, we couldn’t feel guilt. Any dead people feel guilt? No, it doesn’t happen. That was God at work in us, drawing us to Himself.
When we started to have this sense of emptiness and incompleteness, thinking, “Something’s missing in my life”, that was not a natural thing, that was God’s saying, “I created you for Me and I created a vacuum in your heart and I’m the only one that can fill it; sports can’t fill it; wealth can’t fill it; popularity can’t fill it–you can try all you want, nothing can fill it but Me.”
When we started to understand these things, it wasn’t our doing it, but it was God at work drawing us to Himself. Jesus says, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.”
In fact, when we were finally faced with the claims of Christ and He asked us to believe, do you know that the very faith with which we responded was a gift from God? In Ephesians 2:8, Paul tells the church in Ephesus, “For by grace you have been saved, through faith. And that,” this entire salvation process, “is not of yourselves; it is a gift of God…”
So even if we didn’t fully understand it, that was God working, pulling, convicting, encouraging, and bringing people into our lives as He was drawing us to Himself.
2. Responded in faith
Finally, when we were faced with making the decision, and we did respond in faith in our actual conversion–that very moment, we were rescued. We were rescued from the kingdom of darkness and brought into His marvelous kingdom of light; we changed allegiances and our sin was totally forgiven. There is nothing we can do to put ourselves out of God’s ability to forgive us; that’s the power and sufficiency of the cross.
We were justified. Justified is a legal term meaning we were acquitted of all our guilt and all our sin; God, the Judge, forgave us. We were freed from all condemnation, because on the cross, Jesus’ death absorbed God’s entire wrath against our sin so that we can stand without condemnation; there is no one to condemn us before the Judge.
We were redeemed. Redeemed is a term from slavery where Jesus’ death on the cross paid the price to secure our freedom, so that we are no longer under the mastery of sin; you and I were redeemed.
We were sanctified. We may not always act like it, but we were made holy. Jesus’ holiness, His righteousness, was imputed to us; all of that happened when Billy Mounce said, “Yes,” and all that happened to you when you said yes to the claims of Christ in your life.
3. A new creature
Wait, there’s more! God caused us to be born again. He made us into a new creation, new creatures. He adopted us as His children. He brought us into a new family with a new Father, brothers, sisters, a new inheritance, and a new home. This world is not our home; my citizenship and your citizenship is in Heaven–it’s not here.
Then God gave us His Holy Spirit to encourage us, to guide us, and to guarantee that what Jesus has promised to us will in fact come to pass. You know what? I could go on for pages because the Bible is constantly trying to fill out this picture as it struggles to use language to describe what is indescribable. The fact is that our lives are going to be different. Our lives can’t possibly be the same because we are not the same; that’s just the way it is.
One of the most powerful passages which describes this is in Romans 6. Paul had to deal with the issue of ongoing sin, breaking God’s laws, in the lives of the believers–children of God. In other words, what do we do with disobedient children? In Romans 6:2, he summarizes his answer, “How can we, who died to sin, still live in itt?”
That’s basically what I’ve been saying. When we consider what happened in conversion and how the language explains that we “died to sin,” how can we continue to live in sin? “I changed, so therefore, my life must change with it.” To explain what he means, Paul goes into a discussion of baptism.
4. Baptism
We might not be aware of what baptism is, other than seeing the word “Baptist” on the names of some churches around town. Paul goes into a discussion of baptism and its relevance. Allow me to explain:
If you are going to be baptized here, we will pull the doors apart behind me and there is a warm hot tub back there. You will go down into the water with me or another pastor or your friend or your mentor, who led you to Christ. You will stand in the water and he will ask you to tell your story–your testimony. Then upon profession of faith, upon your saying, “Yes, I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior,” they will take you put you under the water and then bring you back up; that is baptism.
Understand that baptism is not an act of salvation. Baptism doesn’t save anybody. Baptism is an act of obedience; we are commanded to be baptized by Jesus. What we are doing in our baptism is publicly proclaiming that God has changed us.
When we are baptized, we are saying, “I believe in Jesus.” As we go down under the water, it is not only as if we were being washed from our sin, but also it’s as if we were being buried; in other words, we are dying to our old selves. As we are coming up out of the water, it is not only representing again that we have been washed free from our sin (what Christ did for us on the cross), but also that we are coming out to new and different kind of lives–changed lives. I needed to say all of that as background, otherwise what Paul continues to say in Romans will not make any sense. “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:3-4)
Paul is telling us to think back to our conversions; think back to the public professions in our baptisms. What happened? As we went under the waters, we were dying to our old selves; we were dying with Christ. You and I are somehow mystically joined with Christ, and we died to that old life that we lived. As we come up out of the baptismal waters, we are raised. Just as Christ was raised from the tomb, so also are you and I raised. Just as Christ was raised to a new kind of life, so also you and I come out of our conversion baptismal experience being raised to a new kind of life; that is the point that Paul is making in Romans 6.
