“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (II Corinthians 5:17, NKJV)
A friend at work had a habit of referring to others as “a good Christian man” or a “good Christian woman.” But he used the term in a very loose way. To him, “Christian” was a basic term that could be used to describe any good, morally upright person. His version of the word had nothing to do with a person’s salvation experience and spiritual life. I understood what he meant, but I did not agree with his version of the word. He completely left out a relationship that makes us seek to become Christ-like.
Have you ever stopped and asked, “What does a Christian look (or act) like?” Or, perhaps a better question is, “Do I look and act like a follower of Jesus? What do others see in me that would show I am a child of God?
LESS AND MORE
Someone once described being a Christian as “being less like the world and more like Christ.” This definition is true as far as it goes, but being a Christian goes deeper.
When we obey God’s Word and are filled with His Spirit, we become a new creation. Our old life is gone. Our thoughts change, and our actions change. We have different priorities. We forsake the things of the world and take on the characteristics of Christ. His desires become our desires. His hatred of sin becomes our hatred of sin. This requires more than halfway commitment; we need total surrender. Only then we can boldly declare, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me . . .” (Galatians 2:20, NKJV).
Ephesians 4:22-24 describes that changed life this way:
“That you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” (NKJV)
PAUL’S EXPERIENCE
In Philippians 3, the apostle Paul speaks of the changes he personally experienced. He was no longer the person he had been. Paul once took great pride in his Jewish heritage and his observance of the Law. He was zealous in his persecution of the believers. But then he encountered the Lord, and everything changed. All he valued before that fateful day on the road to Damascus no longer mattered.
“But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:7-8, NKJV)
Has your life changed? Can you say like Paul, “The things I used to value no longer matter to me.” Does your life now bear the fruit of the Spirit as described in Galatians 5:22-23? Do you hate sin but love people? Does Jesus shine through your life? Are you salt and light to a lost world?
Are you a Christian in the truest meaning of the word? Have you put on “true righteousness and holiness?”
PERSONAL REFLECTION
- How has your life been transformed by the Spirit of God living inside?
- What matters more—success in this world or a deep, abiding relationship with the Lord?
- Do others recognize that you are a Christian by the life you live, not by mere words?
Devotion by Mary Loudermilk
