However you refer to this act and status – salvation, born again, saved – this is not something to be taken lightly. I know I talk about this subject… often, both implied and directly. The reality is that when it comes to spiritual matters… we are always learning, always seeing new understandings about the ‘topic/subject’. That’s why I return to some of these, rarely with the same focus or perspective. As I learn, I try to share in order to give you ‘meat’ and not just milk. (1 Corinthians 3:2, Hebrews 5:12) – all of us should be continuing to grow in all spiritual aspects.
But when we talk about salvation/born again/saved – what does it truly mean and – ‘what’s in it for you’? Whether you like it or not, accept it or not – we are all born with a sinful nature. All. And, whether you like, accept scripture as The Word of God, doesn’t make it less so. Scripture says:
“I was brought forth in [a state of] wickedness; In sin my mother conceived me [and from my beginning I, too, was sinful].” (Psalms 51:5, AMP)
Again, whether or not you like this doesn’t diminish its truth. Ephesians 2:1-5 expands on this reality but also gives us our redemption:
“And you [He made alive when you] were [spiritually] dead separated from Him because of your transgressions and sins, in which you once walked. You were following the ways of this world d and in accordance with the prince of the power of the air (Satan), the spirit who is now at work in the disobedient [the unbelieving, who fight against the purposes of God]. Among these [unbelievers] we all once lived in the passions of our flesh [our behavior governed by the sinful self], indulging the desires of human nature [without the Holy Spirit] and [the impulses] of the mind. We were, by nature, children [under the sentence] of [God’s] wrath, just like the rest [of mankind]. But God, being [so very] rich in mercy, because of His great and wonderful love with which He loved us, even when we were [spiritually] dead and separated from Him because of our sins, He made us [spiritually] alive together with Christ (for by His grace—His undeserved favor and mercy—you have been saved from God’s judgment).” (AMP)
What’s in for you? This chapter begins with what’s in for you. It tells you who you were, what things you thought and how you acted, and what God did for us through His Son, Jesus. Deserved by us was never in question – we weren’t, but this was never the Father’s plan for us, this was not to be our destiny. Read 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, what I refer to as the great exchange. This is what’s in it for us when we accept Jesus as Lord.
Verse 17 in 2 Corinthians 5 begins to ‘educate’ us in all that has happened once we realize our need for a savior and accept Jesus as our only way to restoration:
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].”
YOU are an ‘anyone’. This is your destiny awaiting you. The answer is your life’s reason and meaning.
Romans (AMP) is called the Roman Road and says:
“… since all have sinned and continually fall short of the glory of God, and are being justified [declared free of the guilt of sin, made acceptable to God, and granted eternal life] as a gift by His [precious, undeserved] [a]grace, through the redemption [the payment for our sin] which is [provided] in Christ Jesus,” (3:23-24)
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is His remarkable, overwhelming gift of grace to believers] is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (6:23)
“But God clearly shows and proves His own love for us, by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (5:8)
“For whoever calls on the name of the Lord [in prayer] will be saved.” (10:13)
If I say that life begins at salvation, that is not a mere hyperbole. And without our choosing to accept who Jesus was and what He did… we are lost. Do you know the words that Jesus spoke about being born again to Nicodemus (John 3:1-9)?
“Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” (v. 3)
“…very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” (v. 5-6)
God has provided your new life, but it is you who have the decision to accept:
“For with the heart a person believes [in Christ as Savior] resulting in his justification [that is, being made righteous—being freed of the guilt of sin and made acceptable to God]; and with the mouth he acknowledges and confesses [his faith openly], resulting in and confirming [his] salvation.” (Romans 10:10, AMP)
However, never believe that everything will be a bed of roses when you do accept and declare Jesus is your Lord. You now have an enormous target on your back. The devil does NOT want you saved… but if you ignore and deny the devil, he definitely doesn’t want you to overcome and be fruitful. You may come to Jesus, ‘just as you are’… but He won’t leave you in that state because He wants you free, fruitful, and living the abundant life in Him. This happens as you grow in who you are, whose you are, and how you go about being you.
