Changed

August 26

Job 34-35

Psalm 97:1-5

Proverbs 21:9-10

Galatians 1

Changed

“And I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which are in Christ; but only, they kept hearing, ‘He who once persecuted us is now proclaiming the good news of the faith which he once tried to destroy.’  And they were glorifying God because of me.” Galatians 1:22-24 LSB

There is a process that happens at the moment of salvation.  We are brought from being dead in our sins to being made alive in Christ. (Romans 6:1-14, Ephesians 2:1-5) Our status changes because we are adopted as children of God.  (Romans 8:17)  The Holy Spirit indwells us and begins the process of sanctification.  It is important to emphasize the order here.  A person is not saved by changing their life, rather, being saved inevitably changes their life.  There are some changes that occur right away, but some that happen over time.  The change may not be evident at first, but over time it will become obvious.  Little by little the Holy Spirit works on our heart to get rid of our sinful habits and desires, renew our mind, increase our faith and transform our behavior.  We cannot stay the same. (Romans 8:1-11)  If there is no change, we should question whether there was a true salvation experience.  

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold new things have come.”  2 Corinthians 5:17 LSB 

“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; and I will remove the heart of stone from

your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to do My judgments.”  Ezekiel 36:26-27 LSB 

Radical transformation took place in Paul’s life when He met Jesus on that road to Damascus.  He was a changed man and it became immediately apparent to everyone who met him.  He went from persecuting and killing Christians to proclaiming the message that he had tried to destroy. Not everyone has an experience like Paul.  I was saved when I was 9 years old.  I do not remember a time in my life when I didn’t believe in Jesus, go to church every week, pray and read my Bible regularly.  At the age of 9, there was a moment when I came to the realization that I needed to personally accept Jesus into my heart.  At that moment, I was changed.  There was not some radical behavioral change that took place, but the Holy Spirit began the process of sanctification in my life.  Sanctification is the process by which the Holy Spirit transforms us into the image of Christ.  That happens over the course of a lifetime.  There will never be a moment until the rapture when we receive our glorified bodies that the sanctification process is done and we are perfect and holy like Jesus, but there should be recognizable, consistent growth over time.  Are you closer to Jesus than you were last year?  Are the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) more evident in your life than they were a few years ago?  Has your life been changed by the presence of the Holy Spirit?