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

I’ll Take the High Road, or Low Road?

 

Photo by Elfea 2009

I dreamed I was in an old tenement section of a city, trying to find my way home. I was making my way from building to building by traveling across the rooftops and at times from one window ledge to the next, even though my path was dangerously narrow. I was afraid I would fall to the concrete below, where broken glass, garbage, and jagged rocks cluttered the ground.

At one point my path across the window ledge and over the roof was blocked, and I realized I had no choice but to climb down before I could resume my journey. I crawled down the side of the wall by placing one foot after another on protruding bricks, made my way on the pavement to the next building, then scaled the wall so I could continue on the high road. It was exhausting, but I was relieved to be on the rooftop again where I felt safer.

Then the scene changed in the dream and I was in the mountains of Ireland, hiking with a group of friends from our church. We started out along the path leading up from the road toward the gentle slope of the hillside. In the distance we could see the craggy peaks of the summit, and my pace quickened, for I yearned to be up there to get a better view.

But then I heard a voice calling me from below and I realized that one of my friends, a young woman, had ventured out on an alternate path from the trail head. It appeared to lead to a short cut and to save time reaching the summit, but it was actually more treacherous because the level stretch led straight through a bog.

From past experience I know that getting your boots stuck in the mud of an Irish bog is a sensation that I imagine is like being in quicksand. On one occasion I actually had to leave a boot behind and hobble back to the path in one boot and one sock, because it was the only way to escape being pulled down further.

The last thing I wanted to do was to leave the exhilarating trail leading upward and to go back, risking getting stuck in the mud. But now my friend’s cries sounded desperate; the others had already disappeared around the bend; and I knew I had no choice. I hurried back down the path, grabbed a few stray branches to pave our way, and helped her out of the bog and back to the main road.

As I awoke, I thought about the parallels between the situations in the dream and detours in our Christian walk. Like other aspects of life, we never remain in the same place – either we are advancing and making progress, or we retrogress and get further away from our desired destination.

We long to find our way home, for we are just strangers in a foreign land (Hebrews 11:13; 1 Peter 2:11), and we long to reach the summit where we will see Christ face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12). One day we will, if we place our faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6).

When Christ returns for His children at the Rapture (1 Corinthians 15:51-57; 1 Thessalonians 3:13-18), we will instantly be transformed and receive our glorified bodies to be as He is. But until then, we undergo the gradual change of sanctification (1 Thessalonians 3:8-13; 4:1-12), becoming more conformed to His image through prayer, meditation on His Word, and even suffering (Philippians 3:10).

Sometimes what seems like a setback in our Christian walk may actually be a trial God allows into our life to increase our faith in and dependence on Him, to conform us into His image through suffering, and to give us compassion and experience to help others going through similar trials (Romans 8:28).

In the first part of the dream, when I was trying to get home, the path to my destination was narrow and challenging, as is the Way that leads to Heaven (Matthew 7:13-14). When my path across the high ground was blocked, I had to descend downward into danger, but only for a short time before He provided a way back up again.

Even when we are in a deep pit (Job 33:28-30; Psalm 30:3; Isaiah 38:17), or passing through the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23:4), we have no cause to fear, for He will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). When obstacles in our path seem insurmountable, He will guide us to the mountain pass leading safely through them.

The second part of the dream was a reminder that God has made divine appointments for us since before the beginning of time (Ephesians 2:10; Romans 8:29-30), although we have the free will to accept or decline them.

In the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37), the Pharisee and the Levite ignored the wounded Samaritan on the side of the road. But no doubt they felt justified in doing so, because to stop would have taken them away from what they thought was their higher calling – namely, fulfilling their religious duties and service. By not stopping they actually showed that their hearts were not with Jesus (Matthew 15:8), Who commanded that we love one another (John 13:34-35).

Yet Jesus said that the true neighbor in the parable was the Samaritan who tended to the dying man at great expense and sacrifice to himself, showing God’s selfless love (John 15:13) and putting His plan above his own personal agenda (Proverbs 3:5-6). May we listen when He calls us (John 10:27) to help others, even though at the time we may have different ideas of how we should be serving Him.

 
May we walk toward the heavenly places He has appointed for us by walking in love (Ephesians 5:2), in the light (1 John 1:7), and in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16,25) until He comes again!

© 2015 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives

Love Never Ends

Photo by Pauuuvicious 2013

In the past two weeks, five Christian families we know have lost a loved one, and three years ago a dear friend of mine from high school lost her son. I cannot even begin to imagine how deep a loss that is, and psychologists say that is the worst life event one could possibly endure. She has so beautifully preserved his memory and his life-affirming spirit in so many ways – celebrating his birthday, placing a memorial bench along a path he enjoyed hiking, and writing many moving Facebook posts. 

In response to one of these posts I wrote “Love never ends,” as the Spirit moved me. But as I thought about it subsequently, I realized that there is a sound theological basis underpinning that statement. 

