Everything Has Changed
If you have recently trusted Jesus Christ as your Saviour, welcome to the family of God. You may feel joy and relief. You may feel nervous. You may not feel much at all, and you may be wondering what happens now. This study is for you. Think of it as a pastor sitting down beside you with an open Bible to walk you through your first days. If you have been saved for many years, read along anyway. None of us outgrows remembering what God has done.
One verse says more about your new life than almost any other.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”2 CORINTHIANS 5:17 · KJV
Start with the words in Christ. They are the key to this whole study. When you trusted Jesus, God joined you to His Son. What is true of Him before the Father is now counted as true of you. Your old record and your old separation from God are the old things Paul says have passed away.
This goes far deeper than turning over a new leaf. A leaf can be turned back. You did not reform yourself. God made you new.
The believer's living union with Jesus Christ. The moment a person trusts Him, God places him in Christ, so that he shares in Christ's death, His righteousness, and His life (Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3).
Salvation is a gift received in a moment. Growth is the work of a lifetime. This study keeps them in that order: first what God has done for you, then how you learn to live it out.
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For Deeper Study
- Balancing the Christian LifeAmazon Charles C. RyrieA dispensational teacher's clear, practical guide to spiritual growth, first published in 1969.
- Design for DiscipleshipAmazon J. Dwight PentecostWhat it means to follow Christ, by a longtime Dallas Theological Seminary professor.
- The Pursuit of HolinessAmazon Jerry BridgesA widely loved book on the believer's part in growing holy. The author is Reformed, and we differ with him on election.
- Foxe's Book of MartyrsAmazon John FoxeThe classic Protestant record of those who died for the faith, from the early church to the English Reformation.
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Knowing You Are Saved
God wants every believer to be certain of eternal life, and that certainty rests first on His promise to everyone who trusts Christ alone, confirmed by the Spirit's witness and the fruit of a changed life.
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