July 13, 2018
(Sinful) is what some
of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1Cor 6:11
Don't live like the
sinful after we have been washed clean.
When our daughter
Heather was a child, one of my favorite times of the day was ‘bath time’. Not just because she got cleaned up and I got
a little quiet time, but because of what happened after bath time. We would get to spend time after she was all
cleaned up sitting together in the rocking chair or on the couch, reading
books, talking and enjoying the last hours of the day together. No more running in the dirt … she was clean
and sweet-smelling. (I enjoyed that with
my grand-daughter years later, too!)
Probably one of the hardest changes that happens in coming
to Christ is the change in relationships with people. Giving our lives to Jesus starts out so
cleansing, like a warm clean shower after a sweaty day of yard work. We don’t think it changes us drastically at
first, expecting to keep the same friendships, and not impact our
families. But little by little, the
Spirit of God on the inside starts making changes. Language starts getting healthier, activities
become different, new friendships start forming, and before you know it, we
find ourselves spending less time with the old relationships. Something gets said and we try hard to keep
them going, but you can tell the separation is happening.
That’s not just true with coming to Christ. It’s also true with believers who start
turning towards selfish or sinful behaviors.
The gap in relationships starts forming then too, and the same process
starts happening in reverse. Soon those
people who were your strong models of faith take a back seat to the ones who
suck us into worldly pleasures. The gap
grows larger, and the activities change, and soon we find ourselves back in the
dirt we had left years earlier. It’s
easy to blame or judge those “holier than thou Christians”, but the fact is
we’re the ones who are wearing the dirty clothes again.
Paul tells the Christians to remember what they came from –
and what Jesus did for them. He tells
them they had received three special gifts:
1.
They were washed – Jesus didn’t just forgive us
for getting dirty and then leave the dirt on us; He washed the dirt away. We no longer need to feel guilt or
disqualification for our past.
2.
They were sanctified – Not only does Jesus
cleanse us from our past, but He starts transforming us into a new
creation. Sanctification is the work God
does on us to rebuild the damaged life into a holy life. (Which is why relationships, activities, and
passions change!)
3.
They were justified – at the completion of His
work on us, Jesus then hands us over to the Father as we were designed to be –
not perfect, but perfected people under God’s Grace. It’s as if we never sinned.
We don’t have to reject people or turn our backs on them
when becoming believers. Certainly our
new-found salvation is worth sharing to others we know & love! But don’t be defensive or surprised if the
new life you start living pulls you away from the old lifestyles. That’s what happens when we are washed clean,
we no longer roll in the dirt, but sit in our Daddy’s lap and enjoy the evening
together!
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