May I propose a question to all those who are in the churches? Have you been born again? Has your old self died, and are you a new creation in Christ? What I mean by these questions is, has the Lord so changed your heart and mind that you hate your sin and love His Law?
Has God transformed you into a new person, no longer living for your own dreams but for the will that God has for your life? His path. Have you given up on your desires, and now you are walking the way God has laid out for you to walk to seek His kingdom and righteousness?
Jesus said, “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.” Luke 9:24
Can you say the following statement and be completely honest? “It is only for Jesus Christ that I now live. I have died to what I desire, and I no longer am comfortable in a lifestyle of sin.” “I will do, go, and say whatever God commands me, no matter what anyone else thinks, says, or does against me.”
You see, to truly live for Christ, to be His faithful follower, requires a radical change. Sometimes, it is hard, but you should no longer seek the things of this world and its passions. But instead, seek the will and plans of God. If you do, it will be as Jesus said. You will put your hand on the plow to sow seeds for His kingdom, and you will not go back to the ways you once lived.
Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Luke 6:32
How radically changed, you may say, profoundly changed, like a caterpillar going through a metamorphosis to become a butterfly. Unmistakably different than it was before. I say this because many people claim to believe in Jesus. Still, they do not demonstrate any difference in their lives or actions from the sinful world. So many people, even in the churches, say they are saved, praise His name, attend a religious service, or wear a cross, but they serve themselves. They have yet to be radically changed and the proof is often blatantly obvious.
Consider this: if you were to stand in the middle of the highway and hit by a 10-ton semi-truck @ 70mph, you would be radically changed, wouldn’t you? If you were to stand on the surface of the sun for 1 second, you would be radically changed! And if you met the Almighty God of the Universe and He put His Holy Spirit within you, you would also be radically changed! You will love His commandments and hate your sinfulness.
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:5-8
Do you see that there would be evidence, there would be proof of the change that occurred when you have true faith in God? When you are born again by the Holy Spirit. There would be no doubt and no guessing or wondering if God had changed you. Though you will never be perfect, you will continually seek to be better in Christ, to walk in the ways of the Lord.
You will no longer desire the sins of this world but only to rid yourself of them. The wickedness of everyone and the depravity all around you would drive you to your knees in sorrow for the lost and heaven. You would seek God day and night, wanting to obey His commands and do His will because you now possessed the fear of the Lord.
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” John 14:15-17
You will be continually repenting of your sins. God will constantly change you to be more like Him. The tests, trials, and persecution will not hurt you but refine you into His image. Your faith and trust in Him will increase, and you will do things for the Lord that others may call crazy, but God will call you faithful and bold.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17
I pray that if you are not changed, you will seek Jesus with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Humble yourself before Him and repent of all your sins, the things you have done to break His holy Commandments. Cry out to Him in faith, and He will forgive you. He loves you and seeks for you to come so that He may change and heal you; then He will make you a new creation by the power of the Holy Spirit.
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. Galatians 2:20-21
The Soul Sower 