Paul wrote: “And those (God) predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.” (Romans 8:30)
Becoming a Christian changes you in many ways. Some of them are visible, but many are not. It’s important that you should understand these changes. When God saved you from the fate your rebellion deserved, offering the perfect sacrifice of Christ on your behalf, He also prepared blessings for you. He didn’t need to do so. God doesn’t owe you anything; but the same love that rescued you also showers you with blessings. God’s power, now released in your life in the form of the Holy Spirit, grants you these gifts:
You are born again. Before, you were dead in sin. Now, you are new born. Your past is forgiven. You have a clean slate. You get the chance to live a totally new life in the service of God’s Kingdom.
You have the gift of faith. In the past, you wondered why others had faith and you did not. Wonder no more. By God’s gracious act, you now have the ability to trust Jesus for your salvation.
You have the gift of repentance. God’s Spirit, at work in you, enables you to both see how serious sin is, and to realize your need to repent. Before, your sins didn’t bother you. Now they sear your renewed conscience. You have come alive spiritually.
You have a much deeper love for God. Now that you can see how far you had fallen, and how low He had to stoop to rescue you, you have a much greater appreciation of what God has done. Fear is replaced by love. Your relationship with God becomes much closer. You begin to understand the depths to which love will go.
Along with these inner changes, God also blesses you with changes in your outer state. Specifically, you have been changed in the way in which you relate to God.
You are justified. Your relationship with God is restored. You are acquitted, declared ‘not guilty.’ Christ’s perfect obedience, in life and in death, is reckoned as yours. Your sins have been atoned for through your Savior’s sacrifice. You are free. You are as God always intended you to be.
You are reconciled. The barrier that once separated you from God has been removed. Before, you were God’s enemy; now, you are His friend.
You are adopted. Once, like Adam, you lived in disobedience. You did not know God as your father. If you knew Him at all it was as a tyrant. So, you wandered far from Him, lonely, angry, and afraid. Now, you have come home, and God has welcomed you with open arms. You are no longer a child of darkness, you are numbered among the children of God.
Finally, you are blessed with a sure and certain hope, in these ways:
You have the hope of heaven. When your earthly body dies you will finally know the perfect holiness of those who rejoice in God in heaven.
You have the hope of resurrection. You are an heir of the promise that, when Christ returns, as He has said that He will, and God’s plan reaches its conclusion, your body and soul will be reunited.
You have the hope of eternity. When you face your Maker on judgment day you will be able to point to Christ as the source of your salvation. You will escape the fate of those who reject Him. You will enjoy the reward of an eternity of praise.
As you grow in the Christian life, you will learn that there is more to knowing Jesus Christ than I have explained in these, few lines. You will never tire of learning more about Him, and you will never regret the day you accepted the Savior as your own.
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