C. What does this new life look like?
How can we who died to sin and have been buried with Christ now live in it since we have been raised to a new kind of life? If we really understand what happens in conversion and hear the biblical call that our lives must be different, we’re going to respond: “Yeah, of course my life is going to be different, because I’m different. I’ve died to sin. How can I live in it?”
So what does this new life look like? What does this newly changed life look like? There are many, many different descriptions of what a new life look like in Scripture; I’ll be hitting on this topic all the way through this series of talks. There are two teachings of Scripture that I want to introduce to all of you up front to help define what this new life is going to look like.
1. Discipleship
The new life of someone who comes out of conversion is going to be a life of discipleship. When we become Christians, we become followers of Jesus–we become learners of Jesus. We understand that Christianity is not some spiritual spasm; for example, “Oh, yeah, I’m sorry for my sin.” Christianity is not a one-time event. We know that conversion is a crucial and necessary step, and it is the first step in a life of being a disciple of Jesus Christ. One of the most powerful passages along these lines is Mark 8:34, where Jesus basically says to his disciples, “If you want to follow Me, if you want to be a disciple, if you want to be a Christian, you must deny yourself and take up your cross and follow Me.’”
Jesus is telling His disciples that if they want to be Christians, if they want to be disciples, and if they want to be followers of Jesus Christ, they have to deny themselves. We have to relinquish our wills and submit to the will of God, then everyday we will live as those who have been crucified to their own ambitions and desires and live for the will of God.
Then something happens to us: We get hurt, and our sinful response is, “I have a right to get angry, that person hurt me.” Then we hear the words of Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane (Luke 22:42), “…not My will, but Yours,” God, “be done.” So we submit our wills–we relinquish our wills–to God and we forgive that person who hurt us.
Or perhaps something really, really unfair happens to us. Our natural response is, “I’m going to get even; that wasn’t right. I’m going to teach that person a lesson.” Then once again, we hear the words of Jesus, a sinless man crucified, who was treated even more unfairly. He says, “not my will, but yours, be done.”
You and I are called to relinquish our wills and to respond with kindness in humility. “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32)
You see, that’s what the life of discipleship is about; it is a life of saying, “This isn’t mine any longer, but I live for Your pleasure and Your glory, God, and it is not my will.” We daily, by the minute and sometimes by the second, are called to relinquish our wills and say, “I’m not Bill Mounce, I’m a disciple of Jesus Christ”; that’s one of the very powerful pictures of what this new life looks like–a life lived in following Jesus.
2. “Fruits of the Spirit”
One of the other pictures that is very powerful is this phrase, “Fruits of the Spirit.” I really wanted to explain this, but I understand that some of you may not understand any of the words in that phrase. Allow me have a little digression and then I’ll come back to it.
When I talk about the Fruits of the Spirit, or when I even talk about the Spirit with a capital “S,” I’m talking about God’s Spirit, or someone who is called the Holy Spirit–in older English, the Holy Ghost. How do I explain that? There are a couple of words. First of all, Christians believe in monotheism. “Mono” being “only” or “one,” and “Theism” meaning “We believe in God.” We’re monotheists–we believe there’s only one God. The Bible says, “Hear, Oh Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.” So we’re monotheists: We don’t believe in multiple gods, we don’t believe in local pagan deities, but we believe in one God–His name is Yahweh.
We also believe in a Trinity. We believe in a Trinity not because it makes sense to us, but because the Bible teaches it. “Trinity” is a word that means “three-ness.” What the Bible teaches is that while God is one, there are also three persons in God: (1) God the Father, (2) God the Son, and (3) God the Holy Spirit. Each One is fully God, and each One with a distinct work and a job that He does, and yet there is one God; we believe this simply because it’s the only way to understand the Bible; it’s a mystery! I don’t even know if we’ll fully understand it when we see Him face to face, but we believe that there is one God and yet He is three.
This third member of the Trinity, this Holy Spirit, is about whom we’re talking when we talk about the Fruits of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is who drew us to God. The Holy Spirit is who enabled us to respond to the Gospel. The Holy Spirit is who regenerated us and gave us new lives. The Holy Spirit is who guides us and empowers us every day of our Christian walk. The Holy Spirit is who gives us the ability to bear fruit; therefore, we have Fruits of the Spirit. Now we know who the Spirit is–the third member of the Trinity.
