There are three broad experiences that follows every GENUINE salvation experience. A salvation experience talks about that moment when you confess Christ Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and you accept His Lordship over your life. If you read Acts 2:36, the Bible says “God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ.” This simply therefore means that Jesus is Lord. The Lordship of Christ simply talks about CHRIST being your master, your ruler, the object and subject of your worship, your commander and the director of your life. It simply means that you don’t have any other life outside the life that your Lord dictates. A salvation experience brings you into that state where you duly acknowledge this Lordship.

 

So, there are three experiences that follows this salvation experience. The first one is WALKING IN THE NEWNESS OF LIFE. Notice it didn’t say “WALKING IN THE OLDNESS OF LIFE”, but NEWNESS. What does it mean to walk in the NEWNESS OF LIFE? It simply means: A RECKONING THAT ONE IS DEAD TO SIN AND ALIVE TO GOD. Romans 6:1-11 says:

 

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? ² Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? ³ Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ⁴ 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."

 

The simple assumption here is that at salvation, old things are passed away and behold, all things have become new [2 Corinthians 5:17]. It simply means that whatever you may have done in the past remains in the past, God does not reckon with them again to decide or determine your future. Every guilt remains in the past, every mistake remains in the past. From that point of salvation forward, we have a clean slate in the records of God.

 

⁵ For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, ⁶ knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him…” Our old man is the Adamic nature that we inherited from Adam, that nature that is susceptible to sin and death; was crucified with Christ.

 

“…that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. ⁷ For he who has died has been freed from sin. ⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, ⁹ knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. ¹⁰ For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise, you also, reckon [TAKE IT INTO ACCOUNT] yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

 

Now, somebody may be wondering: why do I still struggle with sin? I am a born-again child of God, and I am saved. But sin still creeps in. What is the challenge? The answer is actually in that verse 11: Likewise, you also, reckon [TAKE IT INTO ACCOUNT] yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

 

Galatians 6:14-15 says: “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. ¹⁵ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.”

 

The second one is THE SANTIFICATION PROCESS. This is the part where God set you apart and begins to reveal to you your purpose in Him. Every man that God has made has a purpose in God for their making. There is nobody that is a waste in the agenda of God. Everyone has got his or her placement, which you can only find out when you come to God. Romans 6:19-23 (AMP).

 

“I am speaking in [familiar] human terms because of your natural limitations [your spiritual immaturity].

 

So, here, Paul said spiritual immaturity is a natural limitation. The reason I believe he said so was simply because if you are not spiritually matured, you will struggle so hard in following God and being able to fulfill His purpose the becomes difficult. He said further:

 

“For just as you presented your bodily members as slaves to impurity and to [moral] lawlessness, leading to further lawlessness, so now offer your members [your abilities, your talents] as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification [that is, being set apart for God’s purpose].”

 

Sanctification set us apart for God’s purpose.

 

²⁰ When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness [you had no desire to conform to God’s will]. ²¹ So what benefit did you get at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? [None!] For the outcome of those things is death! ²² But now since you have been set free from sin and have become [willing] slaves to God, you have your benefit, resulting in sanctification [being made holy and set apart for God’s purpose], and the outcome [of this] is eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God [that is, His remarkable, overwhelming gift of grace to believers] is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

1 John 3:1-3 says: “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore, the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. ² Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. ³ And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

 

The third one is MIND TRANSFORMATION/RENEWAL. Now, this particular phase is very important because everything about the salvation experience would be null and void if your mind is not transformed or renewed. The mind is one of the most powerful creations of God in the physical framework of man. If there is nothing valuable or important about the mind, then so much emphasis would not be placed on it being renewed. Paul said in Romans 12:2 to be transformed by the renewing of the mind. In another place, he said we should have the mind of Christ. If there was no value placed on the mind, then it would not have been accorded this great importance in the Scripture.

 

Why is it Important to RENEW THE MIND?

 

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 shows us: “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, ⁵ casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ…”

 

Every knowledge the mind has accumulated before salvation usually stands as an obstacle to believing the word of God absolutely. If there is an area of your Christian life that you are struggling to believe on the word of God and rely solely on God, it is simply because there is or was a knowledge that you had accumulated in the past outside of God that is countering the knowledge of God that you are currently receiving, and that is the greatest hindrance that makes the word of God less potent. For example, Mary. The angel of God said to her “you would have a child supernaturally.” Then she said to the angel: “how shall this thing be since I do not know a man?”

 

Why did she say that? Because her mind has been educated to believe that a woman cannot give birth to a child except a man make it happen. What about Peter? When he saw Jesus, walking on water towards them, he didn’t run to go meet Jesus. Because he knew by knowledge, that walking on water is naturally impossible. Until Jesus asked him to take the first step, he couldn’t dare it. Why? Because his mind has been conditioned to believe that walking on water is impossible.

 

AN UNRENEWED MIND IS THE BIGGEST IMPEDIMENT TO WALKING IN FAITH 

 

Ephesians 4:17-24 says:

 

“This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, ¹⁸ having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; ¹⁹ who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.”

 

In these verses above, Paul showed us some characteristics of a gentile. Some of them include:

 

1. Walking in the futility of their mind
2. They have a darkened understanding
3. They are alienated from the life of God (they don’t have Zoe)
4. They are full of ignorance
5. Their heart is blind
6. They love lewdness (filthiness, vulgarity, profanes and uncouthness)
7. You will find them anywhere there is uncleanness and greediness

 

²⁰ But you have not so learned Christ, ²¹ if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: ²² that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, ²³ and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴ and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

 

Salvation is the key to living a purposeful and effective life. If you are looking for purpose, you will find it in God. If you want to live an effective life, you will also find it in God. Once a man accepts to do the will of God through salvation, his life begins to fall in line. Give Christ a chance today and let Him lead your life and you will not regret ever doing so.

 

Amen!

 

Thanks for the gift of your time, I am Obayomi Abiola Benjamin!

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