In this final part, I touch on the next steps after giving your life to Christ. The decision is made in a single moment, but the reality of this decision unfolds over the course of the rest of our life on earth.
‘Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.’
Romans 6:4 NKJV
It can seem that death is mentioned a lot, but it’s so key to understand the difference between the two types of death that are regularly mentioned in the bible. As we’ve already touched on previously, there is a physical death (which is mandatory, and we’ll all go through) and there is the spiritual death which we could say is optional. We just need to make sure we avoid the latter type before the former type.
When we make the decision to become a true believer in Christ, we decide to walk in the newness of life in which Jesus is the Lord of our life. We become His disciples – that term is not confined to the 12 followers of Jesus we read about in the bible. They were just the FIRST 12. They were commissioned by Jesus to go and make more disciples in the entire world – again, a commission for all believers, not just the first 12. We are called into discipleship so that we can make other disciples who make even more… and so on.
Right, back to new life in Christ…
A disciple is simply a follower of someone. They follow the way someone lives their life – how they walk(ed) and talk(ed), and they begin to reflect the nature of that person.
The bodies we have were inherited from Adam, and even after we give our lives to Christ, we still have to live and exist in the bodies we got from Adam, and the rest of our life becomes about killing the Adam in us. This sanctifying process is sometimes referred to as “killing the flesh”. This is a difficult process, which can feel impossible, but with God, all things are possible. This is necessary because in believing in Christ, we come into agreement with newness of life in Christ and denounce the old life of rebellion which Adam left us the model for.
“Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him.”
Romans 6:5-8 NLT
In Christ, we are made new and righteous, the old things that had power over us have passed away. WE have new authority in Christ to overcome them, but we have to actually USE that authority with the help of the Holy Spirit.
In our growing faith, we have an unveiled view of our Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit will glorify Him and show Him to us. With this unveiled view, the old parts of us (the Adam-ness) are exposed and made obvious to us so that we can address them and use the authority we have in Christ to overpower them and cast them out. The Lord will allow situations that expose those old natures that we used to function in so that we can find new ways to function in Christ Jesus. Many of these can lay dormant and we don’t know certain things about ourselves until the right circumstances expose them. We are then called to participate and actively set boundaries to uproot the parts of our lives that don’t reflect Christ so we can make space for the things that will edify and build us up.
Day by day, moment by moment, we are putting on the new man that we are in Christ Jesus. The one who reflects the light of Jesus to the world, unlike the old man who wanted nothing of the nature of God and reflected the one who looks inward – only at self. The old man who was led by the flesh, and not by the Spirit of God – the Adam.
Being watchful is key, because this refining work is not necessarily always through painful situations, though it will be. This refining work can also come up in the blessings, the gifts, the money and the nice things. ALL those things are also for HIS GLORY. Yes, we can enjoy them, but they are not just for that – they are there for the testing of our hearts to ensure that we remember that Jesus is the reward, not the things. No longer are we led by this world, but as sons and daughters of God, we are led by the Spirit of God.
This work is not a one-time job, but a lifetime one, so let’s run it well, leading a life that is worthy of our calling. In power, love and sound mind, we will continue until we meet our Saviour. He will be right there, in all His glory and splendour, ready to crown us and say ‘well done, good and faithful servant’.
God bless you guys.