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Who You Are |
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The moment you received Christ as your savior your whole life changed. You may not have realized it, but it happened. Not everyone’s experience of salvation is the same. I have seen crying salvation, shouting salvation, hugging salvation and quite, peaceful salvation. Some are overcome with joy and gladness, others seem to be overcome with great peace. When you have opportunity to share your experience with others, tell them how it was with you.
What you received when you were saved.
At the point of salvation, you were born again. Your new birth was from on high, from God. You became His child, and He became your father. Immediately, a new relationship was established between you and God, the creator of all things. You became alive unto God. This new birth is the birth of a new nature in you. It is called the new man, a new creature, the spiritual man. The bad news is that you also still have the old, sinful nature with you. With this new birth, all things have become new unto you. You may have noticed a change in your attitude about things. Questions abound, and you have new excitement and anticipation. Praise the Lord, for this is evidence of your being saved. Now for some really good news. Upon your new birth you were given three spiritual gifts, these gifts are from God; they are not natural but supernatural. In other words, they don’t come from within ourselves of this world. They are the gift of Hope, the gift of Faith, and the gift of Love. We will examine these gifts in the next session.
The following are some facts about you:
* You are a new creature.
* You have been transferred from the rule of darkness to the Kingdom of God.
* Your burden of sin is gone.
* You passed from death unto life.
* The peace of God reigns in your heart.
* Every child of God in the world is now your brother or sister in Christ.
* Now you belong to God and every promise of God’s word to His children is made available to you.
* You are now in a position to serve God and become an heir of God and a joint heir of Christ.
* You are a child of a King.
* You will never be alone in life.
* God will be with you always.
* Life is now only really beginning for you.
* You will notice a change in yourself and the way in which you view life and the world. Your values, thought, and attitudes will become different as you grow in the Lord.
* Jesus Christ is now the best friend you will ever have.
But now that you have taken this step, Satan has become your avowed enemy, so you may expect him to cause you some rough times. But don't fear Him!
The following are some things you can expect to happen.
Doubt will come.
This is a very common occurrence. Satan will try to make you merely THINK you are saved. Remember these facts: Satan is a liar; God’s Word has the answer for your doubts; and don’t base you belief of salvation on feelings.
(John 5:24) Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
You may be tempted to turn back into the world.
The way to resist temptation to sin is to “shun evil companions,” and seek the association of those who can strengthen you and help you. Also avoid questionable things. Don’t ever consider turning back; keep your loyalty to Christ.
You will sin after salvation.
Don’t be shocked about this. As long as you are in the flesh you will have a fight with carnality. Don’t give up, fight against your weakness. Jesus Christ has promised to provide you with strength in these battles.
God is faithful to forgive and to cleanse you from every sin, but you will need to confess your sin to Him. Don’t ever try to hide your sin from God. Get them out into the open with Him and deal with them
Other Christians might disappoint you.
These things happen. Don’t be disturbed about it. Fix your eyes on Christ and pray that your conduct will measure up to His expectation. None of us will ever reach a state of sinless perfection in this life. And we all have failures.
You will have opposition and people will offend you.
The world is full of sinful people who delight in ridiculing Christians. Take this suffering as a joy in that you have suffered for Christ. Show your love to all men and forgive everyone who trespasses against you. Do good to them.
(2 Cor. 5:17) Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.
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Next: Getting Involved
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This page last updated January 18, 2005 at 10:10am
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