The Spiritual nature of Salvation…

His spirit lives in you

Receiving salvation, through Jesus Christ, is not the end of a life-changing experience, but the beginning of something miraculous in your life. A new beginning! All of your sins have been forgiven and you are clean before God. Like the lowly caterpillar you’ve been transformed into a beautiful butterfly. Now it’s time to soar!

Unless you understand and believe in the spiritual nature of your salvation you will always find yourself in religious ritual and traditions, you will dry up and then give up! Jesus died on the Cross so that you could have a Relationship with Him! A relationship implies two-way communication. 

1. You speak to Him, that’s called prayer. Don’t try to memorize a prayer and then recite it. Just talk to God as you would to a close friend. The Bible says that Jesus regards you as a friend! Why not talk to him friend-tofriend? 
2. When God speaks to you, it’s called personal revelation- He reveals Himself to you. That can happen in so many different ways. We will address some of these ways in the future. However, for now, if a thought occurs to you after prayer… a thought that you wouldn’t normally think of and it is a thought of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness or self-control- then it’s probably from the Lord.

To fully appreciate what God has done we need to look at the spiritual side of our nature. Most people tend to think of themselves as soul and body, but God created you with a spirit as well as soul and body. You are three in one spirit, soul and body just as God is three in one, the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. 

If you want to overcome the disappointments and scars of the past, the habits that have kept you in bondage, restore broken relationships and have a sense of purpose and joy in life, then you must have a “mind change”. That change begins with seeing yourself as spirit, soul and body instead of just body and soul. This is such an important change in view or paradigm it will determine your success in overcoming in this life. 

There are at least 3 important bible verses that confirm our three-part nature:

• Genesis 2:7 “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being (soul)”.
• 1 Thessalonians 5:23 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”.
• Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”.

Let’s take a closer look at the three parts of who you are, spirit, soul and body.

Imagine 3 circles, one labeled Body, then another Soul and finally one called Spirit. Where the circles intersect, or overlap is where and who you are. To ignore the spiritual side of you is to live at 2/3^rd of your potential and ability that is as soul and body. You are not just soul and body but, spirit, soul and body- all three in one. 

Body– your physical body communicates or interacts with the physical world. You communicate through your senses: touch, smell, hearing, sight, taste. Everything you know about the physical world you learned through physical experience. As a result of your experiences you have come to certain conclusions about the world we live in, of course not all those conclusions are true.

Soul– your soul is where your emotions, decision making or will, intellect and personality reside. Your mind, if you will, interprets all of the stimulus input from your physical body. The soul is also where all of your reasoning resides. Your soul communicates with the souls of other people and relationships, good and bad, are formed as a result of your soul.

Spirit- if your body communicates with the physical world, and your soul communicates with other souls… can you guess what your spirit communicates with? Yes, the spiritual realm! So, what is the spiritual realm? Briefly, there are 3 components: the spirit of God, the spirit of other people, and the spirit of the Devil. 

Your past does not have to determine your future. Being a Christian means that everything is new. You may look in the mirror and see no change in your physical body. You may not think differently right now in your Soul but being a believer means that your Spirit is made alive and you now are able to communicate with God. God’s love, guidance and power are made available to you by His Spirit.

Because of Jesus, we can now have direct communication with God. God knows what you need and wants to help you be renewed and filled with His Holy Spirit. 

Rehabilitation or Transformation?

Because of our new spiritual connection to God we are forgiven and there is no longer condemnation for sin. It was doubt, guilt shame and regret that tended to keep us living in the past with the belief that we were condemned, and that our lives could never change. However, in one tremendous miracle, when you repented and accepted Jesus into your life, you became a new creation! Forgiven, accepted and loved by God and His love means that He will never leave or abandon you. 2 Cor 5:17

Condemnation

It is true that before you accepted Jesus into your life you were “condemned” as a result of your Sin! Simply put you were going to Hell for eternity, but now you have changed your destination by trusting in Jesus Christ alone, Heaven is now yours. The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 8:1, “There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh (or the soul), but according to the Spirit (of God)”. Don’t allow others try to heap condemnation on you. You have passed from death to life.

Sin Nature

Without getting into the theology of the “Sin Nature” today; let me say that we are all born with a “sin nature”. Sin nature means we have a natural tendency to do what is wrong in God’s eyes. We want to be in control and do what we want instead of doing what we should do as children of God. So, we could say that the central problem with mankind is that “we are not sinners because we sin, but we sin because we are sinners!” Without Jesus’ you can’t help yourself.

Your sins, although many, were simply the proof that you did not believe or trust in Jesus. Let me repeat that thought, your sinful life was the evidence of your unbelief or disbelief in what Jesus Christ accomplished for you. However, now you are putting your trust in Jesus and His teachings and as a result, you are a new “Creation”. Let me repeat 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new”.