So what does it mean to bear fruit? Just as a healthy fruit tree produces fruit, a good orange tree produces oranges, and a good tangerine tree produces tangerines, so also a healthy Christian’s life will change–those changes we call fruit. Paul writes to the church in Galatia, in Galatians 5:22, “But the fruit of the Spirit,” the changes that the Holy Spirit is going to affect in your life; this is what your life is going to look like, “is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…”
All of the sudden, we’re going to realize where we’ve always found that certain person difficult to get along with, now where there was no love before, or perhaps an imperfect love, we find something inside of us that wants to put them first; this is called love.
We’re going to realize that when things get difficult and there’s conflict or suffering or pain– where in the past we completely fell apart–all of a sudden we realize that there’s joy in the midst of the pain! Where did that come from?
Not only are we going to realize there is a joy developing inside of us that is not based on circumstances, but now there is something that is down deep that is based in the love and joy of our relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
All of the above realizations are the Fruits of the Spirit, and this is where our lives as new believers are headed; the work of God begins when we start experiencing these kinds of changes.
D. How Do I Change?
We may have already started to see the process of changing. Sometimes change is slower than we like. Sometimes we stumble, but it is a process of changing and growing as we walk as disciples of Jesus Christ, bearing fruit and living changed lives.
I think the logical question would be: Is this change automatic? Another way to ask this question is: What is my role in this change or do I even play a role at all? Let me briefly share a few things:
1. Change is not automatic
First of all, the answer is no. Change is not automatic. We can fight it and we can win at our own peril, but the change that God wants to effect in our lives is not automatic. Now, when you and I became Christians, the mastery and the tyranny that sin had over us was broken; we no longer have to sin, but sin is still present and sin is not passive.
One of the lessons I’ve been learning this year is that for some reason, I had this picture of sin as being passive, lurking around in the recesses of my mind. Sin is not passive, is it? Sin is active, and it is aggressive, and it is going to do everything it can to bring us back to Satan. When you and I became Christians and we were moved out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, we made an enemy, didn’t we? He is a formidable enemy and his name is Satan. However, Jesus is greater than Satan is and He has conquered Satan. Satan did not like losing us from his kingdom and he is going to fight.
2. God enables us
So change is not automatic, and it’s not something that just kind of happens. However, don’t get discouraged; we’re not going to be able to change on our own. God is not sitting there saying, “Okay, now you have love and you have peace.” Somehow, we feel like, “Oh, there are all these things I have to do.” No, that’s not what’s going on.
Rather, there is this marvelous, middle position–the biblical position–that says, “God is going to be at work in you, and He is going to be giving you new desires; desires He will give you the ability to accomplish.” Then He calls us to cooperate. Now, I’m not talking about salvation; I did not cooperate with God in my salvation, because I was dead at the time. I did not do anything to earn God’s favor.
However, when it comes to areas of Christian growth, God gives us abilities; then through the power of His Spirit, He enables us to move forward and take that next step–we must take that next step. There are two strong verses along these lines; one is Philippians 2:12-13. Paul is talking again to the church that is in Philippi, “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling…” in other words, we’re not earning your salvation but we’re doing the next thing; we’re working out the consequences of our conversion. Then he says: “…for it is God who works in you…”; that’s incredible! The God who creates galaxies with distances beyond human comprehension is at work in us. God is at work in us! Then Paul says that God gives us the desire and then the ability to do it.
You and I can’t do it on our own and God knows that, “our frames are but dust,” the psalmist says. But having given us the desire and then the ability, He then says in a passage like Romans 12:1,“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God,” because of all that God has done in His mercy, “to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
Do not be conformed to this world. What does that mean? As Phillips translates it, "Don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."
So that’s the balance of this incredibly new and great Christian walk. God gives us desires. He gives us, through the power of His Spirit, the ability to pursue love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Then he says that we need to take the step.
I’m reminded of passages such as Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him,” see, that’s what we do, and then the Proverb continues, “and He will make straight your paths,” that’s God’s part. Trust in Him. Lean on Him. He is our Rock. He is our Refuge. He will direct our paths. He will make our paths straight.
You and I are called to be the salt of the earth. We are called to be different from everyone else. Life has to change because we’re different; it’s a wonderful walk; it’s a joyous walk as we are changed from one degree of glory to the next and look more like our Savior Jesus Christ.
© 2004 Bill Mounce. Website: www.BiblicalTraining.org.
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