Demonstrating the Change in our Lives

When we become Christians we undergo a series of changes that will affect our core values and will imprint Christ's character in us from the inside out. The speed of this internal overhaul, which is called sanctification, will vary from person to person but for a true child of God it is a change that must take place. The evidence that we are truly born again will be demonstrated in the most obvious of ways: what we do and don't do. Why? Because our deeds are the sign of what fills our heart. Jesus said that a tree is known by its fruit. And then He added that "out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matt. 12:33-34).

Chapter 2 of 1st John list several evidences or proof that should reflect from our behavior that Christ has begun a good work in you. We are told that if we keep God’s commandments, it verifies that we have come to know Him and if we say we know Him and don’t keep His commandments we are liars and don’t have the truth in us.” There's a new norm in the lives of believers: they obey God. He continues saying that we may know that we are in Him and He abides in us if we walk in the same way in which He walked." Real Christians ought to live like Jesus so that when people see us, they are drawn to Him. He also tells us that if we still love the ways of the world, the love of the Father is not in us. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father,"

Demonstrating the Change in our Lives Eph 4:17-24 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, (18) Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: (19) Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. (20) But ye have not so learned Christ; (21) If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: (22) That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; (23) And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; (24) And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

I. We must keep our eyes on the target: Christlikeness v Eph 4:17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Paul points back to the beginning of the chapter where he reminds them to live a life worthy of being called God’s children. We are children of the light and it should be reflected in our walk that we no longer walk according to the flesh but we are led by the Spirit different from those who have lost the knowledge of the true God. As true believers we have to take off the old self, by beginning to think differently. When he said to no longer walk as the Gentiles walk, "Our lives must no longer resemble those who are still in their sin and without God." If we are going to live for Jesus, if we are going to walk in faith, we must no longer live like the rest of the world. How many times have we been in the midst of a storm and started out with our focus on Jesus but got distracted by what was going on around us? It’s time to behold the Lamb of God and keep your eyes fixed on Him.

Eph 4:18-20 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: (19) Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. (20) But ye have not so learned Christ; Their understanding was darkened making them ignorant of God, of the way of salvation, of the love of Christ, they were alienated from God because of their ignorance. Their hearts were blinded They still were given to their old ways of uncleanness and greed. Left to ourselves, we give in to empty pursuits (the futility of their thoughts), serving the body (promiscuity), and sinking deeper into sinful behavior (every kind of impurity, with a desire for more and more). Paul says, that is not the way you learned Christ. The eyes of our understanding have been enlightened so that we can know the hope of God’s calling. Ephesians 2:2-3 Tit 2:11-12 tells us that it is the grace of God that bringeth salvation to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world. Keep your eye on the target. Becoming like Christ is our calling, our purpose for breathing, our reason for living. It's Jesus. Everything else is secondary.

II. We cut all ties to our former life - v If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; In this verse, what is removed and laid aside is our old selves, the "you" is who we were before Christ Jesus saved us. Paul says get those old ways of meeting our needs, those old habits that marked our Christ-less days off our back and out of our life. Throw it away! Cut the root! Don't go to those websites anymore. Throw away those magazines and don't buy anymore. Don't hang out with those people that keep us doing things we know are wrong. Those old ways are dead to us now. So get rid of every trace! It may cause you pain to break ties with old friends that are ruining your faith. It may bug you to stop doing some things that used to provide temporary pleasure. You want to plug into the power for real, lasting life change? Here's where you start: no more double life. No more straddling the fence. Make a decision right now to cut the ties that links you to ways that are not Christ's ways.

III. We must be renewed in our mind - v "And be renewed in the spirit of your minds." This is present tense. It means an ongoing, progressive shift is happening in the capacity of the mind to spiritually discern the options and decisions with which we are faced. Being renewed in the spirit of your mind means a new, never before way of thinking is taking root. It means what Romans 12:2 says when it commands:  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. This mind-renewal is a deep spiritual change in how the mind assesses and values things. It acts like an early warning system, or a kind of spiritual filter, stopping temptation that used to fly under the radar and get us.

So how does this fine-tuning of the mind to spiritual realities take place? Gal 5:16-17 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. (17) For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. The points to be noted are : (a) The opposition is between the Spirit—(the Holy Ghost) in all that He is, and works and produces, and the flesh with its appetites and works. (b) The absolute certainty of victory over the flesh to all those who walk in or by the Spirit. We should allow our hearts and minds to be filled with the word of God and the Holy Spirit can lead us properly. As we meditate on the word and pray daily asking the Lord to help us stay in line with Him, that word becomes part of our life and we begin to see change take place. When we marinate our mind in God's will and truth, we are inputting eternal truth. That changes our thinking and sensitizes our mind to detect even small amounts of dirt in what we're facing.

IV. We must put on a new you - v " And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. " In v. 22, we are urged to shed the old clothes of our former way of life. Now, the Holy Spirit instructs us to put on something brand new, created by God to fit us perfectly, but with a likeness to God in true righteousness and holiness. So now, as Paul wrote in Gal. 2:20, it's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." It's Christ's life that should be obvious in how we do our job, treat our spouse, live out our singleness, or parent our children. How we respond, what we think, even how we feel will find its reference point in our new relationship with Jesus. 2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. It is vain for a man to profess that he is in Christ, while he is unchanged in his heart and life, and dead in trespasses and sins; for he that is in Christ, that is, a genuine Christian, having Christ dwelling in his heart by faith, is a new creature; his old state is changed.