Salvation’s Ongoing Transformations

Photo by Tamilan pugal 2021

As we saw last week, salvation has an instant rewards program beyond compare! We are positionally justified in Christ, a new creation in Him, and sealed and indwelled by the Holy Spirit Who gives us at least one spiritual gift. We have instant and continual access to God the Father through prayer, and we are His adopted children and joint heirs with Christ.

But that is only the beginning! Throughout our Christian life, from the moment we are saved until the moment the Lord takes us home, we are progressively sanctified, meaning that we become more like Christ and progressively conformed or shaped into His image (Romans 8:29-30). He is the Potter, and we are the clay (Isaiah 29:16; 64:8; Jeremiah 18:6; Romans 9:21), continually molded and reshaped into a vessel of honor increasingly useful for His service (2 Timothy 2:20-21).

The process of progressive sanctification occurs through meditating on God’s Word, through prayer, through obedience, and even through trials causing suffering. God may allow trials into our life to increase our faith in and reliance on Him (2 Corinthians 12:9); to give us compassion and experience to be able to help others going through similar trials; and to help us identify with and understand Christ’s suffering on the cross (Philippians 3:10) as He paid our sin debt.

Beginning at the moment we are born again, the Holy Spirit is there to guide us (Romans 8:9;Galatians 5:25), to teach us from God’s Word, to let us know through our conscience when we are sinning, to comfort us in difficult times and to give us wisdom (John 14:16-26).

As our Guide, the Spirit teaches us to understand and know the Word, both the Scripture and Jesus Christ (John 14:26; 1 Corinthians1:18-31;2:9-15;13:9-12), Who is the express image of God the Father (Hebrews 1:3), Through the Spirit, we know that we belong to God evermore (Romans 8:16; 1 John 4:13-16). The Spirit keeps us in communication with Jesus Christ, and with the Father through Christ (John 14:17,20), allowing us to be filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19).

At the moment of salvation, our indwelling by the Holy Spirit gives believers the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16; Philippians 2:5). As we die to our sin nature and yield to the Spirit, we gain more and more access to that perfect Mind, and we are more able to walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16,25). We increasingly subject our body to His will, offering it to Him as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1) and recognizing that it is the temple of the Holy Ghost (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

We receive God’s grace upon grace, in a never-ending stream (John 1:16). Not only did His grace save us (Ephesians 2:8) and justify us (Romans 3:24), but it allows us to serve Him and work to bear fruit for His kingdom (Hebrews 12:28; 1 Corinthians 15:10). His grace strengthens us in our weakness and allows us to endure trials (2 Corinthians 12:9). It is a limitless resource, flowing more abundantly as our need increases (James 4:6; 2 Corinthians 8:7) and as we grow closer to Him in our Christian walk (1 Corinthians 1:3-5; 2 Peter 3:18).

We become His ambassadors through the work of the Holy Spirit! (2 Corinthians 5:20). As the saying goes, we are the only Bible many lost people will ever read, and the only Jesus many lost people will ever see. God has placed every believer in a unique sphere of influence and equipped each of us in a unique way to represent Him and to spread His Word in that community as we fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28: 19-20).

We grow and have opportunities for service to the community of believers. Led by the Spirit, we support one another in love (1 Peter 1: 22) as a church family, bearing one another’s burdens and so fulfilling the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2).  As we become more like Christ, we begin to love self-sacrificingly, as He did, showing that love not only toward God and toward fellow believers, but also toward the unsaved and even toward our enemies (Luke 10:27).

Just because we are saved does not mean that our problems will go away. Our health and financial condition may not improve, but our attitude will change toward our life circumstances. The Spirit helps us to realize that our earthly life is temporary and transient (James 4:14), and that we can look forward to eternity with our Lord and Savior! (1 Corinthians 2:9; Revelation 21:23)

Through the fruit of the Spirit, we will have peace that passes all understanding about whatever happens, because we will have faith that God is working it all out for our good and His glory (John 14:27, Romans 8:28). To unsaved people, that peace will be incomprehensible, because they rely on themselves alone to work out problems, and they cannot have peace when there is no apparent solution (Philippians 4: 6-7).

As part of the fruit of the Spirit, we will have joy in the Lord. The apostle Paul told us to rejoice always (Philippians 4:4), and he himself was able to do that despite being imprisoned, shipwrecked, beaten, and suffering from his thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 11:24-30; 12:7-10). 

Happiness is based on circumstances, but true joy comes from knowing that Christ died and rose again to give us the gift of eternal life (John 3:16). Nothing and no one can ever take that away from us (Romans 8:38-39. 

Whatever sorrow we experience on earth will disappear once we are with Jesus in Heaven (Romans 8:18). Earthly sorrow lasts a very short time, but the joy of being in His presence will last forever.

That is our blessed hope (Titus 2:13), of spending eternity with Christ and with fellow believers (Romans 15:13). We hope, not in the sense of wishing for it to happen, but in the faith-filled anticipation that it will come to pass, for He has said it and it is so! Our hope is in all the eternal rewards of salvation, which we shall discuss in a future post!

© 2013 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives

Triplets of Salvation: Restore

Photo by mbboston 2009

As I am slowly recovering from my illness by God's grace, the word "restore" comes to mind for the physical, mental and spiritual healing only God can provide. Only in Him can we be made a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15), once we are saved by our faith in the death, burial and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Hoping my readers enjoy this repost from the archives on the topic "restore."

