“I am writing to you who are God’s children because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus.” (1 John 2:12 NLT)
Our lives should be lived differently after our sins have been forgiven. The main difference should be our allegiance to Jesus should drastically alter our view of sin and its negative effects on our life. But our view of others, lost and found, should also be affected.
When we’re unrepentant and uncaring about how we live, our sin isn’t an apparent concern to us. But once we begin to realize how negatively our sin affects our outcomes in many areas of our life, we become more sensitive to the Spirit’s promptings as He convicts and convinces us of our need of forgiveness.
Then, once we yield our life and allegiance to Jesus, He transforms us, changing our eternal outcome, filling us with His Holy Spirit, and setting our life on a whole new course. While we’ve been cleansed, transformed, and initially prepared for this new adventure of life in Christ, the Holy Spirit must work with us, informing, teaching, and training us to live in a manner that’s consistent with the new life we’ve been given by grace.
It takes time and effort to allow the Spirit to guide us through this process, but if indeed the Spirit has come into our life, there WILL be evidence that He’s living in us. J. C. Ryle reminds us: “Where there is no holy living, there’s no Holy Spirit.” Granted, the Lord doesn’t expect us to become a mature believer overnight, but there should be some immediate evidence of the Spirit’s presence living in us.
For example, our attitude toward God, the Bible, prayer, worship, the Church, God’s people, and those who are still lost should begin to immediately change. How so? We should immediately align ourselves with a Christ-centered church that embraces new believers and has a plan to help them get connected and to grow in Christ.
A plan to grow must include guidance in how to pray, read God’s Word, how to form godly habits, how to avoid habitual sin with which you may be wrestling, even how to witness to others of your newfound faith. Andy Mineo helps us when he writes: “You live different when you know you’ve been forgiven.” That’s why it makes so much sense to get aligned with a Christ-centered, Bible believing/teaching church as soon as possible.
The internet makes it easier to check out what churches believe and teach, and often gives you access to teachings, schedules of services, what they offer, etc., but personal relationships with other believers with whom you may attend church can also be a good starting point. The Spirit will guide you as you investigate which church you should choose to become your church home.
The point is faithful attendance at a solid, Bible-based church is crucial in our development as a believer in Christ. It’s not the whole answer but can be a critical part in our walk with the Lord. How we’re different in our attitudes, actions, and other areas of our life can be much easier to activate and maintain when we’re walking closely with like-minded believers.
Ultimately, our goal is to have the same attitudes that Jesus exhibited, but we can’t learn those without spending quality time with Him and those who are seeking to walk closely with Him.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 