A very important question to ask yourself is, “As a Christian are you trying to rehabilitate yourself or allowing God’s Holy Spirit to transform you into the person, He wants you to be”? This has been the central issue of Christian living for two thousand years! Does looking like a Christian make you a Christian or is there something deeper?

Rehabilitation means to rebuild or restore by your own efforts to be “Good”, or to sin no more. It’s like putting a coat of paint on the exterior of a dilapidated house. It may look good on the outside, but nothing has changed on the inside of the house. So, many Christians try to change by following rules, traditions and laws in an attempt to become more Christ-like. This is a form of legalism (outward works) and doesn’t deal with the root issue… Sin! Rehabilitation attempts, by self-control, to produce lasting change, it will never work! You cannot produce genuine spiritual change from the outside in. 

Before I lapse into heresy, let me say that Christianity shows us what is the right thing to do and we should try with all our strength to do the right things, but genuine change is an “inside job”.

Transformation, on the other hand, means that your spirit working with the Holy Spirit of God is changing you from the inside out. It is not just a change in mind that you need, but a change of heart. That’s transformation. Romans 12:2 says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God”. In other words, let God renew your mind! Transformation means that God has placed a “new heart” in you and you now have the ability to think God thoughts. Your Spirit influences your soul which then controls your body. 

Trusting in Jesus means that you believe in Him and are applying His teachings to your life. You may find that difficult in the beginning because you have a life-time of habits and wrong thinking to overcome. Remember, your spirit is reborn, but your soul still needs some work. Nevertheless, God says you are a new Creation; God is giving you an opportunity to start over, or as kids would say, a do-over.

As a new “creation” how are we supposed to live our lives as Christians. As a follower of Jesus, I don’t need to continue in the behavior of the past because that has passed away. We need instruction, but not worldly instruction. It was worldly instruction that got us into the mess we found ourselves in before we trusted in Jesus. We need spiritual instruction from God! Because we are now spiritual, we can now make sense of a spiritual book and that book is called the Bible! 

What is a born-again Christian?

As I have said there are many throughout the world that wear the “label” Christian without really understanding what a Christian is. If asked they would say that they are Christian. 

Jesus said the following in Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness or [disregarding My commands]!’

So, you see, as I pointed out in my last episode, it isn’t the fact that you belong to a church, read the Bible or wear a Cross around your neck that makes you a Christian. The real issue is, and always has been, “do you believe in the person and the teachings of Jesus Christ”. 

Let’s take a closer look at the word “believe” in the previous quote.

• On the one hand, you can believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ to mean, “I believe the teachings to be true”. The belief is an intellectual agreement. For example, I know that it is wrong to lie, but I do it anyway. 
• On the other hand, you can believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ to mean, “I trust the teachings to be true and am morally compelled to apply them to my life.” For example, I know that it is wrong to lie, and I choose to be honest. 

Do you see the difference? In the biblical sense believing in the teachings of Jesus Christ means that because I trust Jesus I am trusting in His teaching and applying that teaching to my life. When you do that you are applying faith to the truth. The evidence of your faith is that you are doing what you believe. 

We are now ready to look the central fundamental teaching of Jesus Christ, to be a true Christian you must be “Born-again” or [born from above]! 

In chapter 3 of John’s Gospel, we see an account of Jesus meeting with a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a Pharisee was one who strictly observed the Law of Moses. Nicodemus had a genuine desire to understand Jesus’ teachings and he came secretly at night to meet with Him.

In verse 3 Jesus said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” This means seeing the spiritual kingdom in action in the present life.

4 Nicodemus then says, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” You see Nicodemus was thinking in natural/biological terms, missing the spiritual point Jesus was making.

5 Jesus answers, “Most assuredly, I say to you unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” To be born of water refers to natural birth, to be born of the spirit is obviously spiritual.

6 Jesus restates this idea when He says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.” 

8 Jesus then reaffirms the spiritual nature of the new birth with an analogy, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

As you can see from the words of Jesus Christ, in order to see and enter the Kingdom of God, you must be born-again. It is a spiritual experience, not merely a physical or emotional decision. There is something that takes place inside the individual. Theologians call this Regeneration and Sanctification. The Holy Spirit released in the believer to help, comfort, guide and teach the individual to become more like Jesus Christ.

Are you Born-again? If not, there is no time like the present to accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior!

Say a prayer something like this from your heart, “Jesus I need help in this life and the assurance of Heaven in the next. I’ve made many mistakes and have regrets over the decisions I have made. Forgive me now and remove all my sins, wash me clean. Come into my life, let me sense your Holy Spirit in me giving me the assurance that I belong to you and you belong to me. I believe you died for me on the Cross of Calvary and this was an expression of your love for me. I believe you rose again and that I can be confident you will raise me up on that last day. I believe in you and put my trust in you. Amen.