John, the beloved apostle of Christ, wrote that God is love (1 John 4:8). God is never-ending, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end (Revelation 1:8,11; 21:6; 22:13), the self-existent, great “I AM” (Exodus 3:14) Who spoke His creation into existence (John 1:1-3). So, if God is love, and God transcends all time, then love also must never end. 

John went on to say that we love God because He first loved us (1 John 4:19), and that we love Him and one another as an expression of His love (1 John 4:7-21). So even human love, as empowered by His divine love, must also never end. Jesus Himself summarized all the commandments by telling us to love God and to love one another (Matthew 22:37-40) 

“Agape,” translated from the Greek as “charity” in the King James Version, is that self-sacrificing love epitomized by Christ, giving all while receiving nothing in return. He suffered on the cross, laid down His life for His friends (John 15:13), and was the perfect, sinless sacrifice to pay for all our sins (John 1:29) even while we were His enemies (Romans 5:6-10). 

This agape love is what God is, and what we hope to emulate in our earthly relationships. None of this is possible without yielding to His Holy Spirit, Who indwells each believer (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; 4:30) at the moment we are born again (John 3:3-8) by placing our faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6). 

John also writes that God is light, referring to His perfect holiness and purity untainted by even one iota of darkness (John 1:4-5; 1 John 1:5). Through the science of physics we now know that light also never ends, for it is an energy wave composed of particles known as photons, and it cannot be created or destroyed. (However, Einstein discovered that under extraordinary circumstances, energy and matter are interconvertible). Because light never ends, we ultimately can see light from distant stars many, many light-years away. 

Because God is love, and God is light, then love must also be light, a never-ending, pure, holy, spiritual energy emanating from God Himself. Finally, John reveals that God is Spirit (John 4:24), which further confirms the spiritual nature not only of God but also of love. 

In the well-known “love” chapter of Scripture, 1 Corinthians 13, often read at weddings, the apostle Paul explains that love is the motivator that gives our words, deeds, and life itself its meaning. We can be the most eloquent of speakers; have impressive spiritual gifts of prophecy, tongues and faith; and do charitable deeds, even the ultimate self-sacrifice of giving our body to be burned. But unless these are motivated by love, they are without meaning or value. 

Faith is the cornerstone of our salvation, for we are saved by God’s grace through our faith in His Son (Ephesians 2:8-9), and without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Our glorious, living hope (1 Peter 1:3; Titus 2:13) is in Christ’s return for His children at the Rapture, when we shall be as He is and live eternally with Him and our loved ones in Him (1 Corinthians 15:51-57; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). That hope encourages us to press on even when our earthly circumstances and future seem bleak.

But Paul writes that love is even greater than faith and hope! (1 Corinthians 13:13). I believe that is because of the eternal nature of love, but not of faith and of hope. Now we experience Christ imperfectly through His Word and His Spirit within us. We have faith in His precious promises, and hope that He will soon return. But when we see Him face to face, we shall know Him perfectly and completely even as He knows us! (1 Corinthians 13:10-12).

Then we will no longer need faith or hope, for His promises will be wholly and eternally fulfilled. We don’t need to believe or hope that we will receive a reward once we actually receive it. We will live and reign forever with Him in glorified bodies that will never age, sin, or experience sickness, sorrow or pain (1 Corinthians 15:35-50). We will forever enjoy His radiant presence and that of our loved ones in Him, never having to say goodbye, even if temporary. The glories of Heaven and the bliss we shall experience there are beyond our imagination (1 Corinthians 2:9). 

Faith and hope will vanish, for they will no longer be needed, but love shall endure! Heaven will overflow with fountains of love for Him and for one another, for love never ends! Even while we walk this earth, we can know that Spirit-inspired love for Christ and for one another will never end. May we spend our days as channels of His perfect love!

© 2016 Laurie Collett

Edited and reposted from the archives

The Test

In this dream, I rushed toward a large igloo-shaped structure where I was going to take the most important test of all time. I’m a graduate of Princeton University and Cornell Medical School and have had interviews at other prestigious universities and for jobs around the country, so I realize all that can hinge on a brief performance situation, but this was different.

What made this test so unusual was that I didn’t know what the anticipated outcome would be if I passed or if I failed – all I knew was that I had to pass no matter what. Even worse, I had no idea what the test parameters or criteria were, just that I had to convince whoever was making the final decision to choose me. 

A long line of applicants wound tightly around the huge dome, and as I raced toward the end of the line, I arrived there at the same time as, or, more honestly, a split second after, another applicant. We both jockeyed for position, and even though I knew she really had arrived first, I pushed ahead of her, due to my sense that time was of the essence.

But surprisingly, the line was moving at lightning speed, and within moments I was inside the dome. There were many displays set up, which appeared to be miniature dioramas depicting battles and other world events, although I didn’t understand their significance. There were also writings in arcane languages I couldn’t read, and I was baffled as to what I was supposed to do next.

“Do you know how much time we have?” another applicant asked me anxiously. 