In the comedy movie Bean, Rowan Atkinson plays a bumbling security guard assigned to protect the portrait of Whistler's Mother, bought by a museum for $50 million. When Bean is alone with the masterpiece for a few moments, he accidentally sneezes on the painting and then wipes it with his handkerchief, not realizing that it is soaked in ink from a pen that broke in his pocket. Things go from bad to disastrous as the ink stains the portrait; Bean tries to remove the stain with lacquer thinner, which dissolves Whistler’s mother’s face; and Bean “restores” it by drawing a cartoon face on the canvas.

In reality, the skill of fine art restoration is a highly technical, painstaking and detailed process requiring expertise, knowledge, and artistry. Man’s attempts at restoring broken lives, relationships and situations can be as clumsy as those of Bean unless they are guided by the Holy Spirit. Only God is the master Restorer, or Potter (Jeremiah 18:4; Isaiah 64:8; 29:6; Romans 9:21) who can reassemble the broken shards of our lives into a unified whole, remove the stain of sin from the canvas of our soul, and fill the empty spaces with an even better design than the one that was lost.

As we saw previously, three key words for salvation are redeem, restore, and renew.  Each of these is described in patterns of three in the Scripture, echoing God’s triune nature,

In the literal sense of the word, it may be necessary to restore physical property (Genesis 42:25,28; Leviticus 6:4,5; 25:27,28; Judges 11:13;17:3; etc.), animals (Exodus 22:1,4; Leviticus 24:21; Deuteronomy 22:1-2; 28:31; etc.), or persons (2 Kings 8:1,5; Isaiah 57:18; Matthew 12:13; Mark 3:5; 8:25, etc.) that are damaged, stolen or killed. Restoration may involve being repaired, replaced, or reunited with the rightful owner, spouse, or employer.

At God’s instruction, the pagan king Abimelech restored Sarah to Abraham as his wife and also gave him sheep, oxen and servants to make up for him desiring her, not knowing she was married to Abraham (Genesis 20:7,14).

Naomi lost her sons to starvation in the famine, but God restored to her, through her daughter-in-law Ruth, descendants who would not only bring new purpose to her life but who would lead to the blood line of Jesus Christ Himself! (Ruth 4:13-22)

When Joseph was imprisoned along with Pharaoh’s butler and baker (three prisoners), he correctly interpreted the butler’s dream of three budding branches on the vine, from which the butler plucked the grapes, pressed them into a cup, and gave the cup to Pharaoh (Genesis 40:11,12). Joseph accurately predicted that in three days, Pharaoh would restore the butler to his former position, as described in three verses using the word “restore” (Genesis 40:13, 21;41:13).

Joseph asked the butler to remember him when he was released, to be kind to him, and to mention him to Pharaoh so that Joseph would also be released (Genesis 40:14). Joseph also correctly interpreted the baker’s dream of three white baskets on his head filled with baked goods eaten up by birds to mean that in three days, Pharaoh would behead the baker, hang his body on a tree, and allow the birds to eat his flesh (Genesis 40:16-20). What a dark contrast to the butler’s dream foretelling restoration!

Moving from the physical to the spiritual realm, there are three main uses of the word "restore" as it applies to spiritual restoration: personal restoration of the believer by God; restoration of other believers by children of God led by the Holy Spirit; and restoration of God’s creation by Himself at the end of the age.

In the Shepherd’s Psalm (Psalm 23), David praises God for restoring his soul.in the midst of difficulties and trials, which involves God’s provision of green pastures (physical sustenance), still waters (spiritual peace), and paths of righteousness (deliverance from sin; v. 2,3).  Despite the dangers of death, evil, and enemies (v. 4,5), David thanks God for preparing a feast for him, anointing his head with oil, and filling his cup to overflowing (v. 5). He looks forward to God’s ongoing blessings of goodness, mercy and eternal life (v.6)

In Psalm 51, David begs God to restore to him the joy of his salvation (v.:12) as he repents of sinning wickedly against God in adultery with Bathsheba, deceit in attempts to cover his sins, and ultimately murder of Uriah (2 Samuel 11). This type of spiritual restoration involves God looking away from our sins, blotting out our sins (Psalm 51:9), and not rejecting us because of our sins (v. 11). Once this cleansingphase of restoration occurs, God can complete the process by creating a clean heart in us, renewing a right spirit within us (v.10), and upholding us with His spirit (v. 12).

The second type of spiritual restoration refers to born-again (John 3:3-8), mature believers restoring fellow Christians who have fallen into habitual sin, which is possible only through Holy Spirit guidance. This process has three goals: bearing one another's burdens, teaching one another from the Word, and doing good to everyone, but especially to fellow believers (Galatians 6:2,6.10).

However, Paul gives three warnings concerning this. Firstly, only spiritual Christians living for God, and not carnal Christians led primarily by their sin nature (Romans 7:15-25; 8:1-17), should attempt this process. Secondly, they must correct the fallen Christian in meekness and humility, not committing the sin of pride with a “holier-than-thou” attitude. Third, they must avoid temptation themselves, remembering the ever-present sin nature that may make it easier for a carnal Christian to pull a spiritual Christian into his own wayward lifestyle or habit than for the spiritual Christian to restore the backslider (Galatians 6:1,2).

Paul expands on these three warnings regarding restoration of other believers by counseling the one attempting the restoring not to think too highly of himself (v.3), not to sow to his own flesh (v.8), and not to get tired and give up on helping others (v.9). For those following Paul’s advice in restoring fellow believers, three rewards await: eternal life (v.8), spiritual harvest (v.9), and being a new creature glorying only in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (v.15). They will be blessed with God’s peace, mercy (v.16) and grace (v.18).

The third type of restoration in the symbolic sense refers to God’s plan for His creation at the end of the age. May we trust God to restore us from sin and to joy in Him, enabling us to encourage and guide one another!

© 2014 Laurie Collett