How does one become Born-again?

To repeat the essential question, what is a Born-again Christian? We saw that Jesus said, you must be born-again to see and enter the Kingdom of God (John 3:1-8). Two important words, see and enter the kingdom.

Seeing the kingdom means to see the power and authority of the kingdom being released or manifested by those who are born-again or Believers. Romans 8:37 “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” And Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” In other words, seeing the kingdom is the present reality of a supernatural life.

Entering the kingdom means obtaining eternal life with God in heaven. John 11:25 “Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die (physically), he shall live (forever).”

Here we see the twin benefit of believing in Jesus or having salvation, 

1) an “overcoming” present life, overcoming the trials and difficulties of life 

2) and the future reward of heaven.

An important truth or doctrine about God is that He always makes the first move; He initiates. A person may think that they have “found God”, but the truth is that person was the one that was lost. In fact, God has been drawing that person to Himself. Jesus says in John 6:44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day”. So, as you can see when a person is drawn to, or curious, or intrigued about the teachings of Jesus it is because God the Father is “drawing” that person to the Truth, found in Jesus Christ.

Let’s be clear, to be “saved” or have salvation is a transaction, that is Jesus makes the invitation (remember God always moves first), but an individual must then accept the invitation.  In Matthew 22:1-14 there is an illustration or Parable of Jesus called the Wedding Feast. A king sends his servants out to invite people to attend the wedding feast of his son. Some of those who were invited made excuses as to why they would not attend. They were too busy, too tired, or had more important business to attend to. 

They didn’t take the invitation seriously and did not realize the importance of the invitation. The king finds out about those who rejected the invitation and it is their rejection that condemns them. On the other hand, those who accepted the invitation are called the chosen. Chosen to reap the benefits of salvation. 

We use the phrase, “to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, to mean that you have accepted God’s invitation and are Born-again or a Believer. 

To accept Jesus as Lord or King means that you will follow his teachings which are found in His Word, the Bible. 

To accept Jesus as Savior or deliverer means that you believe that He died for your sins at the Cross of Calvary and that one day you will go to Heaven to be with Him. You are no longer hoping to go to heaven, but you are absolutely sure that you will go to heaven after you die. The fear of death is gone!

You are believing or trusting that as a result of Jesus’ death on the cross you are forgiven and now part of God’s family, and you believe in the resurrection of Jesus and therefore, have assurance you will also be resurrected and spend eternity in Heaven with Him. You see, you are loved, forgiven and accepted!

So how does one actually become Born-again or a Believer? The Apostle Paul says it best in Romans 10:9-13, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness (right living), and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. …13 For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

These are the promises of God; To confess with your mouth means that you are not ashamed to declare Jesus as your Savior. Tell someone of your decision to follow Jesus. 

Believing in your heart means just that, you are not just reciting words or a formula. You are accepting by faith that Jesus died for you, that your sins have been washed away and your destination is Heaven.

If you are not a Born-again Believer I encourage you to make that decision today. You can do that with a simple prayer. Simply personalize Romans 10 in the following way, 

I am confessing with my mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in my heart that God has raised Him from the dead, I am saved. For with my heart, I believe unto right living, and with my mouth, I am confessing unto salvation. I am calling on the name of the Lord Jesus, therefore I am saved!

Nothing on this earth can be more important than eternity. As I like to say, “we are not human beings having a spiritual experience, but spiritual beings having a human experience”! It is incorrect to think that we are simply physical beings hoping to touch the eternal spiritual realm. We are in fact spiritual beings in human bodies that will one day pass away, but we will live on in the spirit.

The Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:18, “while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary or transient, but the things which are not seen are eternal”.

Join me as we delve into the deeper things of God to help you, make your own decisions based upon God’s words, the Bible. Let’s begin by looking at what Jesus said to His followers in the Gospel of John 14:7,” I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”. This is a profound truth about Christianity, Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. He is all of these things but, for now, I would like to examine one aspect of this statement and that is, Jesus is the truth. 

The Information Age

We now live in an age referred to by some as the Information Age. We are overloaded with information or data through the internet, social media, TV, radio and movies– lots of data or information, but is everything we hear or read true? Because we deal with so much information, we don’t have time to analyze its truthfulness! Not all the information we get is accurate and we can’t count on the world systems of government and media to give us the truth. As a result, we may have accepted as true many ideas or opinions which are in fact not true at all! 

As a result of misinformation many people outside of Christianity have formed ideas and concepts about Christianity that are not based upon the truth. As a matter of fact, even many Christians have misconceptions about what Christianity is or what it is not. The purpose of this Podcast Show is to reveal Bible-based insights as to who Christ is, what a Christian is and the nature of Christianity. 

