GOOD WORKS: THREE PART SERIES

Part I: Out with the Old, In with the New

 

                When we become true followers of Christ, there should be a transformation that we go through that aligns with God.  That transformation could involve staying home instead of going to the bar or club on Friday night, or it could mean having more patience toward your co-workers on the job.  Whatever the case may be, the results of our transformation should ultimately show a reflection of Jesus Christ.  This transformation is the foundation of the good works we do through God.

                You should know that this transformation is both spiritual and physical.  The examples above are but a few of the physical transformations that we should go through.  We must also go through a spiritual transformation.  This spiritual transformation requires that we get rid of the sinful nature “the old man” within us.  Until we accept Jesus Christ as our personal savior, the propensity to sin will reside in us because we were born into sin.  For “all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory” (Romans 3:23).  Well, it is now time to allow the Holy Spirit to remove this sinful nature and take hold of this spiritual transformation.  You see, this sinful nature is what causes us to make the decisions we make that are not of God; and we’ll continue to allow it to control us and conform to the world as long as it’s there.

                The second part of this spiritual transformation is filling up the empty space.  It’s like starting a diet.  First you must purge your body of all the unhealthy junk you use to eat, and then you fill your body up with the healthy stuff.  If you don’t put anything back in your body, you’ll starve to death.  So the first question is “why should we fill the empty space once we get rid of this sinful nature?”  Well, the Bible tells us in Ephesians 4:22-24 that “you were told that your foolish desires will destroy you and that you must give up your old way of life with all its bad habits.  Let the spirit change your way of thinking and make you into a new person.  You were created to be like God, and so you must please Him and be truly Holy”.  So you see, we must fill that empty space.

                The second question is “how do we fill that empty space?”  We fill up that space by praying and reading the Bible.  By doing this we begin to build that foundation on the rock that is Jesus Christ.  Why pray and read the Bible?  Praying is talking with God.  The more we pray, the closer we get to Him and the stronger our relationship will be with Him.  Reading the Bible will help us understand God’s message for us.  The Bible is our guide to live a Christlike life.  We must read and meditate on the Word of God so that we can do God’s will and fulfill His purpose.  By doing these things we will begin to think and act according to God’s will.  Once we start to think and act according to God, we’ll start going through that physical transformation we talked about earlier.

                Please keep in mind that the transformation won’t be complete until we get to heaven.  Philippians 3:12 tells us that “I have not yet reached my goal, and I am not perfect.  But Christ has taken hold of me.  So I keep on running and struggling to take hold of the prize.”  But it also means that our goal should be nothing short of living our life Christlike.