When a person believes in Jesus Christ, something happens far deeper than a change in behavior. Salvation is not merely the decision to improve our lives. It is not the beginning of a religious self-improvement program. It is a new birth.
\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\nJesus said in John 3:6-7, \u201cThat which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.\u201d The new birth is not merely emotional. It is not symbolic language for becoming more serious about church. It is a work of God within the human spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The person who believes on Christ is born of God. He does not merely receive a new set of rules; he receives new life. He does not merely turn over a new leaf; he becomes a new creation. Second Corinthians 5:17 says, \u201cTherefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Notice where this new creation is found: \u201cin Christ.\u201d The believer is not standing outside of Christ, attempting to remain close enough to Him through good conduct. The believer has been placed into Christ. First Corinthians 12:13 says, \u201cFor by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body.\u201d The Holy Spirit places the believer into the Body of Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is union, not merely association. First Corinthians 6:17 says, \u201cBut he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.\u201d The believer is not simply near the Lord. He is joined to the Lord. He is not occasionally connected when he feels spiritual and disconnected when he feels discouraged. Scripture says he \u201cis one spirit\u201d with the Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Colossians 3:3 says, \u201cFor ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.\u201d Consider the security contained in those words. The believer\u2019s life is hidden with Christ in God. Who can reach into God and remove the one He has hidden there? Who can overturn the Father\u2019s decision? Who can separate Christ from those who have been joined to Him?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No preacher can remove you. No religious accusation can remove you. No painful memory can remove you. The devil cannot remove you. Your emotions cannot remove you. Even your own failure cannot reach into the eternal purpose of God and pull you out of Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Romans 8:38-39 says, \u201cFor I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,\u201d nor any other created thing \u201cshall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paul did not say that most things could not separate us. He said nothing in creation could do it. If nothing created can separate us from the love of God, then our sins, weaknesses, failures, emotions, and struggles cannot possess the power to break our union with Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Galatians 2:20 says, \u201cI am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.\u201d The Christian life is not merely an attempt to imitate Jesus from a distance. It is Christ living in the believer. The old identity has been crucified with Him, and a new life has begun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Romans 6:6 says, \u201cKnowing this, that our old man is crucified with him.\u201d The old man is not slowly being crucified through religious discipline. Scripture says he \u201cis crucified.\u201d First Corinthians 6:11 says, \u201cAnd such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These words describe accomplished realities. Washed. Sanctified. Justified. The apostle did not say, \u201cYou may someday become washed if you perform well enough.\u201d He declared what God had already done through Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Colossians 2:10 says, \u201cAnd ye are complete in him.\u201d Our completeness is not found in ourselves. If we look at ourselves, we will always find weakness, inconsistency, and areas in need of growth. But God does not tell us to find completeness in our behavior. He tells us we are complete \u201cin him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Complete does not mean almost complete. It does not mean complete until the next failure. It does not mean complete only during seasons of strong faith. It means complete in Christ because Christ Himself is our righteousness, sanctification, redemption, and life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First Corinthians 1:30 says, \u201cBut of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.\u201d Everything we need before God is found in Christ. Our righteousness is not fragile because Christ is not fragile. Our acceptance is not temporary because Christ\u2019s acceptance before the Father is not temporary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
John 14:20 says, \u201cAt that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.\u201d This is the language of divine union. Christ is in the believer, and the believer is in Christ. The Christian is not climbing toward a distant Savior. He is living from the life of an indwelling Savior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First John 4:13 says, \u201cHereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.\u201d We dwell in Him, and He dwells in us. This is not temporary closeness based upon performance. It is the New Covenant reality established by God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The believer may lose sight of this union. He may live as though Christ were far away. He may become distracted by the world, burdened by guilt, or confused by religious teaching. But losing the awareness of union is not the same as losing the union itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Feelings may change, but the Word remains. Experiences may rise and fall, but the finished work remains. The believer may fail to enjoy the truth, but his failure to enjoy it does not cause it to become untrue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Christian cannot slide away from God in his spirit because he has been joined unto the Lord as one spirit. He cannot become spiritually unborn. He cannot become a new creation and later return to being the old creation. The life he received is not human life maintained by human strength. It is the life of Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Colossians 3:4 calls Christ \u201cour life.\u201d First John 5:11 says, \u201cGod hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.\u201d Eternal life is not something God hands to us separately from Christ. Eternal life is in His Son. Therefore, the person who has the Son has life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe that hath the Son hath life\u201d (1 John 5:12).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The believer is not trying to obtain life each day through good behavior. He possesses life because he possesses Christ. He is not attempting to maintain union through religious effort. He has been joined to the Lord through the work of the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That union is not fragile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That life is not temporary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That new birth cannot be reversed by human weaknes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When a person believes in Jesus Christ, something happens far deeper than a change in behavior. Salvation is not merely the decision to improve our lives. It is not the beginning of a religious self-improvement program. It is a new birth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28041,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[22,8,27],"tags":[318,100],"class_list":["post-28040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-errors","category-bible-study","category-bible-teaching","tag-eternal","tag-life","has-thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28040"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28043,"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28040\/revisions\/28043"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}