It’s all about Jesus

The most important consideration, the root if you will, of the Christian belief system is that it is all about Jesus Christ and Him alone. A Christian’s identity is not in a religion, denomination, local church, or group of people. A Christian’s identity must be in Jesus Christs, because He was the one, God in the flesh, who came to earth, died for your sins, removed the wall between you and the Father, and promised eternal life to those who would follow Him.

Having an encounter or experience with Jesus.

The second important consideration is that being a Christian means that there has been an “encounter” with Jesus and that encounter instilled a desire to “know” more about Him. 

I want to emphasize the word “know” because so many rely on an intellectual knowing with the mind alone. What is more important- is to know Jesus on a spiritual level. John 4:23 Jesus says, “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him”.

This point is so important so let me repeat it, Christianity is not something you can understand with only the intellect or mind. Christianity, in fact must be spiritually appraised. That is, we must use spiritual eyes, spiritual ears and spiritual openness to comprehend spiritual things. 1 Corinthians 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 

That’s not to say that some aspects of the Christianity cannot be intellectually understood, but we have to recognize that there are going to be areas that are too deep for the human mind to comprehend. In Isa 55:8-9 God speaks through the Prophet Isaiah and says, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts”.

When we encounter those areas that are too deep or too high for human understanding, we are called to accept them by “Faith”. Faith is how we appropriate or connect to the spiritual things of God; after all, as I have said earlier, God is spirit. It is by Faith we Understand Him, Hebrews 11:1 defines faith in this way, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. The things not seen, of course, are spiritual in nature

Until we come to grips with the fact that being a Christian means a spiritual relationship with God, we will always be frustrated by our misunderstanding of what Christ did, what a Christian is and the nature of Christianity. 

What is a Christian?

Like most people I am sure that you have had this thought; “How can they call themselves Christians”? or more pointedly, “And he or she calls themselves a Christian”? Looking at the behavior of some “Christians” can be puzzling! That’s why it’s important to clearly understand what a Christian is before we make those kinds of judgments. Now, of course, Christians should not be judging others, but as humanbeings this is often difficult to avoid!

There are 7.6 billion people on the face of the earth today. The largest religious group are the Christians. There are about 2.5 billion people, almost a third of the world’s population, who identify themselves as being Christians.

A definition of a Christian

A definition of a Christian, according to Merriam-Webster, “is one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ”. I think it would be fair to say that 2.5 billion people “profess” Jesus Christ, at least intellectually or with their minds, that is they believe that Jesus existed, was a good person, and died on the cross for our sins. Let’s look at Webster’s definition again, the key-words are, “profess belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ”. Frankly, many “Christians” in the world don’t even know what Jesus taught and therefore have no motivation to apply those teachings to their lives. 

As a result of doing ministry in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, the Caribbean and of course the United States, I can see at least four segments of the Christian population. Let’s see how they fit into the dictionary definition we have of a Christian; that is “professing a belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ”.

First, let me list them and then we will take a deeper look…

1. A Nominal Christian
2. A Generational Christian
3. A Syncretic Christian
4. A Born-again Christian

1. 1. A Nominal Christian is a Christian who identifies with a particular church or a Christian denomination. That person may or may not be a church attender. Some examples of Nominal Christians are:
   1. People who convert to Christianity in order to marry or convert because of social/cultural pressures fit into this category. 
   2. They may have to fill out a form stating their religious affiliation and they know that they are not Jewish, Buddhist, Islamic or Hindu and therefore check the category they think fits; Christian.
   3. They see value in Christian morals and ethics and want their children to develop those Christian values. They attend a Christian church for that reason.
   4. They don’t want their children to go to a public school and put their children in a Christian school and therefore state that they are Christians.  

1. 2. A Generational Christian, is one who’s Christian identity is taken from their parents or family. That person may or not be a church attender. For example:
2. a. It is only natural that a child will adopt the religion of their parents, it is no different for Christian families. However, unless a child has had a personal experience with Jesus Christ, they will just continue in the traditions of the family.

1. 3. A Syncretic Christian, the word syncretic or syncretism when applied to religion means that two religions are blended together to form one religion acceptable to the population (politically correct). So, a syncretic Christian is one who takes on the Christian label but practice a Christianity that is blended with other non-Christian religions or cults.

1. 4. The fourth category is how Jesus defined a Christian. They must be Born-Again Christian. A born-again Christian is a Christian who professes repentance and faith in Jesus Christ and understand the spiritual nature of Christianity (John 3:1-21 -Story of Nicodemus). That person may be a church attender, or not. We will have much to say about Born-again Christians in our next post.

As we close, you can see it isn’t the fact that you go to a Christian church that makes you a Christian, although you should go. Going to church does not make one a Christian, any more than going into “McDonald’s makes you a hamburger”. The real issue is and always has been, do you know Jesus on a personal level!