Monday, November 7, 2005
A Changed Life
Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Christ did.
—1 John 2:6
The great British preacher, C. H. Spurgeon, said, “Of what value is the grace that I profess to have received if it does not dramatically change the way that I live? If it doesn’t change the way that I live, it will never change my eternal destiny.”
We all know people who seem like they have made a commitment to Christ. Maybe there was an initial wave of excitement that swept over them after their supposed decision, only to bail out a short time later.
We might be grappling with the question as to whether they are saved, because they are no longer walking with the Lord. “Did they lose their salvation?” we wonder. But the real question probably should be, “Were they really saved to begin with?”
When a person has truly embraced Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, there will be changes in his or her life. Titus 2:14 tells us, “He [Jesus] gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing what is right.” And prior to this verse, we read, “And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with self-control, right conduct, and devotion to God” (v. 12).
So if a person has truly been converted, there should be right conduct, self-control, and a desire to do what is right. Yet some people think that because they have received Christ, they can pretty much live as they please. They think because they have taken care of things with God, they can now live like the devil. But it doesn’t work that way.
Copyright © 2005 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.,