“No, but it’s probably not going to be enough, so there’s no sense in wasting it on pointless discussions,” I replied rudely.  

Still having no idea what I was supposed to do, I assumed that I should write a report on the exhibits, but there was no paper. I asked the proctor if he had any, and he handed me a tiny slip of lined paper that would barely hold a few words, along with a large stack of other materials. These included draftsman’s tools (a T-square and a right-angle triangle), a score to the opera La Traviata, and a large, gaudy, sequined applique decoration. 

Of course, these additional materials did nothing to clarify the task at hand. I was now hopelessly confused and despondent of ever achieving the desired result, and tried to make the best of a dismal situation. The paper was far too small for me to write an essay or even the simplest of observations. I am terrible at drawing and don’t know how to make blueprints, so I knew I couldn’t use the drafting tools to impress the examiner with my abilities. I don’t read Italian, and although I enjoy singing, I doubt I could do justice to any of the arias in the La Traviata score.  

Which left the big, tacky, sparkling applique decoration. True, it didn’t really belong to me, but maybe I could use it to adorn a dance costume, and the proctor hadn’t specifically said not to take the test materials out of the building, I rationalized, so what would be the harm in keeping it? 

Suddenly it hit me how miserably I had failed. The test was not about my answers, or essay, or artwork, or singing, or about my performance at all – at least not in terms of how the world measures success. The test had served to prove what a terrible person I am, one unworthy of any special position or consideration. 

First, I had put my own needs ahead of those of another, even though she rightly deserved to go ahead of me. Then I was rude and mean-spirited to someone who needed my help and encouragement. Finally, I had falsely justified stealing something that wasn’t mine.

I awoke in a panic, the motor of my mind racing at breakneck speed. But then I felt an all-forgiving sense of peace and acceptance as I felt the loving embrace of Jesus.   

“I came to seek and save that which was lost; to bring not the righteous, but sinners to repentance,” I imagined Him saying (Luke 19:10 5:32). He did it all, the perfect sacrifice for our sins, dying on the cross to reconcile sinners to His Holy Father, and rising again so that all who place their faith in Him as their Lord and Savior have eternal life (John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 15). 

No one can pass the test, for we are all sinners deserving eternal punishment in hell (Romans 3:10, 23). Our limited human minds can’t even bend around the idea of what that would be like, in all its horror (Mark 9:43-48), or what wonderful blessings Our Father has planned in Heaven for those who love Him (1 Corinthians 2:9). How tragic it is that the lost don’t even realize the stakes involved, or know how to be sure they can spend eternity in Heaven.  

As we enter the dome of this world for our all-too-brief stay (James 4:14), there are many opportunities to excel, bringing the world’s admiration for our accomplishments, or glory to God (1 Corinthians 10:31), depending on our motives (1 Corinthians 3:8-15). We operate from our little corner of the universe, watching world events unfold throughout history without any true understanding. 

But what the Bible makes clear is that none of us can perform well enough or do sufficient good works to earn our way to Heaven, because our righteousness is as filthy rags beside His pure holiness (Isaiah 64:6). We are saved by His grace through faith, not by our works (Ephesians 2:8-9).  

The T-square in the dream reminded me of the cross, where Jesus said “It is finished,” (John 19:30) as He alone accomplished His saving work to reconcile us to God (2 Corinthians 5:18-19; Hebrews 2:17). And the triangle reminded me of the Trinity, as well as of the relationships that God commands us to have. If we imagine ourselves at the right angle of the triangle, we are to love Him (extending upward in the vertical direction of the triangle), and to love one another (extending outward in the horizontal direction of the triangle; Luke 10:27)  

Due to our sin nature, we sometimes turn our attention not to heavenly things such as the cross or the Trinity, but we let our minds and hearts drift to the glittery, yet eternally insignificant, baubles the world provides (Romans 12:2;; Matthew 6:19-25). Even worse, we may resort to stealing, hurting other people, or other sinful means to get what we think we want, when the best and perfect gifts (James 1:17) of His grace (Ephesians 2:8; 2 Timothy 1:9) and wisdom (James 1:5) are freely available to all His children.  

Time is short, and we will meet with temptation along the way. Interestingly, a search of Google reveals that the name “La Traviata” means “The Fallen Woman” or “The Woman Who Goes Astray.” God always provides a way out of temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13), but sadly, we don’t always take it. Yet when we fail, praise God that the shed blood of His Son washes away our sins (John 1:29), and that when God looks at us He sees not our sins, but the perfect righteousness of His Son! (Romans 4)  

The true test is not our own qualificatiions or how well we can perform on our own, for without Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5). But when we come to the end of ourselves and realize that we are sinners in need of a Savior (Romans 3:23), and that He is the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6), He immediately accepts us and grants us entry! He transforms us from His enemies to His children, joint heirs with Christ, and His ambassadors! (Romans 8:16-18; 2 Corinthians 5:20)  

The true test is how we answer His question, “Do you love Me?” (John 21:15-17)

© 2012 Laurie Collett